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sslgot5
Member
Username: Sslgot5
Post Number: 30
Registered: 10-2010
| | Posted on Sunday, November 14, 2010 - 10:40 pm: | 
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 After visiting with my son for over two hours and playing with his dog.. he then tells me his dog has roundworms!!! I am freaking.. how contagious is this in humans.. especially humans with a suppressed immune system!!
| Come celebrate with me that every day something has tried to kill me and failed. |
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ed
Forum Leader
Username: Ed2001
Post Number: 145
Registered: 03-2010
| | Posted on Sunday, November 14, 2010 - 11:01 pm: |
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I didn't know of this, but having a dog made me curious. I think the first thing you should do is get in touch with your center and inform them about it. They might be able to give you some prophylactic to prevent it (since it is a bacterial thing in dogs).
Being a dog owner, I looked it up on the net here are 2 articles I found that might help. It seems what is important is thorough hygiene and cleaning of your hands after you touched the dogs and the surfaces they have been on, so that you don't transmit it when you touch your eyes, nose, mouth or when eating.
Article 1: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2090&aid=762
How do roundworms cause disease in humans?
T. canis and T. cati pose a significant health hazard to people. Thousands of people become infected with Toxocara in the United States every year. How do people become infected? Humans become infected when they ingest infective eggs from the soil or from their hands or another object. Large numbers of the eggs can accumulate in the soil where dogs and cats are allowed to defecate. The eggs are sticky, and can collect on the hands and under the fingernails of people. Children, and others who may not have good hygiene, are most prone to becoming infected.
Remember, Toxocara eggs need to be in the environment approximately two weeks, before becoming infective, so direct contact with an infected animal generally does not result in transmission. However, young animals may continually contaminate their entire litter area, and may even have infective eggs stuck to their coats. Adults and children who handle the mother or the young or who clean the area may be especially at risk.
If a human ingests Toxocara eggs, the subsequent larvae can migrate through the person’s tissues. This condition is called 'visceral larva migrans.' The larvae most commonly migrate through the liver, lungs, and brain. They can cause severe inflammation and actual mechanical damage to the organs. Signs of this disease include an enlarged liver, intermittent fever, loss of weight and appetite, and a persistent cough. Asthma or pneumonia may develop.
A unique form of this disease is called 'ocular larva migrans.' Larvae migrate through the eyes and can cause vision loss or even blindness. Ocular larva migrans usually occurs in children 7-8 years old, whereas, visceral larva migrans occurs in children ages 1-4 years. The reason for the difference among ages is unknown.
To prevent human infection, good hygiene is extremely important. Teach children, especially, to wash their hands after playing and before eating. Do not let children play in areas where dogs or cats may have defecated. Cats should not be allowed to use sandboxes or the garden as litter boxes. Worm your pets as recommended, keep the environment clean, and control rodent populations.
Article 2: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/573090
Q: Four days ago we rescued a 6-month-old puppy from a shelter in the southeast of the United States. My vet says that she has roundworm and warned me that my kids (ages 3-8 years) could get visceral larval migrans and/or blindness from it. How do I control the eggs that must be all over my carpets and thus all over the toys that the kids play with on the rug? What about my yard where she has stooled? And how long will she shed eggs?
A: (from a doctor): Roundworms (Toxocara canis) are common intestinal nematode parasites of dogs. The parasite is extremely common in puppies; however, a strong immunity begins to develop in most dogs by 2-3 months of age. Consequently, in well-cared-for pet dogs that have been dewormed as young puppies, infection is uncommon. But young dogs with suppressed immunity due to malnourishment or some other concurrent disease (such as is common in stray dogs) are likely to be infected. Roundworms have a complex life cycle; following infection, larval worms undergo an extensive migration through the liver and lungs before migrating back to the intestine where they complete their development and begin to shed eggs into the feces.
Once in the environment, it takes several weeks for the eggs to develop to the infective stage. Infective roundworm eggs in the environment are a public health concern because people that ingest these eggs can become infected with these parasites. But humans are not the normal host of this parasite; thus the worm does not undergo its normal migratory path and "gets lost" while traveling through the human body. Ocular larva migrans (OLM) occurs when roundworm larvae migrate into the eye; this occurs most commonly in children 6-14 years old. OLM is a very serious disease and can cause blindness if not promptly and appropriately treated. In children younger than 5 years, roundworm larvae tend to migrate in the organs, a disease called visceral larva migrans (VLM). Most children with VLM have no symptoms, but in a small percentage of cases in which large numbers of infective eggs are ingested, a variety of symptoms are seen depending upon the organ(s) affected.
Roundworm eggs are shed exclusively in the feces; therefore, very few eggs will be found in areas that are not contaminated with dog feces. Also, because it takes 2 weeks for eggs to become infective after being shed in the feces, direct contact with roundworm-infected dogs has very low risk for infection (risk is not zero, however, because small numbers of eggs have been recovered from the hair coats of puppies that are infected with roundworms). Consequently, even when there is a roundworm-infected dog in the home, areas inside the home will have very few, if any, infective roundworm eggs, and children's toys should be essentially free of infective eggs.
The importance of roundworm egg contamination of the yard is exacerbated by the fact that eggs can remain viable for many months (even for several years if in a protected location), and it is virtually impossible to kill the eggs with chemical disinfectants. Thus, the backyard is the major source of infective eggs to children. The eggs only can be readily killed by extreme heat (steam or flame) or long-term exposure (weeks to months) to UV radiation (direct sunlight). Therefore, sunny areas of the yard will become safe long before shaded areas. Once the yard becomes contaminated with roundworm eggs, there is little that can be done to remove or kill the eggs other than waiting for eggs to die naturally or physically removing the surface soil layer. Good hygiene, handwashing, and prevention of pica is extremely important in reducing the risk for infection on a contaminated property.
Because of the importance of roundworms to the health of both dogs and humans, veterinarians recommend that all puppies be treated at regular intervals and that all adult dogs be tested and treated as needed. The American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists, together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have issued recommendations to treat all puppies at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 weeks. It is also recommended to then place all dogs on a monthly heartworm preventative that also kills roundworms. Worms are killed rapidly following treatment with appropriate drugs, and treated dogs will cease shedding eggs within 2 days following treatment. Therefore, proper veterinary care of newborn puppies and immediate veterinary examination and treatment of all newly acquired pet dogs (whether strays or from another source), together with regular feces pickup, can virtually eliminate the risk for transmission to children in the home. Outside of the home (such as playgrounds), it is important that leash and clean-up laws are observed diligently.
Hope this helps.
Kidney Transplant
April 2001 |
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sslgot5
Member
Username: Sslgot5
Post Number: 31
Registered: 10-2010
| | Posted on Monday, November 15, 2010 - 08:33 am: |
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Yes this helped.. in scaring me even more..lol.. just kidding.. will call my docs today. Thank you for all the information.. really I was just kidding..
| Come celebrate with me that every day something has tried to kill me and failed. |
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Jack R
Member
Username: Jack_r
Post Number: 89
Registered: 08-2010
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - 08:21 am: |
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Ed provided you excellent information. Your a fairly recent transplant so any time you have a pressing ?, such as above, call your Transplant support Team immediately ( during their normal office hours) - they want you to and that is what, among other issues, they are there for.
Also remember they have a Hot line for non-standard hours and emergencies.
| Cardiac history going back to 1993. Heart Transplant received in Oct. 2004. Interesting first year and have been very physically active ever since. I currently am pro-active with the SE Gift of Life and a member of Johns Hopkins patient administered Heart Transplant Foundation. |
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