Q.What is ascariasis? Mention its symptoms and prevention.

[!TLDR] Ascariasis causes intestinal and, during larval migration, lung symptoms; prevention rests on hygiene and sanitation.

Ascariasis can cause abdominal pain, malnutrition and, in heavy infections, intestinal obstruction; larval lung migration can cause cough, mild fever and breathing difficulty. Prevention includes hand-washing, washing food, wearing footwear, safe faeces disposal, and deworming. …

Ascariasis, the disease caused by Ascaris lumbricoides infection, can produce symptoms at two different stages of the parasite's life within the human body. While adult worms reside in the small intestine, a heavy worm burden can cause abdominal pain and cramping, and because the worms consume a share of the host's digested nutrients, chronic heavy infection — particularly in children — can contribute to malnutrition and impaired growth; in severe, very heavy infections, a mass of worms can even cause mechanical intestinal obstruction, a serious complication. Separately, while larvae are migrating through the lungs during the extra-intestinal migration phase of the life cycle, they can independently cause a transient respiratory illness, with symptoms such as cough, mild fever and difficulty breathing, even before any adult worms are established in the gut. Prevention of ascariasis focuses on breaking the faecal-oral and soil-transmission cycle of the parasite: thorough hand-washing (especially before eating and after using the toilet), washing fruits and vegetables carefully before eating them, drinking safe water, wearing footwear to avoid direct contact with contaminated s …

• Attributing all ascariasis symptoms only to the adult worms in the gut, forgetting the separate transient lung symptoms caused by the migrating larvae. …