What are Human Intestinal Parasites?
The word “parasite”comes from the Greek para, meaning “bedside,”and sitos, meaning “food.”This means “an animal or plant that lives on or in another organism from which it obtains nutrients.”Some parasites are larger than bacteria and viruses, but they are usually so small that you cannot see them without a microscope. Others, such as worms, can grow quite large, and can be seen with the eye. Four major groups of parasites includes Protozoa (amoebas, giardia), Nematoda (round, pin, and hook-worms), Cestoda (tapeworms), and Trematoda (flukes). Parasites enter your body in one of four ways: through food and water intake, through a transmitting agent, such as as a mosquito; through sexual contact, and through the nose and skin.Intestinal parasites are often harmful. Any number of them can infect your gastrointestinal tract. Most parasites produce similar symptoms.
