Phylum Ashelminthes:

SubPhylum Nematoda
Class: Rhabditea
Subclass: Rhabditia
(Phasmidea, Secernentea)
Order: Ascaridida
Super Family: Ascaridorea
Family: Ascarididae
Ascaris lumbricoides
Common Name: Large intestinal roundworm
 Disease: Ascariasis
 Morphology:
 Creamy white or pinkish yellow
when freshly expelled
 Elongated, cylindroidal, tapering
bluntly anteriorly
 Provided with pair of lateral line
 Genital ring
 Adult male: smaller, curved
posteriorly with 2 spicules
 > 30 cm X 3 mm
 Adult female: large, tapered Female and male Ascaris lumbricoides
posteriorly
 > 20 – 25 cm X 5 mm (*45 cm)
Morphology: (cont.)
 In both sexes the mouth is 
surrounded by one dorsal and 
2 ventrolateral lips
The female is prodigious in 
egg production, depositing 
about 200,000 – 240,000 
eggs daily! The “tri­lipped/ trilobed” anterior end 
of Ascaris lumbricoides. 
Uterus may contain up to 
27 million eggs at one time!!!
1 Ascaris female produces 
approx. 65 – 75 M eggs 
during its life span of about 
12 months.
Ascaris lumbricoides
 Fertilized ova
 Ovoidal with thick
transparent shell
 Golden brown in color; 45
– 75 X 35 – 45 um
 Egg shell consist of 3
layers:
 1. Vitelline membrane
 2. Glycogen membrane
 3. Albuminous layer
 The outer, albuminous coat of
the egg is brown in color due to
bile pigment absorbed from the
feces
Ascaris lumbricoides
Unfertilized ova
 88 – 94 um by 39 – 44 um
 Larger, narrower & more

elongated than the fertilized

ova
 Shell is thinner w/ an

irregular coating of albumin

 Inside the eggs are highly

refractile granules
 First 2 layers are absent

 Sometimes eggs may be

decorticated
Question:
 Is it possible that only unfertilized Ascaris
ova are seen in the stool?
 Explain.
 Ascaris lumbricoides
(large intestinal roundworm)
 Largest nematode
adult males ( 200-300
mm)
• If no male present in
small intestine,
female will lay bizarre
shaped unfertilized
eggs
• No intermediate host
A large mass of Ascaris lumbricoides that was passed from the intestinal tract.
Typical fertilized ova
Ascaris lumbricoides

lips and face

developing embryo
 Ascaris
 Life Cycle
Life Cycle
• After being ingested, infective eggs hatch in the 
duodenum
• Larvae actively burrow into the mucosal lining, 
enter the circulatory system,  and are carried to the 
liver, through the right side of the heart, and on to 
the lungs by way of pulmonary arterial flow
•Larvae remain in the lungs several days, but
eventually rupture from the pulmonary capillaries and
enter the alveoli
From here they move up the lungs and trachea to the
epiglottis, are coughed up, swallowed, and passed into
the small intestine
After molting the worms grow to sexual maturity
Life Cycle 
• Adult worms live in the lumen of the small intestine and 
get nourishment from semidigested food in the host
• Copulation occurs here and eggs are passed with the feces
•The zygote does not begin development until the egg has 
reached the soil
•Eggs are fairly resistant to desiccation and low 
temperatures
•With proper temperatures and oxygen levels the embryo 
molts at least once in the shell and develops to an infective 
larva
•Eggs can remain viable in the soil for 2 years
Epidemiology

• Distribution of A. lumbricoides is worldwide, but 
it is prevalent in warmer climates
• It depends upon poor sanitation for its 
proliferation
• It is most prevalent in children:
• they are exposed to contaminated soil, 
• do not wash before eating, 
•put hands in mouth, etc.
Pathogenesis & Symptomatology
2 Types:
3. Produced by migrating larva
4. Produced by the adult worms

• Most cases of ascariasis are asymptomatic
• The most frequent symptom is upper abdominal discomfort
• Little damage results from larval penetration of the host’s mucosa
• However, aberrant larvae migrating in such organs as the spleen, 
liver, lymph nodes, and brain usually result in an inflammatory 
response
• Also, larvae escaping from capillaries in the lungs and entering the 
respiratory system cause small, hemorrhagic foci accompanied by 
coughing, fever, and difficulty in breathing
Pathogenesis & Symptomatology, cont.
2. Due to adult worms:
 Worms sometimes cause mechanical blockage of the
intestinal tract
 Also, worms may penetrate the intestinal wall or
appendix causing local hemorrhaging
 Overcrowding may also lead to wandering; worms can
enter the appendix and cause blockage; worms have
been known to migrate all the way to the anus
 Some worms migrate anteriorly and have been known to
block pancreatic and bile ducts; others have gotten into
the stomach and some even as far as the esophagus
and tracheae
Diagnosis
 Finding the characteristic ova in the stool
of a patient:
 DFS
 Kato Thick Smear Technique
 Kato Katz Technique – quantitative method
Treatment
 2 ways:
 1. Mass treatment
 2. Selective treatment
 DOC:
 Mebendazole
 Pyrantel pamoate
Toxocara canis

• Found in the small intestine of dogs and other canines
• Causes visceral larval migrans among humans (an accidental 
host); most common among children
• It usually results from the ingestion of eggs and the subsequent  
migration of second stage larvae within the internal organs 
• The second stage larvae hatching from the eggs penetrate the 
intestinal wall and quickly invade the liver
• Although a majority of these larvae remain in the liver, some pass 
on to the lungs and, sometimes, the CNS and eyes
• Although most of the larvae eventually gravitate to a single 
location and become encapsulated by host tissues, for a period of 
time they actively migrate through the tissues, leaving long trails of 
inflammatory  reaction cells
Visceral Larval Migrans Case Study

• A previously healthy 37-year-old black man had

fever, abdominal cramping, vomiting, and
diarrhea. After 1 week of symptoms, a chest
radiograph showed multiple noncavitating
pulmonary nodules
• On further questioning, the patient stated that he
had acquired a puppy 1 month before onset of the
abdominal pain. The puppy was being house-
trained, and the patient had had no previous
household exposure to dogs. Subsequently, tests
for serum antibodies against
• T canis IgG and IgM were obtained and were
A chest radiograph showing
positive at 11.5 and 9.3 standard deviations above multiple noncavitating
the mean of a reference group of normal subjects. pulmonary nodules
The Toxocara IgM titer indicated acute infection
with T canis.