19 Creepy Facts About Parasites

1.

The Guinea worm can grow 2–3 feet inside the human. After it reaches that length, it burrows to the surface of the skin, creates a blister, and then emerges along with hundreds of thousands of larvae.

2.

Parasites are the most common form of life on Earth. Scientists believe that over 80% of all living things are parasites.

3.

The most deadly human parasites are protozoa, which are single-celled organisms. Some of these tiny creatures (there are over 80,000) have brought humans more misery and death than anything else in history, including wars and famine. The most well known deadly parasitic protozoa is plasmodium, which causes malaria.

4.

Some people are so desperate they buy tapeworms and swallow them to lose weight. While this might seem like a highly effective method for slimming down fast and easy, it causes anemia and damages the host's internal organs.

5.

Most parasitic infections happen in warm climates, such as Southeast Asia or other tropic or subtropic regions.

6.

There are over 30,000 species of mites. Look around you, there's probably at least a few million of them in your house.

7.

The earliest known human parasite is a lung fluke, and it was found in fossilized feces in northern Chile dating from 5900 B.C. Additionally, ancient Egyptian mummies from as early 2000 B.C. contain tapeworm eggs.

8.

Approximately 209 million people around the world are infected with pinworm, or seatworm. More than 30% of children worldwide are infected.

9.

Loa loa, or “eye worm,” is a parasitic worm that lives in human and other mammal eyes. Creepily, a human can feel it moving around in his or her eye and may even seen the worm if its big enough. It can live inside a human for as long as 17 years.

10.

The easiest way to tell if you have a tapeworm is to eat a lot of garlic and/or onion. If you feel something moving inside your intestines after that, it's most likely a tapeworm, squirming in pain.

11.

The vampire fish, or V. cirrhosa or Candiru, can swim up a urine stream into the human victim’s penis, where it shoots out its sharp spine and lodges itself in. Once inside the body, the vampire fish feeds on a human’s blood. Only a very invasive and painful surgery can remove it.

12.

Lyme disease, a serious infection carried by ticks, is named from the Connecticut town that reported the first cases, among children, in 1975.

13.

There are over 2,380 known flea species. The oldest fossil flea ever found is about 200 million years old and doesn’t appear to differ from modern fleas.

14.

There are over 2,600 species of lice. Parasitic body lice may carry bacteria which causes typhus. Typhus has killed more soldiers than all weapons combined.

15.

While the leeches’ nearest relative is the earthworm, that eats decaying plant matter, all 650 species of leeches prey on other creatures.

16.

While most animals with jaws have two jaws that form the framework of the mouth, leeches have three jaws holding razor-sharp teeth arranged to make a Y-shaped bite.

17.

Some parasitic worms may take home in a human eye and feed on retina. They can be of microscopic size, or bigger.

18.

The flatworm blood fluke can live in the bloodstream of its host for decades and can cause schistosomiasis, or bilharzia. In children, it can cause learning problems and poor growth.

19.

The Naegleria fowleri ameba, or the “brain-eating amoeba,” makes its home in people’s brains. Infection causes brain inflammation, extensive destruction of brain tissue, vomiting, stiff neck, hallucinations, and seizures. After the onset of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and causes death within 3–7 days.

20.

Approximately 2% of adults and 6%–8% of children in the developing world suffer from Giardia.

21.

The schistosomiasis worm is a dangerous parasite that can increase the risk of HIV/AIDS infection. Researchers believe this common worm may be responsible for the high rates of HIV infections in women in Africa because of the worm’s behavior in the female body. When women do laundry in the waterways, the worm makes it way up the vaginal canal and creates small sores inside, which open the way for HIV infection.