A patient infected with Trichuris trichiura (the whipworm) may have a number of clinical symptoms, the severity of which depend on the number of adult worms present.
Risk factors for becoming infected:
(1) eating contaminated soil (pica)
(2) eating contaminated vegetables
(3) poverty
Clinical findings:
(1) abdominal pain
(2) anorexia
(3) diarrhea
(4) variable blood in the stool
(6) rectal prolapse (in heavy infections)
(7) failure to thrive
(8) variable eosinophilia (may be normal in light infections)
(9) presence of ova in the stool
Heavy infections can result in the trichuris dysentery syndrome (previous section) which can mimic an inflammatory bowel disease.
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