The following are the most important diseases or complications that may be contributed to by cestodes (tapeworms):
Cyclophyllidae
- Weight loss
- Appendicitis (inflammation of the appendix)
Echinococcus [Echinococcosis]
- Occlusive icterus – yellowing of the skin caused by obstruction of the bile ducts.
- Hemoptysis (coughing up blood)
- Allergic shock
Pseudophyllidae
- Ileus (intestinal obstruction)
- Anemia (anemia) due to vitamin B12 deficiency.
The following are the main diseases or complications that can be caused by nematodes (threadworms) with:
Ancylostomatidae
Anisakis
- Chronic spontaneous urticaria – persistent wheal formation or angioedema (acute onset, painless edema (swelling) of the subcutis (lower layer of the skin) or submucosa (layer of tissue between the mucosa and the muscle layer); or even a combination of both) lasting longer than six weeks; cause is not always known
- Gastric perforation with peritonitis (peritonitis).
- Ileus (intestinal obstruction)
- Allergic reactions
Angiostrongylidae
- Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis (combined inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) and meninges (meningitis)) with neurological focal symptoms such as eye muscle paralysis, paresthesias (sensory disturbances), psychotic disorders.
- Ileus (intestinal obstruction)
Ascarididae (roundworms)
- Ileus (intestinal obstruction)
- Bronchitis (inflammation of the bronchi)
- Blindness (amaurosis)
Enterobius
- Failure to thrive/behave
- Inflammation of the genital organs, unspecified
- Appendicitis (inflammation of the appendix)
- Intestinal perforation (intestinal perforation)
- Peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum)
Filiariidae (nematode)
- Dermatitis (inflammatory reaction of the skin).
- Elephantiasis (abnormal enlargement of a body part due to lymphatic congestion).
- Hydrocele (water hernia)
- Bacterial or mycotic superinfections
- Tropical pulmonary eosinophilia syndrome – lung disease characterized by nocturnal asthma attacks.
- Endocarditis (meningitis of the heart).
- Renal damage, unspecified
- Meningoencephalitis (combined inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) and meninges (meningitis)).
- Conjunctivitis (conjunctivitis).
- Keratitis (corneal inflammation)
- Onchocerciasis (river blindness) – chronic disease caused by filariae of the species Onchocerca volvulus from the group of nematodes and leads to blindness in about 10% of sufferers.
- Chorioretinitis – inflammation of the choroid (choroid) with involvement of the retina (retina).
Rhabditidae
- Pneumonia (pneumonia)
- Chronic bronchitis
- Wasting syndrome
Spiruridae
- Ulceration (ulceration)
- Bacterial superinfection of the ulcer
Toxocara canis/-cati
- Chronic spontaneous urticaria – persistent wheal formation or angioedema (acute onset, painless edema (swelling) of the subcutis (lower layer of the skin) or submucosa (layer of tissue between the mucosa and the muscle layer); or a combination of both) lasting longer than six weeks; cause is not always known
- Visual acuity loss (loss of visual acuity).
- Localization in the muscles, liver, lungs or central nervous system is possible
Trichinella (trichinosis) [trichinellosis].
- Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle)
- Pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs)
- Meningitis/encephalitis (brain (skin) inflammation)
- Rheumatoid complaints
Trichuridae (whipworms)
- Failure to thrive
- Anemia (anemia)
The following are the main diseases or complications that can be caused by trematodes (sucking worms) with:
Intestinal fluke
- Hemorrhages (bleeding).
- Mucosal ulcerations (ulcers of the mucous membrane)
- Facial edema
- Ascites (abdominal dropsy)
- Cachexia
- Malabsorption syndrome
- Ileus (intestinal obstruction)
Liver fluke
- Cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder)
- Hepatitis (inflammation of the liver)
- Cirrhosis of the liver (“shrunken liver”; represents far advanced stage of long-standing liver disease).
- Malignant neoplasms in the area of liver / biliary tract.
Paragonimus (lung fluke)
- Pleurisy (pleurisy) with effusion.
- Pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs)
- Bronchiectasis (synonym: bronchiectasis) – persistent irreversible saccular or cylindrical dilatation of the bronchi (medium-sized airways), which may be congenital or acquired; symptoms: chronic cough with “mouthful expectoration” (large-volume triple-layered sputum: foam, mucus, and pus), fatigue, weight loss, and decreased exercise capacity
- Lung abscess – encapsulated accumulation of pus in the lungs.
- Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain)
- Meningitis (meningitis)
- Epileptic seizures
- Spastic paraplegia – paralysis of all extremities.
- Affection of the heart, unspecified
- Subcutaneous granulomas
Schistosoma [schistosomiasis; bilharzia]
- Bronchitis (inflammation of the bronchi)
- Acute hepatitis (inflammation of the liver)
- Granulomatous growths, especially on the liver, urinary bladder and rectum.
- Recurrent urinary tract infections
- Carcinoma of the urinary bladder (bladder cancer)
- Extrauterine pregnancy – pregnancy that settles outside the uterus (womb).
- Infertility (infertility).
- Anemia (anemia)
- Portal hypertension
Possible other sequelae/complications:
- Cor pulmonale – dilatation (widening) and/or hypertrophy (enlargement) of the right ventricle (main chamber) of the heart due to pulmonary hypertension (increase in pressure in the pulmonary circulation: pulmonary arterial mean pressure (mPAP) > 25 mmHg at rest – normal mPAP is 14 ± 3 and does not exceed 20 mmHG), which may be due to various diseases of the lung
- Katayama fever – immune response to acute schistosomiasis infection; ca. 2-8 weeks after infection, pulmonary passage of the parasites causes an allergic reaction with edema, wheal formation, and a rapid rise in fever with chills, headache, and cough; due to the deposition of antigen-antibody complexes may develop hepatosplenomegaly (liver and spleen enlargement), lymphadenopathies (lymph node enlargement), sometimes glomerulonephritis (kidney disease caused by inflammation of the renal corpuscles); typically, a pronounced eosinophilia (increase in the number of eosinophilic granulocytes in the blood count)
- Pulmonary hypertension (portal hypertension; pulmonary hypertension).
