Ancylostomiasis

Depending on the organism, the signs and symptoms vary. Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus can enter the blood stream while Ancylostoma braziliensis cannot. Signs and symptoms of Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus are given in corresponding page. {{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

In Ancylostoma braziliensis as the larvae are in an abnormal host, they do not mature to adults but instead migrate through the skin until killed by the host's inflammatory response. This migration causes local intense itching and a red serpiginous lesion. Treatment with a single dose of oral ivermectin results in cure rates of 94–100%.{{cite journal|vauthors=Hochedez P, Caumes E|title=Common skin infections in travelers.|journal=Journal of Travel Medicine |date=July 2008|volume=15|issue=4|pages=252–62 |doi=10.1111/j.1708-8305.2008.00206.x |pmid=18666926|doi-access=free}}

The infection is usually contracted by people walking barefoot over contaminated soil. In penetrating the skin, the larvae may cause an allergic reaction. It is due to the itchy patch at the site of entry that the early infection gets its nickname "ground itch". Once larvae have broken through the skin, they enter the bloodstream and are carried to the lungs (however, unlike ascarids, hookworms do not usually cause pneumonia). The larvae migrate from the lungs up the windpipe to be swallowed and carried back down to the intestine. If humans come into contact with larvae of dog hookworms or cat hookworms, or of certain other hookworms that do not infect humans, the

larvae may penetrate the skin. Sometimes, the larvae are unable to complete their migratory cycle in humans. Instead, the larvae migrate just below the skin producing snake-like markings. This is referred to as a creeping eruption or cutaneous larva migrans.{{cite web |

url=http://www.comeunity.com/adoption/health/parasites/hookworm-NIH.html |

title=Hookworm Disease |work=Adoption Health: Parasistes |publisher=ComeUnity | access-date=2008-10-30 }} However, Ancylostoma ceylanicum, a canid and felid hookworm, is able to establish patent intestinal infection in humans and is thus a zoonotic cause of ancylostomiasis.{{cite journal|last=Traub|first=Rebecca J.|journal=International Journal for Parasitology|year=2013|volume=43|issue=12-13|pages=1009-1015|title=Ancylostoma ceylanicum, a re-emerging but neglected parasitic zoonosis|doi=10.1016/j.ijpara.2013.07.006|pmid=23968813}}

They commonly infect the skin, eyes, and viscera in humans.{{cn|date=May 2021}}

• Ancylostoma brasiliensis causes cutaneous larva migrans.
• Toxocara causes visceral larva migrans.{{cite web | url=http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?larva+migrans | title=Definition: larva migrans | access-date=2008-10-30 }}

Control of this parasite should be directed against reducing the level of environmental contamination. Treatment of heavily infected individuals is one way to reduce the source of contamination (one study has estimated that 60% of the total worm burden resides in less than 10% of the population). Other obvious methods are to improve access to sanitation, e.g. toilets, but also convincing people to maintaining them in a clean, functional state, thereby making them conducive to use.{{cn|date=January 2021}}

The drug of choice for the treatment of hookworm disease is mebendazole which is effective against both species, and in addition, will remove the intestinal worm Ascaris also, if present. The drug is very efficient, requiring only a single dose and is inexpensive. However, treatment requires more than giving the anthelmintic, the patient should also receive dietary supplements to improve their general level of health, in particular iron supplementation is very important. Iron is an important constituent of a multitude of enzyme systems involved in energy metabolism, DNA synthesis and drug detoxification.{{cn|date=January 2021}}

An infection of N. americanus parasites can be treated by using benzimidazoles, albendazole, and mebendazole. A blood transfusion may be necessary in severe cases of anemia. Light infections are usually left untreated in areas where reinfection is common. Iron supplements and a diet high in protein will speed the recovery process.{{cite web |title=Hookworm Disease |date=2009 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/271350/hookworm-disease}} In a case study involving 56–60 men with Trichuris trichiura and/or N. americanus infections, both albendazole and mebendazole were 90% effective in curing T. trichiura. However, albendazole had a 95% cure rate for N. americanus, while mebendazole only had a 21% cure rate. This suggests albendazole is most effective for treating both T. trichiura and N. americanus.{{cite journal |first1=B.R. |last1=Holzer |last2=Frey |first2=F.J. |title=Differential efficacy of mebendazole and albendazole against Necator americanus but not for Trichuris Trichiura infestations |journal=European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=635–37 |date=February 1987 |doi=10.1007/BF02456002 |pmid=3653234|s2cid=19551476 }}

During the 1910s, common treatments for hookworm included thymol, 2-naphthol, chloroform, gasoline, and eucalyptus oil.{{cite book|author=Milton, Joseph Rosenau|title=Preventive Medicine and Hygiene|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVfQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA119|year=1913|publisher=D. Appleton|page=119}} By the 1940s, the treatment of choice was tetrachloroethylene,{{cite journal |author= | title=Clinical Aspects and Treatment of the More Common Intestinal Parasites of Man (TB-33) | journal=Veterans Administration Technical Bulletin 1946 & 1947 | year=1948 | volume=10 | pages=1–14 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJWxEzwqRiMC }} given as 3 to 4 cc in the fasting state, followed by 30 to 45 g of sodium sulfate. Tetrachloroethylene was reported to have a cure rate of 80 percent for Necator infections, but 25 percent in Ancylostoma infections, requiring re-treatment.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

File:Gotthardtunnel Bauzug.jpg" caused by Ancylostoma duodenale among workers constructing the Gotthard Tunnel contributed to the understanding of ancylostomiasis.]]

Hookworm anaemia was first described by Wilhelm Griesenger in Egypt, Cairo in 1852. He found thousands of adult ancylostomes in the small bowel of a 20-year old soldier who was suffering from severe diarrhoea and anaemia (labelled at the time as Egyptian chlorosis).{{cite book |last=Grove |first=David I |date=2014 |title=Tapeworms, lice and prions: a compendium of unpleasant infections |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=1–602 |isbn=978-0-19-964102-4 }} The subject was revisited in Europe when there was an outbreak of "miner's anaemia" in Italy.{{cite book |last=Grove |first=David I |date=1990 |title=A history of human helminthology |location=Wallingford |publisher=CAB International |pages=1–848 |isbn=0-85198-689-7 }} During the construction of the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland (1871–81), a large number of miners suffered from severe anaemia of unknown cause.{{cite journal |first=E. |last=Bugnion |title=On the epidemic caused by Ankylostomum among the workmen in the St. Gothard Tunnel |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=1 |issue=1054 |pages=382 |year=1881 |jstor=25256433 |doi=10.1136/bmj.1.1054.382 |pmc=2263460 |pmid=20749811}}{{cite journal |first1=R. |last1=Peduzzi |first2=J.-C. |last2=Piffaretti |title=Ancylostoma duodenale and the Saint Gothard anaemia |journal=Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) |volume=287 |issue=6409 |pages=1942–45 |year=1983 |doi=10.1136/bmj.287.6409.1942 |jstor=29513508 |pmid=6418279 |pmc=1550193}} Medical investigations let to the understanding that it was caused by Ancylostoma duodenale (favoured by high temperatures and humidity) and to "major advances in parasitology, by way of research into the aetiology, epidemiology and treatment of ancylostomiasis".

Hookworms still account for high proportion of debilitating disease in the tropics and 50–60,000 deaths per year can be attributed to this disease.{{cite web | url=http://www.earthtym.net/ref-hookworms.htm | title=Hookworms: Ancylostoma spp. and Necator spp. | access-date=2008-10-30| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081027170740/http://www.earthtym.net/ref-hookworms.htm| archive-date= 27 October 2008 | url-status= live}}

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• Necatoriasis

{{Reflist}}

{{Medical resources

| DiseasesDB =

| ICD11 = {{ICD11|1F68.0}}

| ICD10 = {{ICD10|B|76|0|b|65}}

| ICD9 = {{ICD9|126.9}}

| ICDO =

| OMIM =

| MedlinePlus =

| eMedicineSubj = ped

| eMedicineTopic = 96

| MeshID = D000724

}}

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Category:Parasitic infestations, stings, and bites of the skin

Category:Helminthiases