Once swallowed, they reach the intestines and develop into adult worms. Pigs can be infected with ascarids. You or your children can become infected after touching your mouth with your hands contaminated with eggs from soil or other contaminated surfaces. See your health care provider. Your health care provider will ask you to provide stool samples for testing.
Some people notice infection when a worm is passed in stool or is coughed up.
If this happens, bring in the worm specimen to your health care provider for diagnosis. There is no blood test used to diagnose an ascarid infection. In the United States, ascaris infections are generally treated for 1-3 days with medication prescribed by your health care provider. The drugs are effective and appear to have few side-effects. I am pregnant and have just been diagnosed with ascariasis.