MICROBIOLOGY

AND
PARASITOLOGY
By Albert Valencia

HELMINTHS (WORMS)
Lesson 1. Morphology and Physiology

Lesson Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Determine the classification, characteristics, morphology and

physiology of worms.
• Determine the life cycle, transmission and chain of infection of
worms.
• Discuss some important diseases caused by worms.

Discussion

MICROBIOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY

The parasitic intestinal helminths can be divided into three groups which
include Nematodes (roundworms), Cestodes (tapeworms),
and Trematodes (flukes). Helminths share numerous characteristics that
contribute to their parasitic quality including the presence of attachment
organs.

The word ‘helminth’ is a general term meaning ‘worm’, but there are
many different types of worms. Prefixes are therefore used to
designate types: platy-helminths for flat-worms and nemat-helminths
for round-worms.

General Characteristics:
➢ All helminths are multicellular eukaryotic invertebrates with
tube-like or flattened bodies exhibiting bilateral symmetry.

➢ They are triploblastic (with endo-, meso- and ecto-dermal

tissues) but the flatworms are acoelomate (do not have body
cavities) while the roundworms are pseudocoelomate (with
body cavities not enclosed by mesoderm). In contrast,
segmented annelids (such as earthworms) are coelomate
(with body cavities enclosed by mesoderm).
➢
➢ Many helminths are free-living organisms in aquatic and
terrestrial environments whereas others occur as parasites in
most animals and some plants. Parasitic helminths are an
almost universal feature of vertebrate animals; most species
have worms in them somewhere.

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Biodiversity
Three major assemblages of parasitic helminths are recognized: the
Nemathelminthes (nematodes) and the Platyhelminthes (flatworms),
the latter being subdivided into the Cestoda (tapeworms) and the
Trematoda (flukes):

nematode cestode trematode

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> Nematodes (roundworms)
- have long thin unsegmented tube-like bodies with
anterior mouths and longitudinal digestive tracts.
- They have a fluid-filled internal body cavity
(pseudocoelum) which acts as a hydrostatic skeleton
providing rigidity (so-called ‘tubes under pressure’).
- Worms use longitudinal muscles to produce a sideways
thrashing motion.
- Adult worms form separate sexes with well-developed
reproductive systems.

> Cestodes (tapeworms)

- have long flat ribbon-like bodies with a single anterior
holdfast organ (scolex) and numerous segments.
- They do not have a gut and all nutrients are taken up
through the tegument.
- They do not have a body cavity (acoelomate) and are
flattened to facilitate perfusion to all tissues. Segments
exhibit slow body flexion produced by longitudinal and
transverse muscles.
- All tapeworms are hermaphroditic and each segment
contains both male and female organs.

> Trematodes (flukes)

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 - have small flat leaf-like bodies with oral and ventral
suckers and a blind sac-like gut.
- They do not have a body cavity (acoelomate) and are
dorsoventrally flattened with bilateral symmetry.
- They exhibit elaborate gliding or creeping motion over
substrates using compact 3-D arrays of muscles.
- Most species are hermaphroditic (individuals with male
and female reproductive systems) although some blood
flukes form separate male and female adults.

Life-cycles
Helminths form three main life-cycle stages: eggs, larvae and adults.
Adult worms infect definitive hosts (those in which sexual

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development occurs) whereas larval stages may be free-living or
parasitize invertebrate vectors, intermediate or paratenic hosts.
➢ Nematodes produce eggs that embryonate in utero or outside
the host. The emergent larvae undergo 4 metamorphoses
(molts) before they mature as adult male or female worms.

➢ Cestode eggs released from gravid segments embryonate to

produce 6-hooked embryos (hexacanth oncospheres) which
are ingested by intermediate hosts. The oncospheres
penetrate host tissues and become metacestodes (encysted
larvae). When eaten by definitive hosts, they excyst and form
adult tapeworms.

➢ Trematodes have more complex life-cycles where ‘larval’

stages undergo asexual amplification in snail intermediate
hosts. Eggs hatch to release free-swimming miracidia which
actively infect snails and multiply in sac-like sporocysts to
produce numerous rediae. These stages mature to cercariae
which are released from the snails and either actively infect
new definitive hosts or form encysted metacercariae on
aquatic vegetation which is eaten by definitive hosts.

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Nematod Cestode Trematode cycle
e cycle cycle egg-miracidium-
egg - egg - sporocyst-redia-
larvae metacestode cercaria-
(L1-L4) - - adult (metacercaria)-
adult adult

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 ➢ Helminth eggs have tough resistant walls to protect the embryo
while it develops. Mature eggs hatch to release larvae either
within a host or into the external environment.

➢ The four main modes of transmission by which the larvae infect

new hosts are faecal-oral, transdermal, vector-borne and
predator-prey transmission:

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faecal- trasderma vector- predator-
oral l borne prey

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 Route of Transmission:
1 Fecal-oral transmission of eggs or larvae passed in the feces of one
. host and ingested with food/water by another (e.g. ingestion
of Trichuris eggs leads directly to gut infections in humans, while the
ingestion of Ascaris eggs and Strongyloides larvae leads to a
pulmonary migration phase before gut infection in humans).

2 Transdermal transmission of infective larvae in the soil (geo-helminths)

. actively penetrating the skin and migrating through the tissues to the

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gut where adults develop and produce eggs that are voided in host
feces (e.g. larval hookworms penetrating the skin, undergoing
pulmonary migration and infecting the gut where they feed on blood
causing iron-deficient anemia in humans).

3 Vector-borne transmission of larval stages taken up by blood-sucking

. arthropods or undergoing amplification in aquatic mollusks
(e.g. Onchocerca microfilariae ingested by blackflies and injected
into new human hosts, Schistosoma eggs release miracidia to infect
snails where they multiply and form cercariae which are released to
infect new hosts).

4 Predator-prey transmission of encysted larvae within prey animals

. (vertebrate or invertebrate) being eaten by predators where adult
worms develop and produce eggs (e.g. Dracunculus larvae in
copepods ingested by humans leading to guinea worm
infection, Taenia cysticerci in beef and pork being eaten by
humans, Echinococcus hydatid cysts in offal being eaten by dogs).

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Taxonomic overview
Two classes of nematodes are recognized on the basis of the presence
or absence of special chemoreceptors known as phasmids:
Secernentea (Phasmidea) and Adenophorea (Aphasmidea).
While many different orders are recognized within these classes, the main

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parasitic assemblages infecting humans and domestic animals include
one aphasmid order (Trichocephalida) and 6 phasmid orders (Oxyurida,
Ascaridida, Strongylida, Rhabditida, Camallanida, and Spirurida).

Order of Nematodes

1 Trichocephalid ‘whip-worms’ have long thin anterior ends which they

. embed in the intestinal mucosa of their hosts. They have simple life-
cycles where infections are acquired by the ingestion of eggs and
emergent larvae molt and mature to adults in the
gut. Trichuris infections in humans may cause inflammation, tenesmus,
straining and rectal prolapse.

2 Oxyurid ‘pin-worms’ have small thin bodies with blunt anterior ends.
. They have simple life-cycles, but with an unusual modification. Female
worms emerge from the anus of their hosts at night and attach eggs to
the skin. This causes peri-anal itching and eggs are transferred by hand
to mouth. Infections by Enterobius cause irritability and sleeplessness in
humans, especially children.

3 Ascarid ‘roundworms’ have large bodies with 3 prominent anterior lips.

. Their life-cycles involve a stage of pulmonary migration where larvae
released from ingested eggs invade the tissues and migrate through
the lungs before returning to the gut to mature as
adults. Ascaris infections in humans cause gastroenteritis, protein
depletion and malnutrition and heavy infections can cause gut
obstruction.

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4 Strongyle ‘hookworms’ have dorsally curved mouths armed with
. ventral cutting plates or teeth which they embed in host tissues to feed
on blood. They have complex life-cycles where larvae develop in the
external environment (as ‘geo-helminths’) before infecting hosts by
penetrating the skin. Once inside, they undergo pulmonary migration

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before settling in the gut to feed. Heavy infections
by Ancylostoma and Necator cause severe iron-deficient anemia in
humans, especially children.

5 Rhabditid ‘threadworms’ have tiny bodies which become embedded

. in the host mucosa. Their life-cycle includes parasitic parthenogenetic
females producing eggs which may hatch internally (leading to auto-
infection) or externally (leading to transmission of infection or formation
of free-living male and female adults). Super-infections
by Strongyloides may cause severe hemorrhagic enteritis in humans.

6 Camallanid ‘guinea worms’ infect host tissues where the large females
. cause painful blisters on the feet and legs. When hosts seek relief by
immersion in water, the blisters rupture releasing live larvae which infect
copepods that are subsequently ingested with contaminated drinking
water. The ‘fiery serpents’ mentioned in historical texts are thought to
refer to Dracunculus infections.

7 Spirurid ‘filarial worms’occur as long thread-like adults in blood vessels

. or connective tissues of their hosts. The large female worms release live
larvae (microfilariae) into the blood or tissues which are taken up by
blood-sucking mosquitoes or pool-feeding flies and transmitted to new
hosts. Onchocerca infections cause nodules, skin lesions and blindness
in humans, while those of Wuchereria cause elephantiasis.

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 MICROBIOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY
whipwor pinworm hookwor threadw
m m orm

roundworm filarial worm guinea worm

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Order of Platyhelminthes
A. Cestodes

Two subclasses of cestodes are differentiated on the basis of the numbers

of larval hooks, the Cestodaria being decacanth (10 hooks) and the
Eucestoda being hexacanth (6 hooks). Collecttively, 14 orders of cestodes

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have been identified according to differences in parasite morphology
and developmental cycles.

Two orders have particular significance as parasites of medical and

veterinary importance.

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 1 Cyclophyllidean cestodes have terrestrial 2-host life-cycles where
. adult tapeworms develop in carnivores (scolex with 4 suckers and
sometimes hooks) while larval metacestodes form bladder-like cysts
in the tissues of herbivores. The larvae of Taenia spp. cause
cysticercosis in cattle, pigs and humans, while those
of Echinococcus cause hydatid disease in humans, domestic and
wild animals.

2 Pseudophyllidean cestodes have aquatic 3-host life-cycles, involving

. the sequential formation of adult tapeworms in fish-eating animals
(scolex with 2 longitudinal bothria), procercoid larval stages in

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aquatic invertebrates (copepods) and then plerocercoid
(spargana) stages in fish e.g. Diphyllobothrium in humans, dogs and
cats being transmitted through copepods and fish.

Cyclophyllidea Pseudophyllidea

B. Trematodes
Two major groups of trematodes are recognized on the basis of their
structure and development:
1. monogenean trematodes with complex posterior adhesive
organs and direct life-cycles involving larvae called
oncomiracidia

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2. digenean trematodes with oral and posterior suckers and
heteroxenous life-cycles where adult worms infect
vertebrates and larval miracidia infect molluscs to proliferate
and produce free-swimming cercariae.

- Monogenea are almost exclusively ectoparasites of

fishes while Digenea are endoparasites in many
vertebrate hosts and have snails as vectors.
- Some 10 digenean orders are recognized on the basis
of morphologic and biologic differences, two orders
are of particular medical and veterinary significance.

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Orders:

1 Echinostomatid fasciolids (liver flukes) live as adults in hepatic bile

. ducts of mammals where they cause fibrotic ‘pipestem’ disease.
The parasites proliferate in freshwater snails and mammals
become infected by ingesting metacercariae attached to
aquatic vegetation.
Several Fasciola spp. cause hepatic disease in domestic
ruminants and occasionally in humans.

2 Strigeatid schistosomes (blood flukes) are unusual in that the

. adults are not hermaphroditic but form separate sexes which live
conjoined in mesenteric veins in mammals. Female worms lay
eggs which actively penetrate tissues to be excreted in
urine/feces or they become trapped in organs where they cause
granuloma formation. Miracidia released from eggs infect
aquatic snails and produce fork-tailed cerceriae which actively
penetrate the skin of their hosts. Several Schistosoma spp. cause
schistosomiasis/bilharzia in humans.

liver fluke blood fluke

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Key Concepts and Summary

• Flatworms are invertebrates in Phylum Platyhelminthes.

Flatworm adaptations include mesoderm, muscle
tissues, a head region, and bilateral symmetry. Flatworms
are free-living heterotrophs or parasites.

• Roundworms are invertebrates in Phylum Nematoda.

Roundworms have a pseudocoelom and complete
digestive system. They are free-living heterotrophs or
parasites.

• Three major assemblages of parasitic helminths are

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recognized: the Nemathelminthes (nematodes) and the
Platyhelminthes (flatworms), the latter being subdivided
into the Cestoda (tapeworms) and the Trematoda
(flukes).

• Helminths form three main life-cycle stages: eggs, larvae

and adults.

• The four main modes of transmission by which the larvae

infect new hosts are faecal-oral, transdermal, vector-
borne and predator-prey transmission.

• The main parasitic assemblages infecting humans and

domestic animals include one aphasmid order
(Trichocephalida) and 6 phasmid orders (Oxyurida,
Ascaridida, Strongylida, Rhabditida, Camallanida, and
Spirurida).

• Two orders of Cestode have particular significance as

parasites of medical and veterinary importance;
Cylosphyllidean and Pseudophyllidean cestodes.

• Two major groups of trematodes are recognized on the

basis of their structure and development: Monogenean
and digenean trematode.

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SUGGESTED LINKS
Deadly Worms!!! – A look at Soil Transmitted Helminths
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo0iGoe_r9Y&list=TLPQMz
AwNjIwMjCslDvRbPoHTQ&index=3

Helminths: Cestodes and Trematodes (transmission, clinical

importance, and treatment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7rqKQWdk8o&list=TLPQ
MzAwNjIwMjCslDvRbPoHTQ&index=4

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References
E. Duran Jr and A. Duran (2004). Microbiology and Parasitology p
33-36.

G. Tortora, B. Funke and C. Case (2005). Microbiology: An

Introduction 8th ed.
Pearson Education Southn Asia PTE. LTD. Copyright @2005.
https://parasite.org.au/para-site/contents/helminth-
intoduction.html

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