Common Name(s):
Threadworm
Alternative Names & Classifications:
Strongyloidiasis (CLINICAL)
Description
Strongyloides larvae in contaminated soil penetrate intact human skin and migrate via the bloodstream to the lungs, eventually being swallowed to mature in the small intestine. The parasite can uniquely undergo an internal autoinfection cycle, allowing the disease to persist asymptomatically for decades. If the host becomes immunosuppressed, this cycle accelerates into a fatal hyperinfection syndrome with massive larval dissemination.