Heavier infestations, especially in small children, can present gastrointestinal problems including abdominal pain and distension, bloody or mucus-filled diarrhea, and tenesmus (feeling of incomplete defecation, generally accompanied by involuntary straining).

A severe infection with high numbers of embedded worms in the rectum leads to edema, which can cause rectal prolapse, although this is typically only seen in small children.

[17] Non-biting cyclorrhaphan flies (Musca domestica, M. sorbens, Chrysomya rufifacies, C. bezziana, Lucina cuprina, Calliphora vicina and Wohlfarthia magnifica) have been found to carry Trichuris trichiura.

A study in two localized areas in Ethiopia found cockroaches were carriers for several human intestinal parasites, including T.

Next, the infective eggs are ingested by way of soil-contaminated hands or food and hatch inside the small intestine, releasing larvae into the gastrointestinal tract.

They then migrate into the cecum and ascending colon where they thread their anterior portion (whip-like end) into the tissue mucosa and reside permanently for their year-long lifespan.

[citation needed] Adult worms are usually 3–5 centimetres (1.2–2.0 in) long, with females being larger than males as is typical of nematodes.

[citation needed] A stool ova and parasites exam reveals the presence of typical whipworm eggs.

Colonoscopy can directly diagnose trichuriasis by identification of the threadlike form of worms with an attenuated, whip-like end.

Colonoscopy is a useful diagnostic tool, especially in patients infected with only a few male worms and with no eggs presenting in the stool sample.

Sigmoidoscopies show characteristic white bodies of adult worms hanging from inflamed mucosa ("coconut cake rectum").

[citation needed] Mass Drug Administration (preventative chemotherapy) has had a positive effect on the disease burden of trichuriasis in East and West Africa, especially among children, who are at highest risk for infection.

[23] A study in a Brazilian urban centre demonstrated a significant reduction in the prevalence and incidence of soil-transmitted helminthiasis, including trichuriasis, following the implementation of a citywide sanitation program.

[citation needed] Infection of T. trichiura is most frequent in areas with tropical weather and poor sanitation practices.

Trichuriasis occurs frequently in areas in which untreated human feces is used as fertilizer or where open defecation takes place.

Trichuriasis infection prevalence is 50 to 80 percent in some regions of Asia (noted especially in China and Korea) and also occurs in rural areas of the southeastern United States.

It is estimated that 600–800 million people are infected worldwide, with 3.2 billion individuals at risk because they live in regions where this intestinal worm is common.

[citation needed] The first written record of T. trichiura was made by the Italian anatomist Giovanni Battista Morgagni, who identified the presence of the parasite in a case of worms residing in the colon in 1740.

[citation needed] An exact morphological description and accurate drawings were first recorded in 1761 by Johann Georg Roederer, a German physician.

[citation needed] Development of subunit vaccines requires the identification of protective antigens and their formulation in a suitable adjuvant.

Subcutaneous vaccination with adult excretory-secretory products (ES) protects susceptible mouse strains from T. muris.

Development of subunit vaccines requires the identification of protective antigens and their formulation with a suitable adjuvant to stimulate the immune response appropriately.