Infestation with the roundworm ASCARIS LUMBRICOIDES, which lives in the small intestine of its human host. Ascariasis is common worldwide, especially in the tropics. The disease is spread by ingestion of worm eggs, usually from food grown in soil that has been contaminated by human faeces. Light infestation may cause no symptoms, but mild nausea, abdominal pain, and irregular bowel movements may occur. A worm may be passed via the rectum or vomited. A large number of worms may compete with the host for food, leading to malnutrition and anaemia, which in children can retard growth. Treatment is with anthelmintic drugs, such as levamisole, which usually produce complete recovery.
Ascariasis is the disease produced by infestation with the roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides, also known as the maw-worm. Super?cially it resembles a large earthworm: the male measures about 17 cm (7 inches) and the female 23 cm (9 inches) in length. Ascariasis is a dirt disease, most prevalent where sanitation and cleanliness are lacking, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. Consumption of food contaminated by the ova (eggs), especially salad vegetables, is the commonest cause of infection. In children, infection is commonly acquired by crawling or playing on contaminated earth, and then sucking their ?ngers. After a complicated life-cycle in the body the adult worms end up in the intestines, whence they may be passed in the stools. A light infection may cause no symptoms. A heavy infection may lead to colic, or even obstruction of the gut. Occasionally a worm may wander into the stomach and be vomited up.
Treatment Mebendazole is the drug of choice in the UK, being given as a single dose. It should be combined with hygienic measures to break the cycle of autoinfection. All members of the family require treatment. Other ANTHELMINTICS include piperazine and pyrantel.
n. a disease caused by an infestation with the parasitic worm *Ascaris lumbricoides. Adult worms in the intestine can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, diarrhoea, appendicitis, and peritonitis; in large numbers they may cause obstruction of the intestine. The presence of the migrating larvae in the lungs can provoke pneumonia. Ascariasis occurs principally in areas of poor sanitation; it is treated with *levamisole.
A drug used to treat ASCARIASIS. Its main advantage seems to be in mass treatment, as one dose may prove e?ective. It is also being used in the treatment of a group of diseases of obscure origin, including CROHN’S DISEASE and RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. The drug is available in the UK with certain restrictions.... levamisole
Linn.
Habitat: Cultivated and naturalized throuhout India. Wild in the Sub-Himalayan tract up to 1,800 m.
English: Persian Lilac, Pride of India.
Ayurvedic: Mahaanimba, Ramyaka, Dreka. (Neem is equated with Azadirachta indica.)
Unani: Bakaayan.
Siddha/Tamil: Malaivembu.
Action: Leaf—diuretic, anthelmintic, antilithic. Leaf and flower—febrifuge, sedative, em- menagogue. Leaf, fruit and stem bark—antileprotic. Leaf, flower, fruit, root bark—deobstruent, resolvent. Seed oil—antirheumatic, insecticidal. Leaves, bark and fruit—insect repellent. Gum— used in spleen enlargement. Heart- wood—an aqueous extract, used in asthma.
The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia ofIn- dia indicated the use of the dried stem bark in increased frequency and turbidity of urine, skin diseases, nausea, emesis, asthma, gastroenteritis, giddiness and vertigo.The bitter constituents are present exclusively in the pericarp, not in the kernel as in the case of Neem fruit. Bakayanin has been isolated from the pericarp (bitter in dilutions of 1 in 10,000).The heartwood also yielded bakaya- nin and a lactone, bakalactone. Leaves gave quercitrin and rutin and tetranor- triterpenoids, salanin and vilasinin.An infusion of the bark is effective against ascariasis. The activity resides in the inner bark which is bitter but not astringent (outer bark contains tannins and is astringent).The ethanolic extract of the leaves is fungicidal and antibacterial. The activity is attributed to azadrine and me- liotannic acid.The fruits are considered poisonous to man and animals; contain melianon- inol, melianol, melianone, meliandi- ol, vanillin and vanillic acid. Vanillic acid analogues show micro- and macro-filaricidal activity.Gedunin, present in the plant, inhibits Plasmodium falciparum, while the seed extract does not show anti- malarial activity against P. berghei.The plant exhibited sedative and psychostimulant properties. Antitu- mour and antiviral activities have also been reported. Intraperitoneal administration of partially purified extracts of fresh green leaves reduced the spread of Tacaribe virus (that causes typical encephalitis) to kidneys, liver and brain in inoculated neonatal mice.
Dosage: Stem bark—5-10 g (API, Vol. IV.); leaf, seed, root—50- 100 ml decoction; 3-5 g powder. (CCRAS.)... melia azedarach
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