http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2006/Enterobius/general%20information.

htm

August 20, 2010

Parasite Name: Enterobius vermicularis (formerly Oxyuris vermicularis )

Synonyms: pinworm, threadworm, seatworm

Classification: Helminth (nematode)

Taxonomy: Animalia Nematoda Secernetea Rhabditida Oxyuridae Enterobius vermicularis

Pinworm has the broadest geographic range of any helminth, and is the most prevalent
helminth infection in the USA and Western Europe. It is commonly found in school-aged
children, though it is seen in adults as well.

The worms are small, white, and threadlike, with the

larger females ranging between 8-13 mm x 0.3-0.5 mm and the smaller males ranging
between 2-5 mm x 0.1-0.2 mm. Females also possess a long, pin-shaped posterior end from
which the parasite's name is derived. They dwell primarily in the cecum of the large intestine,
from where the gravid females migrate at night to lay up to 15,000 eggs on the perineum.

Picture from: http://plpnemweb.ucdavis.edu/nemaplex/Taxadata/Evermicularis.htm

 Pinworm eggs are flattened asymmetrically on one side, ovoid,
approximately 55 mm x 25 mm in size, and embryonate in six hours. These eggs can remain
viable for about twenty days in a moist environment, and viable eggs and larvae were even
found in the sludge of sewage treatment plants in Czechoslovakia in 1992.

Picture from: http://www.nih.go.jp/niid/para/atlas/japanese/enterb.html

It has also been recently speculated that pinworms themselves

may serve as an intermediate host to Dientamoeba fragilis, a relatively mysterious protozoa
that is still struggling to gain recognition as a human pathogen in certain countries. However,
an increasing number of studies are incriminating it as a legitimate enteric pathogen, and it
has been associated with clinical syndromes such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea,
vomiting, and fatigue. However, much about this pathogen, including its transmission, is still
being investigated. Most intestinal protozoa are transmitted fecal-orally via a cyst form, but
D. fragilis is generally accepted as not having a cyst form. Therefore, researchers have turned
to its proposed nearest relative, Histomonas meleagridis, for comparison. H. meleagridis
possesses several characteristics comparable to those of D. fragilis, and it is interesting to
note that it is transmitted via the eggs of the nematode Heterakis gallinae. Burrows and
Swerldlow proposed in 1956 that D. fragilis is transmitted via pinworm eggs based on the
analysis of 22 appendices in which D. fragilis was isolated: There was a 20-fold greater
incidence of pinworm infection than calculated, and small ameboid bodies bearing great
resemblance to the nuclei of D. fragilis were observed in the pinworm eggs. However, it is
still worth bearing in mind that D. fragilis has been associated with other intestinal parasites
(such as Ascaris lumbricoides), and that the lack of a cyst stage yet to be conclusively proven,
as D. fragilis has been found to have a high rate of coinfection with organisms which are
transmitted fecal-orally.

Picture from: http://ryoko.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/dientamoeba.html

Site Creator Information

Christine Yang, 2007, christine.yang@stanford.edu
Stanford University
Parasites & Pestilence: Infectious Public Health Challenges
Prof. D. Scott Smith, ssmith@stanford.edu