In the overwhelming majority of cases, worms in the vagina are pinworms who have lost their way. Continue reading [...]…

Worms in humans are often, but not always, filarial worms. Filarial worms are parasitic worms in humans that require a human host to survive and complete the life cycle. Continue reading [...]…

Loa Loa worms (also known as the "eye worm") are classified as filarial worms, meaning they thrive in human tissue. Loiasis, often misspelled as "loaisis", is the infestation of loa loa worms in humans. Continue reading [...]…

The Guinea worm is often referred to as the "fiery serpent", likely due to the painful symptoms of Guinea worm disease. The life and survival of the Guinea worm is unique in many ways, often requiring a year for full development of the parasite, during which entire time the Guinea worm is painfully impacting a human host with that Guinea worm disease. Continue reading [...]…

Hook worms can be be transmitted by contaminated soil or feces. Currently it is believed that as many as one-fifth of the world's population is infected with hook worms. Continue reading [...]…

Roundworm, commonly called "round worms" or "round worm" is one of the most common worms to infect pets. But round worms can infect humans, too. Continue reading [...]…

Hook worms are parasitic roundworms that can live in human intestines, causing diarrhea, stomach cramps, and in severe cases anemia and protein deficiency. Although hook worms are not transmitted from human to human, they can be contracted through contact with contaminated soil. Continue reading [...]…

Tapeworm can infect any mammal, including humans. Fortunately it is not usually serious, and is readily treated. Continue reading [...]…

Ringworm, sometimes called ringworms, ring worm or ring worms, isn't actually a worm at all. Ringworm is a highly contagious fungus. Continue reading [...]…

"What I have found, I have discovered in every grocery store, in every food product", writes Matthew in his submission, which does not include any photographs. In such instances we do want to make clear to our readers that any identifications we make will inherently be less accurate, as it is only based on what our reader has told us. "I asked a local butcher, and his response was: 'What can we do?'. What I am talking about are tiny C-shaped nematodes about 1 mm wide and 2-3 mm long. They are clearish white, and move slowly. But what is interesting is that inside each little "C" is a lint-like worm that is a zig-zag shape, and capable of floating. The lint worms are incredibly thin, and seem to burrow into pieces of hair, clothing fibers, etc. And they gather and wind around each other as well as burrowing into our skin. But they grow. Often leaving worm-trails in the beard skin of men. So, my question is: How is no one noticing these things? Because they are ever…

"What are these clear worm things with black insides?" asks Robyn in her submission regarding the organism pictured below. "They were in the bathtub after giving my dog a bath. HELP!" Although the photo is quite blurry, we think that — given what we can see, Robyn's description of the creature, and the context in which it was found — Robyn found flea larvae. Now, we realize that saying this could be cause for panic, given that fleas do infest dogs, and it is not the nicest thing to hear that this could be a possibility. What we will say is that flea larvae do not have the same diet as their adult counterparts, meaning that while the adult flea attaches itself to the outside of animals like dogs to suck their blood, the larvae do not do this. Continue reading [...]…

"Yesterday my kids caught a Hentz Orb-weaver in a small mason jar. I was going to set it free but I completely forgot about the spider and it was left in the sealed jar on my back porch and when I woke up I noticed the spider was dead but there was also a long skinny light brown worm like creature inside the jar next to the dead spider", writes Kelsey in his submission regarding the worm pictured below. "I’m completely baffled because this worm was not in the jar last night and the Mason jar has a sealed aluminum lid so I can't imagine anything getting through that. How did the worm get in the jar? Is it some kind of parasitic worm? Can orb weaver spiders carry parasitic worms? I am a little freaked out and I really want to know how and why this is possible. Please help! Oh and the worm is very much alive by the way." Continue reading [...]…

"Translucent, striped, microscopic, hairlike worms in Miami Beach apartment water faucets", writes this reader in her submission regarding the array of organisms pictured below. "I had previously found this after bathing my dog with Septol. This nightmare never ends. Now I noticed they come from our faucets. What is going on? I’m so scared. Thanks for your help." The first thing we want to bring attention to is our use of the phrase "array of organisms"; we do think our reader is actually dealing with multiple different organisms that are not necessarily related. For example, the yellowing, segmented worm-like creature pictured below looks to us like a fly larva (maggot). People can commonly get these during the summer as flies enter the home and lay eggs in one's organic compost. The best way to tackle these is to consistently throw out compost and larvae in trash cans outside, keep one's kitchen clean, and maybe buy fly traps if the issue is bad…

"I am very worried: there’s a water boiler alert in Miami Beach and here is what I find in my bathroom faucet running water," writes Elodie in her submission regarding the thin objects pictured below. Right off the bat, we have to tell Elodie that we will not be able to provide a confident or accurate identification, due to the near-microscopic nature of these organisms. From the pictures alone, which are not too clear to begin with, we cannot see any identifying information about these organisms other than that they are thin and long - hairlike. We would not even be able to confirm if they actually are organisms or not, and Elodie does not necessarily state that she is confident about this either. Continue reading [...]…

"Is this a tapeworm?" asks Tammy in her submission regarding the clear, whitish worm-like critters pictured below. "I’m sure it must be. But the strange thing is I found it coiled up, I thought it was just some type of elastic on the side table in the bedroom! How would it get there? I freaked out that I touched it, but realized it was strange if elastic. I put it in a baggie with some eye drops to keep it moist. I’m freaking out because I don't understand where it came from to end up on a table! I have no pets in this room. I thought worms came out in poop! And rarely seen as a whole worm. Please help me with this ASAP. I’d really appreciate." Continue reading [...]…

While we don't usually post about parasites that infect humans, we are posting about this, including a link, so that people can point to this story as proof that yes, people have parasitic 'worms' of all sorts infecting them. Medical editor Melissa Davey wrote an "article on a live worm that was found inside a woman's brain". The worm was a roundworm, one of Earth's most simple creatures. There are many species of parasitic roundworms that can be contracted in various ways, but this particular discovery was a first. The species of roundworm they found inside the woman's brain was a species normally found in pythons, not humans. Continue reading [...]…

"I found this little worm on the corner of my bathroom floor towel (only used for standing/drying feet)", writes Nic in his submission regarding the translucent worm with a black head and dark entrails pictured below. "Have never noticed any other critters before nor have any health complaints, but it doesn’t look like a carpet beetle nor a clothes moth worm. I recently adopted an older cat from a shelter, but that was only two days ago and I don’t think he’s been in this room yet. So hmmmm, not sure what this little guy is? Obviously it is time to toss the towel in the washer!" Continue reading [...]…

"I found a dozen of these on my sidewalk, what type of worm are these?" asks this reader in their submission regarding the long, white, tangled worms pictured below. No further context is provided, but we do have to point out that the photos our reader sent in are just fantastic: it is this level of quality that lets us, as well as our other readers, more easily identify the organisms in the photo. It helps us identify the creatures faster, and it helps other readers identify the worms they might be dealing with. In our reader's case, we think these could be roundworms or horsehair worms, though given the nondescript nature of the worms' bodies, it is hard to tell for certain. Continue reading [...]…

"PLEASE HELP!" exclaims Lisa in her submission regarding the grayish brown worm-like critter crawling out of the doughnut pictured below. "I got doughnuts yesterday morning and we ate a lot yesterday. And since we got a dozen I had some left over this morning. The doughnut was tightly sealed in wrap and this morning we saw the attached. You can see it’s coming out of the doughnut and I’m worried me and my kids ate the eggs (or something) from this huge worm. It doesn’t look like a maggot. Please help us. Is this a parasite? I already reported this to the health department but I really am concerned. Thank you so much. There is also an attachment video." Continue reading [...]…

"Can a human get worm borers from palm trees?" asks Chris in his submission. "I am a tree trimmer and want to know if the borers can get in a human?" Chris asks some good questions here, and the short answers to his question are 'no' and 'yes': we will explain why exactly that's the case. To start with, we have to address that Chris did not send in any photos, and as there are multiple types of palm borers, we do not know exactly which species Chris is referring to. For example, there is the palm borer moth caterpillar (Paysandisia archon), but there is also the palm borer beetle larva (Dinapate wrightii), both of which resemble worms. Fortunately, it does not really matter in this case, given Chris' question, as the answer will be the same across the board for every palm borer species. Continue reading [...]…