The infection is usually contracted by people walking barefoot over contaminated soil. In penetrating the skin, the larvae may cause an allergic reaction. It is due to the itchy patch at the site of entry that the early infection gets its nickname "ground itch". Once larvae have broken through the skin, they enter the bloodstream and are carried to the lungs (however, unlike ascarids, hookworms do not usually cause pneumonia). The larvae migrate from the lungs up the windpipe to be swallowed and carried back down to the intestine. If humans come into contact with larvae of the dog hookworm or the cat hookworm, or of certain other hookworms that do not infect humans, the larvae may penetrate the skin. Sometimes, the larvae are unable to complete their migratory cycle in humans. Instead, the larvae migrate just below the skin producing snake-like markings. This is referred to as a creeping eruption or cutaneous larva migrans.
Ancylostomiasis
Gnathostomiasis
Naegleriasis
Dracunculiasis
Scarabiasis
Necatoriasis
Mansonelliasis
Trichuriasis