infectious diseases
Ascariasis
Diagnosis of Ascariasis
Microscopic examination of stool Identification of adult worms in stool or emerging from the nose, mouth, or rectum Diagnosis of ascariasis is by microscopic detection of eggs in stool or observation of adult worms in stool or emerging from the nose or mouth. Occasionally, larvae can be found in sputum during the pulmonary phase. Adult worms may be seen in radiographic studies of the gastrointestinal tract. Eosinophilia can be marked while larvae migrate though the lungs but usually subsides later when adult worms reside in the intestine. Chest x-ray during the pulmonary phase may show infiltrates, which in the presence of eosinophilia leads to the diagnosis of 