How to Identify Human Parasites

Human parasites are organisms that live inside the human body. The parasite depends on the food eaten by the person for survival and can hurt the human body by harming the tissues and cells. The parasites also create toxic waste inside the human body making the person sick. There are various ways of getting parasites such as through contact of another infected person, contaminated water, insect bites, or handling soil contaminated with the parasites eggs.

Instructions

• 1

  Recognize the various kinds of protozoa parasites. Amoebe and ciliates are a part of the parasite family protozoa. They live inside the intestines in the human body. They are single cell parasites that can affect a person's body if they drink contaminated water or touch soil or fecal matter from an animal (example: a litter box) that has eggs of a protozoa parasite. Amoeba is hard to distinguish under a microscope since they vary in shape and move extremely slow while ciliates are elongated and oval with hair-like structure on the edges of its surface. Some symptoms of having these parasites are abdominal pain and diarrhea.

• 2

  Look for pinworms that can come out in human stool or in the bedsheets. These are thread-like white worms no bigger than the size of a staple. Pinworms is a parasite that lives in the colon of humans and lays its eggs near the anus. This parasite is transmitted through soil that has eggs of pinworms, dirty bed sheets and clothes, or another infected person. Itching and an irritated anal area are symptoms of pinworms.

• 3

  Test for hookworms. These parasites will not come out of the human body once they make their way in through contaminated water or fruits or vegetables. Hookworms have teeth that hook onto the walls of the intestines where they feed on human blood. This parasite causes weakness, diarrhea, nausea, and anemia.

• 4

  Notice roundworms that may come out in the stool. These are elongated, oval worms that are unsegmented. A person can get roundworms if they touch soil that has roundworm eggs without washing afterwards. They can also be passed on from one person to another without washing hands and clothes. Roundworms live in mostly human intestines but travel to other areas of the body. They can cause weight loss, weakness and abdominal pain.