1 Billion People Are Infected With Parasitic Worms Like Robert F. Kennedy Jr; How Did This Happen?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. previously shared about his health battle involving parasitic worms. However, it turned out that a billion people share the same condition.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Had a Parasitic Worm In His Brain

In a 2012 deposition uncovered by The New York Times, the politician sought medical help after experiencing mental fogginess and memory loss. A medical professional helped him identify the problem.

They determined a brain abnormality after a scan and the doctor told him it "was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died." They found the dead worm in his brain.

Kennedy Jr. is not alone when it comes to dealing with parasitic worms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 807 million to 1.2 billion people in the world are infected with Ascaris lumbricoides (sometimes called just Ascaris or ascariasis).

Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) are parasitic worms that include Ascaris, Hookworm, and Whipworm. When combined, they bear a significant portion of the global parasite disease burden. These days, ascariasis is uncommon in the US.

The implications of parasitic worms can be serious and lifelong. Fortunately, Kennedy Jr. recovered with no long-lasting consequences.

Kennedy's campaign team confirmed the parasite issue and that it had been resolved. According to them, he traveled to Africa, South America and Asia as an environmental advocate and he contracted a parasite. It was resolved over a decade ago and the presidential candidate is "in robust physical and mental health."

ALSO READ: First-Ever Tapeworm Fossil Found in Kachin Amber in Myanmar [Study]

How Do People Get Parasitic Worms?

Scaris parasites reside in the intestine. Ascaris eggs are spread through an infected person's excrement. Worm eggs are left on the soil when an infected individual craps outside (by bushes, in a garden, or in a field) or when their excrement is utilized as fertilizer. The parasite can then develop from the worm eggs into a form that can spread to other people.

Eating the worm eggs results in ascariasis. This can occur when one puts contaminated hands or fingers in their mouth or consumes unwashed, improperly peeled, raw, or cooked fruits or vegetables.

Most ascariasis sufferers don't exhibit any symptoms. Should symptoms manifest, they may be mild. Pain or discomfort in the abdomen is one of the symptoms. Children's growth may be slowed by severe illnesses that clog the intestines. The worms' movement throughout the body is the cause of further symptoms, including coughing. Your healthcare practitioner can prescribe medicine to treat ascariasis.

Francisca Mutapi, a professor of global health infection and immunity at the University of Edinburgh who has studied parasites for 25 years, said that diseases from parasitic worms are preventable with good food hygiene. For instance, those who consume pork should make sure that they are cooked well. One should also practice good hygiene, from good hand-washing to sanitation.

If one is infected, the condition is treatable as there are already drugs that work well to address the problem. The commonly used medications albendazole and praziquantel both destroy larval stages.

Mutapi explained that they are effective in both killing or reducing the parasites as well as reversing some of the disease's clinical symptoms, like inflammation. However, in severe situations, surgery is required.

RELATED ARTICLE: Thousands of Tiny Worms Thrive in Utah's Great Salt Lake [Study]

Check out more news and information on Worms in Science Times.