_Trichocephalus trichiurus is a round worm only 5 cm in size, called the whipworm._
Despite the fact that in Russian the word “whipworm” is associated more with worms than with a worm, trichocephalus is still a relatively small parasite belonging to the nematode family. A biological species of the intestinal parasite of the genus Strongyloides is the whipworm. Whipworm is one of the most dangerous helminths for humans.
Whipworms do not have a body; it is absent due to the combination of many segments that make up the abdomen. It consists of several sections, each of which contains one larval individual. Despite their small size, they are capable of quite damaging the intestinal walls and causing disruptions in its functioning.
_Whipworms reproduce by spawning_. As the female ages, she is capable of giving birth to several thousand eggs and laying them directly into the intestinal cavity, after which she dies. Spawning can also occur outside the human gastrointestinal tract, but this happens much less frequently. Larvae can reach sexual maturity within two weeks after birth, but most often in women the process is delayed up to twenty weeks. The female divides into several segments over three or four days. The birth of larvae occurs more than once per day.
A characteristic feature of this type of parasite is their orientation by smell. Therefore, a person infected with whipworm is unlikely to be able to “sit” in a trash can - moreover, infestation with these roundworms can occur even when there are no flies or cockroaches at home. This happens in