Almost all the intestinal worms have complex life cycles. Many involve intermediate hosts including various vertebrates, as well as molluscs and some insects. Also, some can survive for short periods in the environment, usually the soil.
As with many of the intestinal protozoa, the majority of the intestinal helminths can be diagnosed by examining stool specimens, and this still remains the gold standard. However, other testing such as newer molecular tests, as well as various incubation and hatching procedures and other esoteric tests do exist. This course will focus on the identification of the forms of the intestinal worms found in the stool and will also mention some of the newer techniques.
