What is roundworm infestation?

          Roundworms or Nematodes as they are named are among the commonest and most widely distributed of invertebrates. Although best known as parasites of man and his domestic animals, a majority are free-living. The free-living and plant parasitic forms are usually microscopic but animal-parasitic species are long and thin, tapering at each end. The outside of its body is covered with a thin cuticle. They look something like earthworms. Do you know how they manage to enter our body?

          The roundworms generally lay eggs on the exposed eatables like fruits, vegetables, sweets, etc. If we eat these fruits or vegetables without washing they reach our intestines. When the eggs reach there they hatch and the roundworms come out.

          The roundworms live happily in our intestines. Here they get a lot of food on which they thrive. As a matter of fact, they eat up a large part of the food we eat. That is why a person afflicted by them starts becoming weak gradually. These worms have thick and tough skin on which the digestive juices do not have any effect.

          If the growth of roundworms in the intestines is not checked in time, their presence can be disastrous. Fortunately, we have many medicines today which can kill them easily. A person afflicted by them should immediately consult a doctor.

          A person afflicted by roundworms excretes thousands of eggs everyday in his stool. If our habits are unhygienic, some of these eggs are carried to open fields, where from they reach fruits and vegetables. When we eat such things without washing them properly they get inside our body.

          Compared to adults, children have more complaints of roundworms. It is because children play in the open, and are careless about sanitary habits. If eatables and our hands are properly washed before eating, the possibility of getting roundworms becomes negligible.