A person with a facial contusion has bruised the soft tissues of the face. A contusion is a collection of blood beneath the skin, caused by an injury to the blood vessels.Face Contusion is bruising of skin and underlying tissues of the face caused by a direct blow. Contusions cause bleeding from ruptured small capillaries that allow blood to infiltrate muscles, tendons or other soft tissue. The face is particularly vulnerable to contusion because skin is so close to hard, underlying bone.

This injury refers to bruising of the soft tissues [other than bone] of the face. Contusions often cause the familiar “black and blue area,” which is caused by bleeding beneath the skin. One of the most commonly recognized facial contusions is the “black eye” . Common symptoms of facial contusions include pain and swelling at the site of the injury. Contusions around the eye  often cause the eye to close due to swelling. In this instance, the eye may require antibiotic drops to prevent infection. Any associated neck pain should make the patient
suspicious of neck fracture.

Evaluation will include x-rays of the face to the possibility of facial fracture. Examination of the eyes, ears, jaw, teeth, and facial bones will be performed by the physician. Any malfunction of jaw movement, hearing, or vision must be evaluated promptly. Unusual swelling, deformity, or asymmetry to the facial contour can indicate facial fracture. The finding of crepitation or of a spongy texture of the skin can indicate fracture to a sinus cavity. Double vision, due to the inability to move the eyes evenly in all directions, also indicates a more serious injury.Treatment of a facial contusion is with cold compresses and analgesics such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Aspirin should be avoided as it tends to promote bleeding. Initial discoloration will be “black and blue” turning to a green-yellow, as healing occurs over 1 to 2 weeks. Contusions around the eyes often result in discoloration . This is of no added concern. The development of “black eyes” after a head injury should make one suspect the possibility of a skull fracture.

Places where Face Contusion occurs

Face tissues, including blood vessels, muscles, tendons, nerves, covering to bone (periosteum) and connective tissue.

Causes, Signs and Symptoms of Face Contusion

Direct blow to the skin, usually from a blunt object.

• Local swelling at the contusion site. The swelling may be round or egg-shaped and superficial or deep.
• Pain and tenderness over the injury.
• Feeling of firmness when pressure is exerted on the injured area.
• Discoloration under the skin, beginning with redness and progressing to the characteristic “black and blue” bruise.

Complications in Face Contusion

Excessive bleeding. Infiltrative-type bleeding can (rarely) lead to calcification and impaired function, and facial disfiguration. Prolonged healing time if usual activities are resumed too soon. Infection if skin over the contusion is broken.

Treatment, Medication and Care for Face Contusion

For first aid, use instructions for R.I.C.E., the first letters of REST, ICE, COMPRESSION and ELEVATION.

For minor discomfort, you may use: Acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Topical liniments and ointments. Your doctor may prescribe stronger medicine for pain.

• Use an ice pack 3 or 4 times a day. Wrap ice chips or cubes in a plastic bag, and wrap the bag in a moist towel. Place it over the injured area for 20 minutes at a time.
• After 72 hours, apply heat instead of ice if it feels better. Use heat lamps, hot soaks, hot showers, heating pads, or heat liniments and ointments.
• Massage gently and often to provide comfort and decrease swelling.

Dietary Cure for Face Contusion

During recovery, eat a well-balanced diet that includes extra protein, such as meat, fish, poultry, cheese, milk and eggs. Your doctor may prescribe vitamin and mineral supplements to promote healing.

Causes of Contusion without any prevalence information

The following causes of Contusion are ones for which we do not have any prevalence information.

• Abuse
• Brain contusions
• Compartment syndrome
• DOMS
• Erythema multiforme
• Fractures
• Henoch Schloein purpura
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura
• Internal organ injuries
• Intra- abdominal injuries
• Intracerebral hemorrhage
• Mongolian spots
• Muscle ramps
• Muscle rupture
• Phytophotodermatitis
• Postinflammatory hyperpigmentation
• Sports related injuries
• Stress fracture
• Subarachnoid hemorrhage
• Subdural hematoma

Boils on Face

Boils affect people of all ages and conditions, including young children.  If a child is affected with a boil near the nose or mouth area, consult their pediatrician as these types of infections can lead to blood poisoning which can potentially affect the child’s brain.  The doctor can check and treat the boil quickly.  Adults should also heed the advice to consult a physician if a boil appears in the same areas of the face or if it doesn’t heal after two weeks.  There may be more to the situation than meets the eye.

Boils affect people of all ages and conditions, including young children.  If a child is affected with a boil near the nose or mouth area, consult their pediatrician as these types of infections can lead to blood poisoning which can potentially affect the child’s brain.  The doctor can check and treat the boil quickly.  Adults should also heed the advice to consult a physician if a boil appears in the same areas of the face or if it doesn’t heal after two weeks.  There may be more to the situation than meets the eye.

Boils on face are an infection in the skin.  There are many changes taking place in our body daily, so it’s important that our body gets sufficient nutrition to perform all the activities. Sometimes, lack of nutrients also cause skin conditions like boils on face, acne, white patches etc. Boils on face are also symptoms of poor nutrition, blood impurity, lack of hygiene, problems with the immune system, bacterial infection and diabetes.

How to Treat a Boil on Face?
Generally, people ignore the boil in the initial stages, when it is tiny; but it is always a good idea to treat it before the boil gets bigger. So now, we’ll go over some information about how to get rid of a boil on face.

If the boil is big enough and the pus is visible, take a wet, clean piece of cloth which feels soft on the skin. Place the wet cloth on the infected boil on face. As this cloth stays on the infected boil, it moves the pus to the head of the boil from where it starts to drain out. Following this, at least twice everyday, will help the boil to drain, in about five to six days.

Soaking the boil will help the pus to move up to the head and drain. After the boil has drained, wash your face thoroughly with an anti-bacterial face wash. You can also apply an anti-bacterial ointment, which your doctor suggests. Antibiotics can also help in healing the boils. A bandage can be used to avoid chances of dust sticking on the boil. Repeat this, till the boil heals. If a scar remains, use ointments that treat scars.

Causes of Boils

Boils are usually caused by a bacteria called Staphylococcus (staph). Most staph infections develop into abscesses and can become serious very quickly. This germ can be present on normal skin and enters the body through tiny breaks in the skin or by traveling down a hair to the follicle.

Certain health problems make people more susceptible to skin infections such as boils. Examples are diabetes, problems with the immune system,       poor nutrition, poor hygiene, and  exposure to harsh chemicals that irritate the skin.

Symptoms of Boils

A boil starts as a hard, red, painful lump usually less than an inch in size. Over the next few days, the lump becomes softer, larger, and more painful. Soon a pocket of pus forms on the top of the boil. Signs of a severe infection are ,the skin around the boil becomes red, painful, and swollen,  more boils may appear around the original one, a fever develops; and   the lymph nodes become swollen

Information on Acne Boils

• During the time of our teenage the oil glands are highly active and secrete oil in large amounts. Often the oil oozes out of the pores. Improper maintenance of hygiene and lack of cleanliness may cause external dirt or dust and dead skin to block the oil ducts and as a result of which acne is developed.
• Generally the incidence of acne gradually vanishes as a person grows old and passes his or her teenage or the age of puberty. In case the occurrence of acne persists and continues almost till the age of 3 or even more that too characterized by severe kinds of acne like cystic acne, doctor’s consultation is a must for them.
• Acne scarring, more in the cases of acne boils, it is a matter of concern as scars left on the face of a person can affect his or her physical appearance to a great extent.
• If acne occurs suddenly at early child hood, immediate medical supervision is required. Formation of acne at a premature tender age can be the indication of hormonal imbalance, which requires immediate treatment.
• Acne growing in large numbers at a single skin area is known as cysts, carbuncles or furuncles. A furuncle generally has a single head while a carbuncle is the one that has several heads. The furuncle is milder in form than the other.
• Acne boils are large in size and is characterized by inflammation. The pimple boils are mainly formed due to the incidence of bacteria called staphylococcus. The bacteria may come from outside or may inhabit on the very skin surface of the sufferer. The bacteria enter whenever it finds an opening on the surface of the skin.
• A very typical feature of the acne boils is that they are filled with a white substance called pus. Time to time pus flows out from the infected area along with blood. The pus is filled bacteria, white blood cells, protein and other dead cells. You should be cautious while dealing with the pus as it is highly infectious in nature and can cause development of acne boils in fresh new skin surface, especially the regions that have highly developed oil and sebaceous glands.

AIDS stands for: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

AIDS is caused by a virus called HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. If you get infected with HIV, your body will try to fight the infection. It will make “antibodies,” special molecules to fight HIV.

AIDS causes

AIDS is caused by HIV.HIV is a virus that gradually attacks immune system cells. As HIV progressively damages these cells, the body becomes more vulnerable to infections, which it will have difficulty in fighting off.  It is at the point of very advanced HIV infection that a person is said to have AIDS. It can be years before HIV has damaged the immune system enough for AIDS to develop.

Symptoms of AIDS

A person is diagnosed with AIDS when they have developed an AIDS related condition or symptom, called an opportunistic infection, or an AIDS related cancer. The infections are called ‘opportunistic’ because they take advantage of the opportunity offered by a weakened immune system.

It is possible for someone to be diagnosed with AIDS even if they have not developed an opportunistic infection. AIDS can be diagnosed when the number of immune system cells (CD4 cells) in the blood of an HIV positive person drops below a certain level.

People still develop AIDS today

Even though antiretroviral treatment can prevent the onset of AIDS in a person living with HIV, many people are still diagnosed with AIDS today. There are few main reasons for this:

• In many resource-poor countries antiretroviral treatment is not widely available. Even in wealthier countries, such as America, many individuals are not covered by health insurance and cannot afford treatment.
• Some people who became infected with HIV in the early years of the epidemic before combination therapy was available, have subsequently developed drug resistance and therefore have limited treatment options.
• Many people are never tested for HIV and only become aware they are infected with the virus once they have developed an AIDS related illness. These people are at a higher risk of mortality, as they tend to respond less well to treatment at this stage.
• Sometimes people taking treatment are unable to adhere to, or tolerate the side effects of drugs

How is HIV spread?

There are several common ways that HIV can be passed from person to person, including:

• Having unprotected sex with someone who is infected
• Using needles or syringes that have been used by people who are infected
• Receiving infected blood products or transplanted organs (Since 1985, the United States actively tests all donated blood for HIV; therefore, the risk of getting HIV in this way in the United States is now extremely low.)
• Transmission from mother to child – An infected mother may pass the virus to her developing fetus during pregnancy, during birth, or through breastfeeding.

If you have a sexually transmitted disease, you may be at higher risk for getting infected with HIV during sex with an HIV-infected partner.

There is no evidence that HIV is spread by contact with saliva or through casual contact, such as shaking hands or hugging, or the sharing of food utensils, towels and bedding, swimming pools, telephones, or toilet seats. HIV is not spread by biting insects such as mosquitoes or bedbugs.

What is the treatment for HIV/AIDS?

Although when AIDS first appeared there were few treatments, researchers have now developed drugs that can help fight both HIV and the related infections and cancers that come with it. Treatment advances have improved the survival rates and decreased progression of HIV disease in developed countries like the United States, where antiretroviral drugs are available.

Additional treatment information is available from the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases at NIH. The NIH is currently conducting many clinical trials related to HIV/AIDS to test treatments and therapies. These trials are sponsored and co-sponsored by various Institutes, including the NICHD.

The NICHD supports and conducts research related to HIV/AIDS in specific groups of people, including pregnant and non-pregnant women, infants and children, and adolescents and young adults. The information below applies to those groups.

How does HIV/AIDS affect women?

Worldwide, more than 80 percent of HIV infections are spread by heterosexual sex (vaginal intercourse); women are particularly at risk of contracting HIV through this type of contact. HIV is increasing most dramatically among African American and Hispanic women.

Although most of the signs and symptoms of HIV infection are similar in men and women, some are more specific to females. For example:

• Vaginal yeast infections may be chronic, more severe, and difficult to treat in women with HIV infection than in women who are uninfected.
• Pelvic inflammatory disease, an infection of the female reproductive organs, may also be more frequent and severe in women with HIV infection.
• Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, which cause genital warts, may occur more frequently in HIV-infected women, and can lead to pre-cancerous lesions of the cervix or cancer of the cervix.

The NICHD, along with other Institutes, supports studies to determine what aspects of HIV are specific to women and the best treatments for these symptoms.

How does HIV affect pregnant women and infants?

Women can give HIV to their babies during pregnancy, while giving birth, or through breastfeeding.

But, there are effective ways to prevent the spread of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV:

• Taking anti-HIV drugs during pregnancy—either a drug called zidovudine or AZT alone or in combination with other drugs called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)—a mother can significantly reduce the chances that her baby will get infected with HIV.
• Delivering the baby by cesarean section, and doing so before the mother’s uterine membranes rupture naturally, reduces transmission that may occur during the birth process. Use of anti-HIV drugs during pregnancy and delivery, combined with a cesarean section in women with certain levels of HIV in their blood, can reduce the chance that the baby will be infected to less than 2 percent.
• Avoidance of breastfeeding by an HIV-infected mother. HIV can be spread to babies through the breast milk of mothers infected with the virus. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that, in countries such as the United States, where infant formula is safe and is often available and affordable, HIV-infected women feed their infants commercially available formula instead of breastfeeding.

Approximately one-fourth to one-half of all untreated pregnant women infected with HIV will pass the infection to their babies. HIV infection of newborns is very rare in the United States because women are tested for HIV during pregnancy, and women with HIV infection receive anti-HIV drugs during pregnancy, cesarean delivery if their HIV blood levels are high, and are advised not to breastfeed their infants.

How does HIV affect children and adolescents?

It is estimated that approximately 10,000 children are living with HIV infection in the United States. In the United States, the number of infants born with HIV infection has dramatically decreased from about 2,000 a year to fewer than 200 a year due to identification of HIV infection in pregnant women and use of anti-HIV drugs during pregnancy, cesarean delivery, and avoidance of breastfeeding.

In contrast to the United States, mother-to-child transmission in developing countries remains a major problem; about 700,000 infants are newly infected with HIV each year because most women are not screened for HIV during pregnancy, anti-HIV drugs are not available, and safe alternatives to breastfeeding are not available.

Prior to 1985, when screening of the nation’s blood supply for HIV began, some children as well as adults were infected through transfusions with blood or blood products contaminated with HIV, but this is now rare in the United States.

In contrast to the dramatic decrease in mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection, the number of cases of HIV infection in adolescents and young adults continues to increase in the United States. About one-third to one-half of new HIV infections in the United States are among adolescents and young adults.

What Are Microorganisms?

Microorganisms (Latin micro = small) are living beings so small (< 40 µm or 0.04 mm) that they are not visible by the naked eye. Microorganisms related to human health include certain bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.

Synonyms: microbes, germs, bugs.

Types of Microorganisms

Microorganisms can be, according to their characteristics, divided into several groups:

• bacteria, viruses, certain fungi and parasites
• pathogenic (capable of causing disease), non-pathogenic, and opportunistic (causing disease when they have an opportunity, like in people with low immune system)
• acellular (without cell, like viruses), unicellular (bacteria, yeasts and certain parasites), or multi-cellular (molds)

1. Bacteria

Bacteria are unicellular organisms, about few microns in size (1 micron (µm) = 1/1,000 of a millimetre), consisting of DNA, cytoplasm, structures needed for metabolism and reproduction, cell membrane, cell wall and capsule (Picture 1). Certain bacteria use flagella, tail-like appendages, to propel themselves.

Bacteria can be divided into several groups::

• Spheres or cocci (like Staphylococcus aureus), rods or bacilli (like Lactobacillus acidophilus), spirals or spirochetes (like Treponema pallidum); bacterial shape can help in their recognizing under the microscope
• Aerobic bacteria, like Mycobacterium tuberculosis, need oxygen to thrive, while  anaerobic, like Clostsridium difficile, do not. Facultative anaerobic bacteria, like Pseudomonas aureginosa, can live in aerobic and anaerobic environment.
• Gram positive (G+) bacteria, like Streptococcus, and Gram negative (G-) bacteria, like Klebsiella 
• Pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria

Certain bacteria can form endospores, a kind of encapsulated bunkers within a bacteria that enable vital parts of bacteria to survive in harsh conditions, like freezing or boiling water, dessication, lack of nutrients, etc. Some bacteria can survive weeks, and some millions of years in this form.

In the human body, bacteria usually cause localized infections, like pneumonia or skin infections. Read more about symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of bacterial infections. Bacterial infections can be diagnosed by growing a bacterial culture from a sample of infected body fluid (e.g. urine, blood), stool, discharge (e.g. sputum) or tissue (e.g. mucosal layer of the stomach). Most of bacterial infections can be successfully treated by anti-bacterial drugs – antibiotics

Examples of bacteria pathogenic for a human are:

• Staphylococcus aureus, causing skin infections, pneumonia, infection of the heart valves, etc.
• Streptococcus pyogenes, causing “strep throat”, cellulitis, etc.
• Neisseria gonorrheae, causing gonorrhea
• Salmonella, causing diarrhea in food poisoning
• Helicobacter pylori, causing chronic gastritis
• Mycoplasma, causing atypical pneumonia
• List of bacteria, pathogenic for human

Examples of non-pathogenic bacteria:

• Staphylococcus epidermidis, a part of normal skin flora
• Lactobacillus acidophilus, a part of normal intestinal flora

Examples of opportunistic bacteria:

• Certain intestinal bacteria, like Escherichia coli and Enterobacter live in the human intestine without causing any symptoms, but in a person with lowered immune system they may overgrow and cause a bowel infection.

2. Viruses

Viruses are simple microorganisms, containing only DNA or RNA molecule and capsule. They can not survive outside the host for long periods, so they are mainly transmitted by blood-to-blood or stool-to-mouth route. In the human body, they have to invade the cells to multiply (Picture 4). 

Viruses usually cause systemic infections, affecting the whole body. Examples of viruses, pathogenic for a human:

• Rhinovirus, causing common cold
• Influenzavirus, causing flu, bird flu, swine flu
• Herpes simplex virus causing herpes labialis (cold sore) or herpes genitalis
• HIV, causing AIDS
• Ebolavirus, causing hemorrhagic fever
• List of viruses pathogenic for a human

Viruses can be diagnosed by finding specific antibodies in the sample of blood (serologic tests). Vaccination against several virus infections is possible; only few viral infections can be treated by anti-viral medications, though. Read more about viral infections.

3. Fungi

Fungi are widely present in the environment and also on the human skin, gut and vagina. Read more about fungi.

4. Parasites

Read about human intestinal parasites.

Beneficial Microorganisms

Microorganisms, like certain bacteria and yeasts, living on the human skin or in the nose, mouth, throat, small and large intestine and vagina, are part of the normal human flora; they prevent overgrowth of harmful microorganisms. Some of these microbes, when overgrow, may become pathogenic, though.

Harmful or Pathogenic Microorganisms

Pathogenic means capable of causing disease. An actual harmful effect of a microbe to the body depends on:

• microbial virulence - a relative ability of a microbe to cause a disease; for example, a certain, higly virulent subtype of influenza virus may cause a bird flu, which is deadly in a high percent, while “usual” influenza virus is not.
• invasion through the body’s barriers; staph bacteria might not cause any harm to a person with an intact skin, but can cause a severe infection of a skin wound.
• amount of microbes; eating few bites of food contaminated with staph bacteria may go unnoticed, while eating the whole portion of the same food may cause a severe food poisoning.
• body’s defense (immune) system; patients with a weak immune system, like those receiving corticosteroids, often get oral thrush (candida infection of the mouth), while otherwise healthy people do not.

Human Intestinal Worms – Symptoms, Pictures, Treatment

What Are Intestinal Worms (Helminths)?

Human intestinal worms are parasites that live in the human intestine, eat bowel content or suck blood from the intestinal wall.

Intestinal worms may cause severe, life threatening infection, predominantly in children in tropical and subtropical areas where people often defecate on the ground: in rural parts of Africa, Middle East, South Asia, Indonesia and Central and South America. In people from Mediterranean parts of Europe or south parts of North America, they usually cause a relatively mild disease.

Presence of parasites of any kind (including intestinal worms) in or on the body is called infestation.

Helminth is a medical term for intestinal worm.

Symptoms of Infestation With Intestinal Worms

Intestinal worms may live in someone’s intestine for years without causing any symptoms. General symptoms may appear few weeks or several months after infestation and include paleness, weakness, tiredness (from anemia due to lost blood sucked by worms), restlessness, disturbed sleep and weight loss (due to loss of nutrients used by worms). Abdominal symptoms can last from weeks to months and include:

• Distended belly
• Foul smelling breath or gas
• Loss of appetite
• Vomiting
• Itchy anus
• Mucus in the stool
• Blood in the stool
• Loose bowel movements or diarrhea 
• Worms, their parts or eggs can be sometimes found in the stool 
• Itchy skin rash
• Swelling around the eyes
• During sleep, some worms may leave the body through the mouth, nose or anus
• Swollen itchy bump on the site of the parasite entry (usually on the foot)

Sources of Worm Infection

Worm eggs, shed in the stool of humans or animals infected with adult worms, can contaminate soil or water. Once outside the body, eggs need several days or weeks to develop into the infective stage (cysts) or immature worms (larvae) that may be ingested when you eat with soil-contaminated hands or when you eat raw unwashed vegetables. Another source of intestinal worms is undercooked infected meat of domestic pig, freshwater fish or wild animals (bear, walrus, etc.). One can also be infected by ingesting dog’s fleas that have ingested parasitic eggs. Children may contract infection from sandboxes contaminated with pets’ stool. Certain types of immature worms may penetrate through your skin during swimming or walking barefoot; when they reach the small or large intestine they grow into adult worms.

Common garden worms usually do not cause illness in human. 

How Intestinal Worms Cause Disease?

Adult worms, which may be from 1 millimeter to several meters long, invade the bowel wall and suck the blood from it, or live freely in the intestine and utilize nutrients from the bowel content. The result are small intestinal or colonic inflammation and ulcers, anemia, and protein, iron and vitamin (mainly A, C, B12) deficiency. Intestinal obstruction may occur in severe cases. Larvae may migrate to other organs (liver, spleen, bladder, muscles, lungs, brain), where they form cysts and trigger allergic inflammation.

Common Human Intestinal Worms

A. Roundworms (Nematode) (1)

• The large roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides) are found worldwide. They are several inches long and thick as a pencil (Picture 1).
• Hookworms (Necator americanus, Ancylostoma duodenale) are mostly found in tropical areas; they are about a half of inch long; they may be contracted by walking barefoot – they penetrate through the skin. Once in the intestine, they suck blood from the intestinal wall.
• Whipworm (Trichuris trichiura), causing trichuriasis
• Threadworms
  • Strongyloides stercoralis
  • Pinworm or seatworm (Enterobius vermicularis) is half an inch long, white  worm; its egs cause anal itch.
• Trichinella spiralis, causing trichinosis, may be acquired by eating undercooked contaminated pork meet. Parasites move from the intestine into muscles and other organs where they form cysts – encapsulated forms, which are hard to eradicate. Main symptoms are abdominal pain, muscular and joint pain, swelling of the eyes and skin rash

. Flukes (Trematoda)

• Schistosoma mansoni causes intestinal schistosomiasis (bilharziasis), mainly in Africa, Middle East, Caribbean and South America. It is about half an inch long and 1 millimeter thick. Adult parasites live in intestinal veins and release eggs into the intestinal hollow. Diagnosis is by finding eggs in the stool and urine

Tapeworms (Cestoda)

• Fish (broad) tapeworm (Diphyllobothrium latum) is contracted by infected freshwater fish; it may exceed 10 m; it appears in Europe, Russia and US.
• Beef tapeworm (Taenia saginata) (Picture 3) and pork tapeworm (Taenia solium) may be contracted by undercooked beef or pork – mainly in rural areas, worldwide. Adult worms may be over 20 m long.
• Dog tapeworm (Dipyllidium canium) is common in dogs and cats. Humans are (rarely) infected by ingesting dog fleas, infected with tapeworm larvae. Rice sized particles can be found in the stool

Trichicara cati or Trichicara canis can be attracted by ingesting eggs in cat’s or dog’s stool. After ingesting they develop into larvae that migrate through the body organs, like lungs. Common symptoms are fever and cough.

How Are Intestinal Worms Diagnosed?

If you suffer from unexplained abdominal bloating, diarrhea, weakness or weight loss, your doctor should suspect intestinal worms  as a possible cause. Diagnosis is confirmed by stool test for ova and parasites (O&P test). Hemoccult can reveal blood in the stool. Blood tests can reveal anemia (low ferritinand low red cells), low levels of vitamins A, C or B12, antobodies against certain worms, or elevated levels of eosinophils and IgEantibodies. Pinworm eggs from anal region can be collected by adhesive tape test.

Treatment of Intestinal Worms

A single dose of anti-worm drug, like mebendazole (safe for pregnant women), albendazole, diethylcarbamazine, ivermectin or praziquantel kills parasites in most cases. For some days after the healing, a stool-to-mouth auto-infection with eggs is still possible. Untreated infestations may last for years.

Prevention of Intestinal Worms

The following should prevent you from attracting intestinal parasites:

• Wash the hands after visiting toilet, touching soil or pets, and before meal
• Tell kids to avoid touching mouth and nose with their hands
• Do not walk barefoot and swim in lakes in tropical areas
• Avoid suspicious restaurants with poor hygiene
• Cook meat and fish well