276 



OTHER INTESTINAL ROUNDWORMS 



The symptoms produced by Ascaris infection vary greatly 

 with different individuals. In some cases a great number of 

 Ascaris may be harbored with practically no ill effects. Often, 

 however, even when small numbers are present, peculiar mental 

 and constitutional ailments occur, such as feverishness, anemia, 

 restlessness, epilepsy, insomnia and deliriousness. In combina- 

 tion with these nervous troubles there is usually some dyspeptic 

 trouble, such as irregular appetite, nausea and stomach aches. 

 The nervous and other constitutional symptoms are the result 



of poisoning or intoxication from sub- 

 stances given off by the worms in the 

 intestine, as explained in Chapter XI, 

 p. 203. The worms occasionally creep 

 forward into the throat or nose. Their 

 wandering into other organs through 

 ducts leading from the intestine or 

 into the body cavity through the in- 

 testinal walls often gives rise to serious 

 abscesses which call for an operation 

 and removal of the intruders. The 

 production of a serious and often 

 fatal pneumonia in rats, pigs and other 

 animals by larvae developed from eggs 

 experimentally fed to them leaves 

 little room for doubt but that a sim- 

 FIG. no. Human whipworm, ij ar condition is produced after human 



Trichuris trichiura: A, female; . - ,. 1,1 A i_ 



ov., ovary; ut., uterus; v., vulva; infection, and that Ascans may be 

 int., intestine; w. f whipiike an- the cause of certain lung troubles in 



terior end containing oesophagus. . 



X 3. , egg; note barrel shape Human beings. 



and piugiike bodies at ends. Santonin has been the classical 



drug for expelling Ascaris, but oil 



of chenopodium has recently been demonstrated to be considerably 

 more effective. According to Hall and Foster oil of chenopodium, 

 properly administered (see Chap. XIV, p. 264), is almost 100 

 per cent effective for ascarids, and is more dependable than any 

 other drug commonly used for worms. 



Whipworm. With the possible exception of the hookworms 

 and Ascaris, the whipworm, Trichuris trichiura (Figs. 106 and 

 110), is the most common worm parasitic in man. It is a nema- 



