what are the symptoms and dangers of getting threadworm, and what should you do?

Question

and advice for medicines or anything?

Answer 1

Threadworm or pinworm is an astonishingly common condition, probably affecting over 10% of the population at any single time. The chief symptom is itching at the anus- some girls are affected by migration fo the worms to the vagina where they may cause irritation.

As awful as it sounds, pinworms are otherwise completely innocuous. Infection is spread by passage of the worm's eggs scratched off a host into the air, where they hang like a leaf on the breeze ("see how I fly"). the eggs are inhaled, swalowed, hatch in the intestines and ser up hourekeeping in the colon. Spontaneous cures happen all the time, as do reinfection of persons who are treated.

Being around kids who scratch their butt is the only known risk factor.

You can certianly decide to do nothing about them- youll only itch. But if you cant live with them, have your doctor write a script for Albendazole or Mebendazole- you take the pill once and repeat in a few weeks.

Answer 2

I personally do not have a tattoo nor do I want one but I did go with my fiance` recently when he got one. The guy who did his actually sent him to a shop to pick up his own needles. He furnished the ink but he poured it from the bottles into little caps and then disposed of the left over ink and caps. South Carolina has only recently allowed tattooing. They outlawed it years ago because of hepatitis. There are risks involved with getting a tattoo. Hepatitis and HIV to name a few. Unless you buy the needles yourself & ink, you never know. The operator should also wear latex gloves. Some people do regret getting a tat. Think long and hard about what you want because it is something you are going to have for the rest of your life. Make sure it isn't something that would cause you embarrassment somewhere down the road. My fiance` got this recent tattoo to cover one up from his teen years that he was embarrassed by. The amount of pain depends on where you get the tattoo. Some areas are more sensitive than others. It makes your skin peel for a while too. Some people say it feels like a bad sunburn.

Answer 3

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic567.htm
In the US: Although many cestode infestations occur worldwide, only a few are common in the United States.
Diphyllobothriasis is an infection that occurs from eating raw or undercooked fish infected with Diphyllobothrium species. Diphyllobothrium organisms are present in lakes, rivers, and deltas of freshwaters. Eskimos in western Alaska and the West Coast of the United States are frequent hosts.

Echinococcus multilocularis causes alveolar echinococcosis, which occurs only in the northern hemisphere. In the United States, it occurs particularly in Alaska. Echinococcus granulosis causes hydatid disease, which occurs worldwide.

Although infection with T saginata (obtained from raw or undercooked beef) occurs worldwide, the prevalence in the United States is less than 1% because most cattle in the United States are free of the parasite. Infection with T solium is rare, but with the growing number of immigrants from endemic areas, the frequency is changing.

Infection with H nana is the most frequently diagnosed cestode infection in the United States.

Spirometra species cause sparganosis, which occurs accidentally in humans who ingest polluted water or raw or inadequately cooked flesh of snakes or frogs. It has been reported mainly in the southeastern region of the United States.

Internationally: T saginata has a high endemicity in Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and central Asia and has a moderate endemicity in Europe, south Asia, Japan, and the Philippines.
T solium is prevalent in Latin America, the Slavic countries, Africa, southeast Asia, India, and China. The prevalence of T solium infection is low in northwestern Europe and is rare or absent in Canada.

Cysticercosis, caused by infection with the larvae stage of the tapeworm, is endemic in all Latin American countries (except Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay).

Diphyllobothrium infection is prevalent in northern Europe (Finland, east Prussia, Russian Karelia), Canada, Africa, Japan, Taiwan, Manchuria, Siberia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and South America.

H nana infection is the most common cestode of humans. It is prevalent in areas of poor hygiene and sanitation, especially in the warm and arid countries of the Mediterranean, Indian subcontinent, and South America. The prevalence in children in these areas may reach 20%. Infection rates are highest among children.

E multilocularis infection occurs only in the northern hemisphere, especially in central Europe, Russia, China, Japan, Canada, and north Africa. Few regions in the world are completely free from E granulosis. Echinococcus vogeli and Echinococcus oligarthrus infections occur in Central America and South America.

Infection with Spirometra species has been reported worldwide but especially in east Asia (China, Japan, and Korea) and southeast Asia (Malaysia, India, and the Philippines).

Mortality/Morbidity: Many cestode infestations are asymptomatic
Many cestode infestations are asymptomatic. The organisms may be discovered by patients during defecation. Tapeworms may migrate from the rectum (possibly causing itching) and may be seen on toilet paper or undergarments. However, once symptoms occur, they are usually vague GI complaints of abdominal pain, anorexia, weight loss, or malaise.
T solium infections are usually asymptomatic; however, infected patients may have generalized complaints include epigastric or periumbilical discomfort; nausea; hunger; and weight loss, anorexia, or increased appetite. The cysticerci that develop with T solium infestations can be found anywhere in the body, but they mainly occur in the central nervous system and skeletal muscles, causing local inflammatory responses and mass effects from the cystic growth. If neurocysticercosis develops, seizure is the most common form of presentation, occurring in up to 80% of patients with parenchymal brain cysts or calcifications.
With T saginata infection, usually, the patient becomes aware of infection when worm segments are passed in the stool. Some patients complain of epigastric pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. Similar to T solium infection, the presence of cysticerci in T saginata infection can result in symptoms of obstruction of the appendix, biliary duct, and pancreatic duct.
Diphyllobothrium infestations may result in intestinal discomfort, diarrhea, vomiting, weakness, and weight loss.
The cestode is not invasive, but it does absorb a large amount of vitamin B-12 and interferes with vitamin B-12 absorption from the ileum, producing a megaloblastic anemia that resembles pernicious anemia (clinically and hematologically). The tapeworm must thus be in a proximal portion of the intestine, and probably intrinsic factor secretion is defective in the host (allowing for diminished capacity to absorb vitamin B-12).

Patients may complain of neurologic symptoms resembling pernicious anemia (eg, paresthesias, difficulty with balance, dementia or confusional states).
Hymenolepis typically produces asymptomatic infections; however, in patients who may have a number of parasites present, the patient can have vague symptoms of anorexia, abdominal pain, and diarrhea (the developing cysticercoids destroy their housing villi, thus with a number of parasites, significant enteritis may develop). The number of worms is regulated by the hosts nutritional and immunity states.
D caninum infections are mostly asymptomatic with some symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, anal pruritus, and urticaria.
Echinococcosis infections are potentially dangerous because they typically remain asymptomatic until the cysts cause a mass effect on an organ, which can occur 5-20 years after the initial infestation.
Cystic echinococcosis

The larvae develop into the fluid-filled hydatid cysts that are implanted after being carried in the bloodstream and expand slowly over several years.

The liver is the most common site, followed by the lungs (10-30%) (mostly the right lobe (60%) and the lower lobes (60%); however, almost any tissue may be involved. In children, the lungs may be the most common site of cyst formation. Up to 40% of patients with lung cyst will have liver cysts as well.

Most patients have single organ involvement (85-90%), and most will have a solitary cyst (>70%).

These cysts do not metastasize, but they may be disseminated by accidental spillage.

Pulmonary cystic rupture may result in clinically impressive and misleading symptoms of cough, chest pain, and hemoptysis.
Alveolar hydatid disease

A lesion in the liver does not appear as a cyst but is a firm, solid, cancerlike mass that is primarily in the liver. Approximately 60-80% of the cysts are located in the right lobe of the liver. Single or multiple foci may be present.

Hepatic echinococcosis can cause epigastric pain and dyspepsia (up to 35%) and can mimic cholelithiasis or jaundice (up to 45%) from compression in the bile duct. In one third of the cases, the disease is found incidentally during the checkup for nonspecific symptoms (fatigue, weight loss, hepatomegaly).

The disease spreads from the liver by direct extension, by lymphatic or hematologic metastasis, or by peritoneal seeding.

Compression of the bile duct can occur, resulting in biliary colic or jaundice.
Physical:

T solium infections
The cysticerci that develop with T solium infestations can cause mass effects from the cystic growth leaving the physical findings dependent on the location and the size of the growth.

Although most patients have normal neurologic examinations, the most common presentation of neurocysticercosis is the neurologic manifestations of seizures and focal neurologic deficits, along with possible hydrocephalus, meningitis, and dementia. Predictably, signs of increased intracranial pressure occur, as well as headaches, visual changes, vomiting, ataxia, and confusion. http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic567.htm

Clinical manifestations of spinal neurocysticercosis are nonspecific and dependent on the size and the location of the cysts.
To homogenize the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis, diagnostic criteria were proposed in 2001:

Absolute criteria

Histologic demonstration of the parasite

Direct visualization of the parasite on funduscopic examination

Evidence of cystic lesions showing the scolex on CT scan or MRI
Major criteria


Evidence of lesions suggestive of neurocysticercosis on neuroimaging studies

Positive immunologic tests for the detection of anticysticercal antibodies

Plain radiographs showing cigar-shaped calcifications in the thigh and calf muscles
Minor criteria


Presence of subcutaneous nodules (without histologic confirmation)

Evidence of punctate soft tissue or intracranial calcifications on plain radiographs

Presence of clinical manifestations suggestive of neurocysticercosis

Disappearance of intracranial lesions after a trial with anticysticercal drugs
Epidemiologic criteria


Individuals coming from or living in an area where cysticercosis is endemic

History of frequent travel to cysticercosis endemic areas

Evidence of a household contact with T solium infection
Ocular cysticercosis can be seen on ophthalmologic examination of the eye. Parasites may be seen in the posterior chamber of the eye.
Cysticercosis of the muscle and subcutaneous tissues can be palpated or seen on plain radiographs. Almost all patients with symptomatic muscle cysticercosis are reportedly from Asia.
Diphyllobothrium infestations