eMedicine Specialties > Emergency Medicine > Infectious Diseases

Trichuris Trichiura: Follow-up

Author: Kwame Adusei-Poku Donkor, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Olive View Internal Medicine, University of California Los Angeles Medical Center
Coauthor(s): Scott Lundberg, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine; Consulting Staff, Departments of Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Olive View Medical Center
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: May 5, 2009

Follow-up

Further Inpatient Care

  • Inpatient care may be warranted for patients with rectal prolapse or severe anemia.

Deterrence/Prevention

  • Household contacts are at low risk because of life-cycle requirements.
  • If fecal contamination of soil is possible (eg, children defecating in the back yard, human waste used as fertilizer), consider the possibility of household transmission.
  • Contacts may be screened for asymptomatic carrier state.
  • Improved sanitation is the best way to eradicate T trichiura infection.
  • Careful washing of vegetables and fruits grown in contaminated areas is also important.

Complications

  • Rectal prolapse or anemia may occur.
  • Vitamin deficiency

Prognosis

  • Prognosis is excellent with proper treatment, however, without education and changes in behavior/waste management re-infection is very common.

Patient Education

  • Good personal hygiene is highly recommended. Where relevant, community waste management systems should be developed to reduce exposure to potentially infected waste.
 
Acknowledgments

The authors and editors of eMedicine gratefully acknowledge the medical review of this article by Joseph U Becker, MD.

The authors and editors of eMedicine gratefully acknowledge the contributions of previous author, Eric L Weiss, MD, to the development and writing of this article.



More on Trichuris Trichiura

Overview: Trichuris Trichiura
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Trichuris Trichiura
Treatment & Medication: Trichuris Trichiura
Follow-up: Trichuris Trichiura
Multimedia: Trichuris Trichiura
References
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References

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Further Reading

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Keywords

whipworm, trichuriasis, Trichuris trichiura, intestinal helminthic infection, whipworm infection

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Kwame Adusei-Poku Donkor, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Olive View Internal Medicine, University of California Los Angeles Medical Center
Kwame Adusei-Poku Donkor, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Scott Lundberg, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine; Consulting Staff, Departments of Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Olive View Medical Center
Scott Lundberg, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Physicians, Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine, and Society of General Internal Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Mark Louden, MD, FACEP, Assistant Medical Director, Emergency Department, Duke Raleigh Hospital
Mark Louden, MD, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine and American College of Emergency Physicians
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Managing Editor

Mark L Plaster, MD, JD, Executive Editor, Emergency Physicians Monthly
Mark L Plaster, MD, JD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine and American College of Emergency Physicians
Disclosure: M L Plaster Publishing Co LLC Ownership interest Management position

CME Editor

John D Halamka, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Rick Kulkarni, MD, Medical Director, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Section of Emergency Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital
Rick Kulkarni, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Disclosure: WebMD Salary Employment

 
 
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