Prevention Of Whipworm Infection

Introduction

This infection is called whipworm infection because the parasite commonly causing it resembles a whip. This infection can develop on consuming water that is contaminated with feces that contain whipworm parasites. People coming in contact with these contaminated things can also contract a whipworm infection. Most children suffer from this infection. People living in hot and humid climates with poor hygiene and sanitation are primarily affected by this. Almost six hundred to eight hundred million people suffer from whipworm infection. Not just humans; even dogs, and cats get affected by this.

What Actually Causes Whipworm Infection?

Trichuris trichiura is a parasite that causes whipworm infections. Because of its whip-like structure, this parasite is sometimes known as a "whipworm". It has a thin part on one end that resembles the whip and a thick piece that resembles the whip handle. Whipworm infections often occur after ingesting dirt or water contaminated with feces that contain whipworm parasites or their eggs. If contaminated feces are used in fertilizers or when an infected human or animal urinates outside, whipworm eggs may end up in the soil. Unknowingly ingesting whipworm parasites or their eggs could occur if someone:

• Put their hands or fingers in their mouth or close to it after touching the ground.

• Ingest fruits or vegetables not cooked, peeled, or fully cleaned.

Whipworm eggs hatch when they get to the small intestine and release larvae. The adult worms live in the big intestine once the larvae have reached adulthood. The female worms often start laying eggs two months later. The females lose between 3,000 and 20,000 eggs per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What Symptoms Does Whipworm Infection Exhibit?

People suffering from whipworm infection can get to see a variety of symptoms. Some are :

• Diarrhea with blood.

• Painful defecation.

• Pain in the abdomen.

• Nausea.

• Vomiting.

• Bad headaches.

• Sudden and unexpected weight loss.

• Inability to control defecation.

How to Prevent Whipworm Infection?

Prevention is always better than cure, and for prevention, proper diagnosis is needed. For diagnosing a whipworm infection, a stool test is very important. Individuals are asked to give a sample of their feces to the lab for testing. This test can further determine if there are whipworms or whipworm eggs in the intestines and feces. The doctor generally gives a sterile container and a kit consisting of plastic wrap and special bathroom tissue. The plastic wrap is placed loosely over the toilet bowl and held by the toilet seat. After the bowel movement is over, the special tissue is used to put the stool inside the container. In the case of infants, the plastic wrap can be lined along the sides of the diaper for collecting the sample. After this, the sample will be sent to a lab for analyzing it under the microscope to see if there is any whipworm and their eggs.

This infection can occur to anyone, but people living in regions with hot and humid climates with poor hygiene and sanitation, or who work in industries where they often come in contact with soil that contains manure, or those who consume raw vegetables grown in soil that is fertilized with manure are prone to get infected by whipworms.

Treatment of this infection can be done by the usage of antiparasitic medicines like Albendazole and Mebendazole. These medicines are used for the proper removal of whipworms and whipworm eggs from the body. Patients are generally recommended to use this medicine for one to three days. There are very few side effects associated with it, though. For lactating mothers, Ivermectin should be given only when the risk to the infant is outweighed by the risk of the disease progressing in the mother in the absence of the treatment. Not just antiparasitic medicines but these soil-transmitted helminths can also be defeated using mass drug administrations. These drugs are very safe and inexpensive, hence are mostly donated. Mass drug administrations are carried out annually with drug distributors who provide door-to-door service. Multiple neglected tropical diseases like river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and trachoma are too treated in the same using mass drug administrations.

Talking about prevention, the risk of contracting whipworm infection can be reduced if :

• Individuals start washing their hands thoroughly, mainly before having food.

• Individuals wash, peel or cook food properly before eating.

• If children are taught not to put soil in their mouths while playing with it outdoors.

• If everyone starts boiling or purifying water, that has a chance of being contaminated.

• One avoids contact with soil that is contaminated with fecal matter.

• One confines livestock like pigs into pens. One needs to make sure to clean the enclosures regularly.

• The grass should be cut short in areas where dogs or cats defecate regularly.

• Individuals also need to use caution around animal feces and clean fecal matter whenever possible.

• Even the spread of the parasite causing this infection can be prevented in high-risk areas if effective sewage disposal systems are installed in high-risk areas.

• Improved facilities for disposing of feces also have proved to reduce the spreading of this infection.

In developing countries, parasites that have a higher risk of spreading soil-transmitted helminth infections are mostly treated without a prior stool examination. This particular way of treatment is called preventive treatment or preventive chemotherapy. These parasites are mostly affecting school-going toddlers and children, women of childbearing age, pregnant women who are in their second and third trimesters or lactating women, and adults who are associated with some occupation that has a high risk of heavy infections. School-going children often have the provision of getting treated through school health programs. Pregnant women and young children also go to health clinics for these initiatives.

Conclusion

The parasite causing this infection - Trichuris trichiura whipworm, is generally more resistant to treatment than the other parasites, but proper treatment can stop it from leading to other significant disease burdens. Whipworm infection is painful but curable. Mostly everyone recovers fully on proper treatment without much hassle. If left untreated, the infection can prove to be severe and might also cause other complications like delayed growth or cognitive development, infections in the abdomen and colon, anemia, and rectal prolapse which basically happens when a section of the large intestine protrudes from the anus. People should not think even once before contacting a doctor if they are having bloody diarrhea because neglecting it would mean inviting other infections and illnesses that cause the same symptoms.