Parasites: 10 frightening facts!

Ten Things You Never Wanted To Know About Parasites
1: They're everywhere!You cannot always see parasites, but rest assured that a whopping 75% of the world's creatures belong to this family. And did you know the average human body alone is known to host over a million of them?2: Gut feelingsIf you don't have at least one kind of worm residing in your guts, you're in the minority. After all, over three-quarters of the world's population keep them cosy. Though most of them are small, the biggest tapeworm ever recorded was over 60 feet long. Nice!3: HookwormsA staggering 1.3 billion of the world's population suffer from hookworms, minute monsters that cause anaemia by sucking the blood from the intestinal lining. 4: SmallpoxSmallpox was officially eradicated in 1980, but did you know that the micro parasites that cause this deadly disease currently lie dormant in the ice of Greenland? Some scientists are even worried that global warming could actually free them from captivity.5: EbolaSome parasites are content to feed on bits of you over time. Others are less polite. The dreaded Ebola parasite will, for example, attack internal organs and eat into collagen, which is the connective tissue that holds the human body together.6: Pregnant protectionPregnant women may have a special reason to resent parasites. Scientists believe that morning sickness is the body's way of protecting mother and child from parasitic infection.7: Guinea WormsThe good thing about Tapeworms is that they have the decency to stay hidden. Not so the Guinea Worm. Ingested via contaminated water, the larvae burrow into the intestines and eventually emerge, fully grown, from the skin.8: PinwormsAs prevalent in the West as anywhere else, Pinworms are staple-sized intestinal blighters that crawl out of your backside while you're asleep and deposit their eggs on your bedding.9: Men more at threatMen are twice as likely as women to die of parasite-induced causes. This is thought to be because men tend to be larger and present a greater target.10. Most deadly parasiteThe worst parasite of all is the one that causes malaria. Currently killing a person every 30 seconds, malaria has been responsible for over half of all human deaths since the Stone Age.