TM
Signs and Symptoms of a Hookworm Infection
Most people have no symptoms once the worm enters the intestine. However upon severe infection, many children complain and present with the signs and symptoms in the table below. Symptoms can take weeks or months to develop depending on the severity of infection, as well as the amount of iron in an infected person’s diet. The worm Ancylostoma duodenale can actually stay dormant in the body for eight months before becoming infective.
Foot Symptoms - due to the worm entering the body by the foot
• Itchy Foot
• Ground Itch
• Pimply rash at worm entry site
• Pimply rash on foot
Lung Symptoms - when the larvae are temporarily in the lungs prior to moving to the intestines
• Wheezing
• Coughing
Gastrointestinal Symptoms – when the worms infect the bowel or small intestines
• Diarrhea
• Vague abdominal pain
• Intestinal cramps
• Abdominal colic
• Nausea
Gastrointestinal bleeding
• Blood in stools
• Black Stools
Anemia due to worms sucking nutrients from blood
• Pallor
• Fatigue
• Malaise
Worm eggs in stool or worm fragments in stool
• Eggs or worm fragments in stool sample (eggs are usually detected by a microscope)