close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffThe best defense against ascariasis is good hygiene and common sense. Follow these tips to avoid infection:
- Practice good hygiene. Ascariasis is spread by ingesting parasite eggs from contaminated soil. Before handling food, always wash your hands with soap and water, and wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly.
- Use care when traveling. Ascariasis is the most common roundworm infection in the world, with higher infection rates in developing and warm-climate countries. When traveling, use only bottled water and avoid raw vegetables unless you can peel and wash them yourself. As a rule, eat only foods that are hot and cooked.
References
- Maguire JH. Intestinal nematodes (roundworms). In: Mandell GL, et al. Mandell, Douglas and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..00287-3&displayedEid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..00287-3--s0010&uniq=173908408&isbn=978-0-443-06839-3&sid=924114946#lpState=closed&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..00287-3%3Btype%3DbookPage%3Bisbn%3D978-0-443-06839-3%3BdisplayedEid%3D4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..00287-3--s0010. Accessed Nov. 25, 2009.
- Leder K, et al. Ascariasis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 25, 2009.
- Weller PF, et al. Pulmonary manifestations of ascariasis. http://uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 25, 2009.
- Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura. Bad Bug Book: Foodborne pathogenic microorganisms and natural toxins handbook. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodborneIllness/FoodborneIllnessFoodbornePathogensNaturalToxins/BadBugBook/ucm070828.htm. Accessed Dec. 1, 2009.
- Parasites and health: Ascariasis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Ascariasis.htm. Accessed Dec. 1, 2009.
- Ascariasis. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2010. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/173908408-11/924114946/2088/66.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05609-0..00010-1--sc0290_1245. Accessed Dec. 1, 2009.
- Bedell DA, et al. Ascariasis. In: Rakel RE. Textbook of Family Medicine. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/174032189-3/924486535/1481/300.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2467-5..50029-4--cesec6_1353. Accessed Dec. 2, 2009.
- Steckelberg JM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 3, 2009.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed Dec. 2, 2009.
- Ascaris infection (Ascariasis). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/ascaris/factsht_ascaris.htm. Accessed Dec. 2, 2009.
Find Mayo Clinic on