Ascariasis is a common worm infestation in developing and under-developed countries. It is caused by the ingestion of food contaminated with Ascaris eggs from faeces and is more common in places with poor sanitation. Almost 25% of the world population is infested by Ascaris lumbricoides. Although ascariasis is a chronic disease, it can present as acute abdomen rarely. The wandering nature of Ascaris in and out of the bowel causes various abdominal complications such as intestinal obstruction, perforation, biliary ascariasis, pancreatic ascariasis, liver abscess, appendicitis, and Meckel's diverticulitis. Intestinal obstruction is the most common complication seen in children and is usually due to mechanical bowel obstruction, volvulus or intussusception. Mechanical obstruction by a bolus of worms is the most common cause of bowel obstruction. Perforation of bowel is rarely reported and it usually occurs in the diseased segment of bowel or following trauma. Perforation of an ileal volvulus secondary to ascariasis has been reported rarely. We present a 4-year-old boy who presented to the emergency room with features of bowel perforation and sepsis, after unsuccessful management for intestinal obstruction in another hospital. On laparotomy, the small bowel was teaming with Ascaris worms. Ileum showed a volvulus with closed loop obstruction and perforation. Peritoneal lavage with resection and ileostomy was done, which was closed at a later date. Anti-helminthic agents were started postoperatively and the boy recovered uneventfully.

Several studies, in different populations and environments, have shown that severe and light helminthiases diminish and increase allergy symptoms, respectively. However, data on the simultaneous presence of these contrary effects in a single community is lacking. In a rural community from Colombia, effects of helminthiases on allergy were evaluated. In the study population, age and gender-adjusted prevalence of asthma and rhinitis symptoms in the last year was 14.6% and 34.1%, respectively (N = 739). By stool exam, ascariasis and trichuriasis were 62.5% and 35.7%, respectively. Significant odds ratio (OR) for asthma presentation were Ascaris sensitization, by specific-IgE (aOR: 2.69, 95%CI: 1.21-5.98) or skin prick test (OR: 3.59, 95%CI: 1.55-8.29). Moderate/severe ascariasis was protective from asthma (aOR: 0.34, 95%CI: 0.12-0.99) and moderate/severe trichuriasis from rhinitis (aOR: 0.35, 95%CI: 0.15-0.80). In conclusion, in a rural tropical village, ascariasis exerts risk and protective effects on asthma symptoms, an influence associated with the severity of the infection.

Soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) are now no longer public health problems in the Republic of Korea (South Korea), but their status are unavailable in the residents of North Korea (NK) despite the expectation of large scale traffic and future reunification of the Korean Peninsula. A total of 20 female refugees from NK who had been admitted to the Division of Gastroenterology, Dankook University Hospital, were subjected in this study. Among them, 15 refugees were examined by the colonoscopy and 10 ones were examined with the stool examination (formalin-ether sedimentation). Both diagnostic methods were commonly adopted in 5 patients. Eggs of Trichuris trichiura were detected in 7 out of 10 refugees in the stool examination. In the colonoscopy, T. trichiura worms were found in 6 (40.0%) out of 15 refugees. Total 9 (45.0%) peoples were confirmed to be infected with human whipworms. Additionally, 1 case of clonorchiasis was diagnosed in the stool examination and a worm of Ascaris lumbricoides was discovered from a trichuriasis case. These findings suggested that STH is highly prevalent in NO, in which living conditions are not so good in the aspect of general hygiene and medical care.

Trichuris trichiura, also known as the human whipworm, is a roundworm that causes trichuriasis in humans. It is referred to as the whipworm because it looks like a whip with wide handles at the posterior end. The whipworm has a narrow anterior esophagus and a thick posterior anus. The worms are usually pink and attach to the host via the slender anterior end. The size of these worms varies from 3 to 5 cm. The female usually larger than the male. The female worm can lay anywhere from 2000 to 10,000 eggs per day. The eggs are deposited in soil from human feces. After 14 to 21 days, the eggs mature and enter an infective stage. If humans ingest the embryonated eggs, the eggs start to hatch in the human small intestine and utilize the intestinal microflora and nutrients to multiply and grow. The majority of larvae move to the cecum, penetrate the mucosa and mature to adulthood. Infections involving a high-worm burden will typically involve distal parts of the large intestine. Trichuriasis is 1 of 3 well-documented soil-transmitted helminthiasis infections; the other 2 are ascariasis and hookworm infection. It is considered a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Intestinal parasitic infections are a major public health issue across the world and particularly in rural and urban areas of tropical and subtropical countries. Those at increased risk include inhabitants of poor and disadvantaged regions, which are more likely to have inadequate environmental sanitation, insufficient water supply, greater contact rates with reservoirs of infection, limited health literacy, and socioeconomic disparities. Of the intestinal nematodes (roundworms) that parasitize the human gastrointestinal tract, Ascaris lumbricoides is the largest in terms of size. It causes ascariasis, a "neglected tropical disease," or NTD, that is among the most common helminthic human infections worldwide with an estimated 800 million to 1.2 billion people infected. It causes more than 60,000 deaths annually. However, in more than 85% of cases, infections do not result in symptoms - especially in individuals infected with a small number of worms. Thus, many individuals with intestinal ascariasis remain undiagnosed for years until either they experience symptoms and seek medical attention, the macroscopic adult worms are passed with the stool, or the adult worms are incidentally discovered during routine endoscopic procedures. Here, we present an interesting case of an elderly Bangladeshi man with seemingly innocuous complaints of intermittent mild abdominal symptoms and no recent travel history, who was discovered to have intestinal ascariasis during a screening colonoscopy.