Yeah, I think the title about covers it.
This week's Grand Rounds is up over at The Health Business blog. A few posts I'd like to highlight this week: this one at inkycircus about a pinworm infestation, complete with video link. (Probably not for the faint of heart!)
How evil (ew ew ew ew) is this: after laying eggs around the anus, the female worm secretes an itching agent, which causes the host to scratch his or her ass, thereby transferring the eggs to the fingers, a mere hop skip and jump away from more oral ingestion. And so, the ew ew ew ew ew EW life cycle continues. But take comfort: they don't cause any major bodily harm. They might just disturb your sleep though by triggering itching and "crawling" sensations.
The second is from donorcycle, reminding us that April is organ donor awareness month. So in case you haven't filled out your cards or talked with your loved ones about what you want done with your spare parts in the event of your demise, put it on your "to do" list.
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You'll be happy to know that the video was so disturbing it actually made my ass itch.
Sweet--mission accomplished.
Hmmm...been busy and just catching up on posts...this happened to a family member, but I did not get to see any cool videos (I don't think the "colonscope" was perfected in those days) then.
so, my question is, were those little buggers wriggling around so much because somebody was shining a light on them, or are they normally that active? I think I'd be cramping too...I mean, think what fiber irritants do for you. Are they feeding on fecal/food material or on the colon itself? Wikipedia, here I come...
Oh, and, as a Donorcycle rider, an addendum: Sign your donor card AND make your wishes clear in writing to several relatives!!! The latter is really key.
Good question. I know the eggs are sensitive to sunlight, but not sure about the adult worms.