- Ascaris live in many regions of the world, but they are most common in tropical climates in areas with poor sanitation. In the United States, infection rates are highest in the southeast.
- Adult females can reach up to 35 centimeters long; males are slightly shorter, measuring between 15 and 30 centimeters long.
- Adult female worms can lay up to 200,000 eggs daily. The eggs are laid in feces.
- To become infected, you must ingest fertilized eggs. The eggs hatch in the small intestine where the worms can live for as long as two years.
- It takes between two and three months from ingestion to infection. Ascaris infection is called ascariasis.
- Ascariasis is often asymptomatic. There are non-specific symptoms that become evident as the eggs move through the body; you may experience coughing, abdominal pain and slow weight gain. You may pass a worm in your stool.
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