Ascariasis in the context of "Onsite sanitation"

Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems aim to protect human health by providing a clean environment that will stop the transmission of disease, especially through the fecal–oral route. For example, diarrhea, a main cause of malnutrition and stunted growth in children, can be reduced through adequate sanitation. There are many other diseases which are easily transmitted in communities that have low levels of sanitation, such as ascariasis (a type of intestinal worm infection or helminthiasis), cholera, hepatitis, polio, schistosomiasis, and trachoma, to name just a few.

A range of sanitation technologies and approaches exists. Some examples are community-led total sanitation, container-based sanitation, ecological sanitation, emergency sanitation, environmental sanitation, onsite sanitation and sustainable sanitation. A sanitation system includes the capture, storage, transport, treatment and disposal or reuse of human excreta and wastewater. Reuse activities within the sanitation system may focus on the nutrients, water, energy or organic matter contained in excreta and wastewater. This is referred to as the "sanitation value chain" or "sanitation economy". The people responsible for cleaning, maintaining, operating, or emptying a sanitation technology at any step of the sanitation chain are called "sanitation workers".

Soil-transmitted helminthiasis is a type of worm infection (helminthiasis) caused by different species of roundworms. It is caused specifically by worms transmitted through soil contaminated with faecal matter and are known as soil-transmitted helminths. Three types of soil-transmitted helminthiasis can be distinguished: ascariasis, hookworm infection and whipworm infection. These three types of infection are therefore caused by the large roundworm A. lumbricoides, the hookworms Necator americanus or Ancylostoma duodenale and by the whipworm Trichuris trichiura.

It has become the most common parasitic disease of humans worldwide. Approximately two billion people (about a fourth of global population) are infected as of the latest estimate, and four billion at risk, surpassing even the all-time most prevalent parasitic disease, malaria. The largest numbers of cases occur in impoverished rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and China. Its main cause, like for many types of helminth infections, is lack of sanitation, such as the practice of open defecation, lack of hygiene such as hand washing and walking barefoot on contaminated soil. It is regarded as one of the world's most important causes of intellectual and physical retardation.

Ascaris lumbricoides is a large parasitic roundworm of the genus Ascaris. It is the most common parasitic worm in humans. An estimated 807 million–1.2 billion people are infected with Ascaris lumbricoides worldwide. People living in tropical and subtropical countries are at greater risk of infection. Infection by Ascaris lumbricoides is known as ascariasis.

It has been proposed that Ascaris lumbricoides and Ascaris suum (pig roundworm) are the same species.

Ascaris is a nematode genus of parasitic worms known as the "small intestinal roundworms". One species, Ascaris lumbricoides, affects humans and causes the disease ascariasis. Another species, Ascaris suum, typically infects pigs. Other ascarid genera infect other animals, such as Parascaris equorum, the equine roundworm, and Toxocara and Toxascaris, which infect dogs and cats.

Their eggs are deposited in feces and soil. Plants with the eggs on them infect any organism that consumes them. A. lumbricoides is the largest intestinal roundworm and is the most common helminth infection of humans worldwide. Infestation can cause morbidity by compromising nutritional status, affecting cognitive processes, inducing tissue reactions such as granuloma to larval stages, and by causing intestinal obstruction, which can be fatal.

Ascaris suum, also known as the large roundworm of pig, is a parasitic nematode that causes ascariasis in pigs. While roundworms in pigs and humans are today considered as two species (A. suum and A. lumbricoides) with different hosts, cross-infection between humans and pigs is possible; some researchers have thus argued they are the same species. Ascariasis is associated with contact to pigs and pig manure in Denmark.

A. suum is distributed worldwide and grows up to 40 cm (16 in) in length. Ascaris infections are treated with ascaricides. A. suum is in the family Ascarididae, and is one of the oldest associations to mankind.

Mebendazole (MBZ), sold under the brand name Vermox among others, is a medication used to treat a number of parasitic worm infestations. This includes ascariasis, pinworm infection, hookworm infections, guinea worm infections and hydatid disease, among others. It has been used for treatment of giardiasis but is not a preferred agent. It is taken by mouth.

Mebendazole is usually well tolerated. Common side effects include headache, vomiting, and ringing in the ears. If used at large doses it may cause bone marrow suppression. It is unclear if it is safe in pregnancy. Mebendazole is a broad-spectrum antihelminthic agent of the benzimidazole type.