Simple steps too reduce your chance of intestinal parasites

Over 3.5 Billion people in the world are infected with intestinal parasites. 450 Million are ill on a daily basis due too a parasitic infliction. As an international society, we need to begin too look at simple ways to lower our risk of acquiring such a repulsive sickness.  I will share one simple way to reduce your risk.

Many of us are guilty of not washing our fruit before we eat, we rationalize it by thinking we're just eating some dirt or maybe a little bit of pesticide. Washing fruit and vegetables before we consume them is imperative too maintain a healthy body, as I've discussed before we can acquire an intestinal parasite through touch of infected dirt and that also includes eating something from contaminated dirt. 

A recent study was done were 304 samples were taken from farmlands, included in these samples were: parsley, spearmint, scallion, basil, coriander, dill, cress, leek, tarragon, radish and purslane, among others. These veggies and herbs were separated into three groups- unwashed and the second and third were washed the traditional way (with water and some rubbing). In the unwashed group, almost 33% of the samples had intestinal parasites, including eggs. What's even more interesting is contamination amounts differed from season to season; 55% in spring, 45.5% in summer, 14.9% in autumn and 12.3% in winter. These study highlights the very real risk of eating unwashed and contaminated fruits, veggies and herbs from anywhere in the world.

Another recent study of 200 food handlers at a hospital in Saudi Arabia revelaed that 23% of the workers tested postive for an intestinal parasite. We have to take self-responsibility, making sure we do not spread infections too others, by washing our hands often and using the necessary safety precautions if working in the food industry (or any job with contact of others). Taking these simple precautions could reduce drastically the new cases of intestinal parasites annually.

Prevalence of parasitic contamination in vegetables used for raw consumption in Shahrekord, Iran: Influence of season and washing procedure. Aziz A. Fallah, Khodadad Pirali-Kheirabadi, Fatemeh Shirvani, S. Siavash Saei-Dehkordi. Food Control.  June 2012 v25 i2 p617(4).

Prevalence of intestinal parasites and bacteria among food handlers in a tertiary care hospital.D. Zaglool, Y. Khodari, R. A M. Othman, M. Farooq. Nigerian Medical Journal.  Oct-Dec 2011 v52 i4 p266.