Soil-transmitted helminths refer to the intestinal worms infecting humans that are transmitted through contaminated soil (“helminth” means parasitic worm): Ascaris lumbricoides (sometimes called just “Ascaris“), whipworm (Trichuris trichiura), and hookworm (Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus).
Can you catch worms from soil?
Soil-transmitted helminths are parasitic worms that infect humans who come into contact (either by eating contaminated food or by walking barefoot in infected areas) with worm eggs or larva in soil.
Can you get worms from gardening?
Protoazoan parasites can be zoonotic as well and the most infamous of these one can encounter in garden soil is Toxoplasma, a parasite potentially spread about in cat feces.
How does a person get worms?
You can get worms in different ways, depending on what type they are. Many times people get worms by accidentally swallowing them or their eggs. Some worms can go through your skin when they are young and small. Sometimes you get worms when an infected insect bites you or when you eat meat from an infected animal.
Can kids get worms from soil?
Children become infected by ingesting roundworm and whipworm eggs that have matured in soil contaminated by human feces, or by walking barefoot in contaminated soil where human hookworm eggs have hatched, producing larvae that penetrate the skin.
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