Hookworms can get as long as 0.3 to 0.5 inches in length or from 8 to 13 millimeters in length.
Hookworms can live in your intestine for as long as 10 years although many hookworms only live up to a few months or so in the intestine.
Anthelminthic medications (drugs that rid the body of parasitic worms), such as albendazole and mebendazole, are the drugs of choice for treatment of hookworm infections.
Infections of hookworms are generally treated for 1-3 days.
The recommended medications for hookworm treatment are effective and appear to have few side effects.
Itching and a localized rash are often the first signs of a hookworm infection.
These symptoms occur when the larvae of the hookworm penetrate the skin.
A person with a light hookworm infection may have no symptoms.
A person with a heavy hookworm infection may experience abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue and anemia.
Hookworms are intestinal, blood-feeding, parasitic roundworms that cause types of infection known as helminthiases.
Hookworm infection is found in many parts of the world, and is common in areas with poor access to adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Most people infected with hookworms have no symptoms.
Some people infected with hookworms may have gastrointestinal symptoms, especially persons who are infected for the first time.
The most serious effects of hookworm infection are blood loss leading to anemia, in addition to protein loss.
People can get hookworm infections through soil contaminated with human feces.
The hookworm larvae can burrow into your skin if you walk barefoot in the soil.
You might also get it by ingesting food or water with soil in it.