Phylum Nematoda

Roundworms
PHYLUM : Nematoda
CLASS : Secernetea
ORDER : Strongylida
FAMILY : Uncinariidae
GENUS : Necator
SPECIES : americanus
 Necator americanus
(New World Hookworm)
• Located in the jejenum

• Mode of transmission: skin penetration

• Infective stage: Filariform larva

• Adult worms are cylindrical in shape with cephalic portion

curve against the curve of the body and have a small
buccal capsule with a pair of semilunar cutting plates
Bursa
• Human intestinal nematode of smaller size, inhabit the
small intestine

• World-wide distribution, about 900 million infections in the world

• A. duodenale is prevalent in Southern Europe, North

Africa, Northern Asia (North China) and the more pathogenic one

• N. americanus is the predominant species in the

Western hemisphere and equatorial Africa (South China)

• Many areas are endemic for both species

• Heavy infection may evoke anaemia known as "Yellow Laziness"

 Characteristic Ancylostoma duodenale Necator americanus

Common name Old World Hookworm New World Hookworm

Body curvature “C” shaped “S” shaped

Dental pattern 2 pairs of teeth Semi-lunar cutting plate

Bursa Dorsal ray, tridigitate or Dorsal ray bidigitate or bifid

tripartite
Spicule Plain, bristle-like Barbed, fused

Habitat Small intestine Small intestine

Diagnostic stage Ova Ova

Infective stage L3 (filariform) L3 (filariform)

Mode of transmission Skin penetration, Purely percutaneous

transmammary
 Morphology : Adults
Necator americanus

• Females are 9 – 11mm long

and 0.4mm in diameter

• Males are 7-9mm by 0.3mm

• Smaller than A. duodenale

 Morphology : Adults
Necator americanus ventral

• Pair of semilunar cutting

plates on the ventral wall of
the buccal cavity

• Posterior end bears a

copulatory bursa in males
 Morphology : Adults
Ancylostoma duodenale

• Females are 10 – 13 mm long

and 0.6 mm in diameter

• Males are 8-11 mm by 0.4

mm

• Smaller than A. duodenale

 Morphology : Adults
Ancylostoma duodenale

• Two pairs of curved teeth in

the ventral wall of the buccal
cavity

• Posterior end has an

umbrella-shaped copulatory
bursa with riblike rays in
males
Egg

• Oval or can-shaped

• With a thin, hyaline shell

• Length 60-75 µm

• Width 36-40 µm

• Similar in both A. duodenale and

N. americanus
 Life cycle
• No intermediate host is necessary

• Larva has a free living mode

• Filariform larva (L3) is infective stage

• Infection routes:
– Skin penetration (mainly)
– Orally – swallowing
– Maternal-child

• Residing in human upper small intestine:

– Duodenum and jejunum
Eggs are passed in the stool , and under favorable conditions (moisture, warmth, shade), larvae hatch
in 1 to 2 days. The released rhabditiform larvae grow in the feces and/or the soil , and after 5 to 10
days (and two molts) they become filariform (third-stage) larvae that are infective . These infective
larvae can survive 3 to 4 weeks in favorable environmental conditions. On contact with the human host,
the larvae penetrate the skin and are carried through the blood vessels to the heart and then to the lungs.
They penetrate into the pulmonary alveoli, ascend the bronchial tree to the pharynx, and are swallowed
. The larvae reach the small intestine, where they reside and mature into adults. Adult worms live in the
lumen of the small intestine, where they attach to the intestinal wall with resultant blood loss by the host
. Most adult worms are eliminated in 1 to 2 years, but the longevity may reach several years.
 Pathogenesis
1. Hookworm larvae dermatitis:
- Penetration of skin by filariform larvae may be asymptomatic in
previously uninfected individuals
- However, those experiencing repeated infections develop itching, known as
"ground itch" or "dew itch"

2. Migration of pre-adult causes temporary pulmonary inflammation:

– In heavily infected individuals there can be symptoms of pneumonia during the
migratory phase in the developmental cycle of these worms

3. Anaemia:
– Especially in young children
– Hypoproteinemic because of some loss of serum proteins
– Iron-deficiency

4. Allotriophagy (Geophagy): due to the iron-deficiency

• Moist, shady, sandy, or loamy soil favours
persistence of these worms

• Larvae can survive for up to 6 weeks

• Do not live long in clay, dry, hard packed soils

or where temperatures are freezing, or are higher than 450C
 Ascaris lumbricoides
PHYLUM : Nematoda
CLASS : Rhabditea
ORDER : Ascaridida
FAMILY : Ascarididae
GENUS : Ascaris
SPECIES : lumbricoides
• Ascaris lumbricoides is one of the largest and most common
parasites found in humans

• Adult females of this species can reach 48cm (males are

generally shorter)

• Estimated that 25% of the world's population is infected

• with this nematode

• Adult worms live in small Intestine of humans

• Eggs are passed in the faeces

• Head has three fleshy lips

• Digestive and reproductive organs float inside the body

cavity which contain an irritating allergic fluid

• Irritant action is due to the presence of a toxin (ascarone)

which is probably of the nature of primary albuminosis

• A single female can produce up to 200,000 eggs/ day

• About two weeks after passage in the faeces the eggs

contain infective larvae
• Eggs
• Fertilized egg of Ascaris lumbricoides is spherical or
sub-spherical (65-75μm by 35-50 μm)
Adult worms live in the lumen of the small intestine. A female may produce approximately 200,000
eggs per day, which are passed with the feces . Unfertilized eggs may be ingested but are not infective.
Fertile eggs embryonate and become infective after 18 days to several weeks , depending on the
environmental conditions (optimum: moist, warm, shaded soil). After infective eggs are swallowed , the
larvae hatch , invade the intestinal mucosa, and are carried via the portal, then systemic circulation to
the lungs . The larvae mature further in the lungs (10 to 14 days), penetrate the alveolar walls, ascend
the bronchial tree to the throat, and are swallowed . Upon reaching the small intestine, they develop
into adult worms . Between 2 and 3 months are required from ingestion of the infective eggs to
oviposition by the adult female. Adult worms can live 1 to 2 years.
• Ascaris infections in humans can cause significant pathology

• Migration of larvae through lungs causes blood vessels to

haemorrhage
– Inflammatory response accompanied by oedema
– Results in "ascaris pneumonia" (can be fatal)

• Adult worms also presents problems

– worms physically block the gastrointestinal tract
– Ascaris migrates within the small intestine

• Ascaris migrates into and block

– bile or pancreatic duct
– or worms penetrate small intestine resulting in acute (and fatal)
peritonitis
Ascaris suum is found in pigs
(life cycle identical to A.
lumbricoides)

Ascaris suum do not develop in

human intestine