What do roundworms look like in human feces?

Ascaris in feces occur infrequently, which is not true of their eggs. The eggs of this helminth leave their host along with the fecal masses, therefore, most often they will be detected during the analysis. Untreated ascariasis can lead to serious consequences and even death. Therefore, it is necessary to know what the ascaris looks like in the feces, and if it is detected, immediately seek medical help.

Detection of ascaris in fecal masses

In appearance roundworm resemble spindle. The length of an adult individual can reach 40 cm if it is a female and 25 cm if it is a male. Body shape is rounded (cylindrical), narrowed to the edges to a sharp state. The life cycle of roundworm is about a year.

On a note!

Usually, human ascaris in the feces is found either in dead form, or even as separate fragments of a worm. Therefore, its visual definition is quite problematic. This is due to the fact that getting into the large intestine and mixing in it with the feces, ascaris is broken into several parts. Some drugs cause helminth paralysis, which also contributes to its release.

Ascaris in feces

In the photo, ascaris in the feces can be seen that they can be whitish or black in color and resemble strings. Color will depend on whether the worms are alive or not:

• Dead ascaris in feces is black.
• If the worm is still alive, its shade will be whitish-grayish.

In the feces in children, this parasite is found more often than in adults. The first reason for this is that children are more likely to suffer from ascariasis due to non-compliance with sanitary and hygienic rules.The second reason is due to the fact that attention to the health and well-being of the child is much higher with the parents.

Important!

It should be remembered that roundworms can be detected not only in the fecal masses, but also in the sputum, and in the contents of the gallbladder. This suggests that the helminths are at the stage of migration.

What do helminth eggs look like from ascaris when taking feces?

No one will be able to see ascaris eggs in feces without a microscope. It's all about their microscopic size. Only laboratory technicians are able to see helminth eggs, viewing them under a microscope. Most often, detectability through feces analysis is high in the winter months. In the feces of a person suffering from ascariasis, there may be a huge number of eggs, but it may not be at all. This happens if there are immature individuals in the body or mature, but only unisexual. It takes about 3 months from the moment the larva emerges from the protective shell in the host’s body to the time it lays new eggs. So the analysis of feces is the easiest, but unreliable method of diagnosis.

If eggs were found in the baby’s or the adult’s feces, they would be between 5 and 7 hundredths of a millimeter and rounded or oval in shape.The egg is covered with a three-layer shell to protect the roundworm embryo from any external influences. Over it comes a brownish or transparent layer of proteinaceous cells, and a loose shell is lined inside, which facilitates the penetration of nutrients to the roundworm.

On a note!

Unfertilized ascaris eggs have an irregular shape due to the absence of germ-larvae in them.

Analysis of Ascaris

How to pass the analysis

To the results of the analysis of feces were reliable, you should properly prepare for it:

1. Seven days before the planned delivery, it is necessary to exclude the use of castor oil in food and not to take such medical devices that belong to the group of antibiotics and bismuth preparations. The ban also includes drugs for diarrhea and containing magnesium in its composition.
2. It is necessary to refuse statement of enemas or drug intake in the form of suppositories. Using any of the listed tools will result in distorted results.

One analysis is not indicative and it is necessary to repeat it at least three times, or even six, at intervals of 2 days.

Important!

So that the result does not turn out to be false-positive, you should use only a special sterile container, which is dispensed in the laboratory or can be purchased at a regular pharmacy. The container with the contents taken from different places of fecal masses after defecation must be delivered to the laboratory as soon as possible. Feces are collected with a special spoon inside the container. The lid should close tightly. If the container is leaking, then it does not make sense to use it for analysis.

The most reliable analysis will be when a container with feces enters the laboratory in at most 45 minutes. If for an hour the container with faeces was in a warm room, and not in the refrigerator, then it is no longer suitable for determining eggs. If the eggs of the roundworm or the worms themselves were found at least once from all the samples taken, this suggests that the person is infected and requires treatment.