Title: Ascaris Parasitic Worms: Phylum & Classification - Biology Class [2021] | Study.com
Headings: Ascaris Parasitic Worms: Phylum & Classification
Ascaris Parasitic Worms: Phylum & Classification
Ascaris Parasitic Worms
Classification in Phylum Nematoda
Parasitic Action of Ascaris Worms
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Content: Oh, did I not mention anything about human feces yet? Probably not, as I'm sure you'd remember that one. So how does the term human feces even come into play here? Well, Ascaris take up residence in the small intestines, where they mature and reproduce. A single mature female can lay up to 200,000 eggs…per day! Then she relies on the unwitting host to generously disperse her eggs through excrement, which she hopes will infect a new host. Adult Ascaris worms can reach lengths of up to 14 inches in length and their eggs can survive up to 10 years in the soil. It's thought that Ascaris currently infect somewhere between 1-2 billion people worldwide, with the greatest population residing in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Ascaris lumbricoides

Ascariasis Infection
Ascaris infection is referred to as ascariasis. Very few individuals are asymptomatic (without symptoms), and most experience anything from bowel distention (enlargement), passing worms and/or eggs in stool, fever, nausea, weight loss, intestinal ulcers (as young ascaris burrow into the intestinal walls), vomiting worms and/ or coughing (as young Ascaris make their way into the lungs during early development), as well as secondary effects such as tissue damage from coughing and blood disorders symptomatic of parasitic infections, such as eosinophilia.