The adults lay eggs into the birdвЂ™s intestines, where the eggs hatch in the water after being deposited with the host birdвЂ™s feces. In lay terms, hereвЂ™s how their lives typically work: adult worms live inside of birds (mainly ducks) in the blood vessels surrounding the birdвЂ™s intestines. The life cycles of schistosomes require several host species. The flatworms in question are called schistosomes the schistosomes that cause swimmerвЂ™s itch are among a genus that is also responsible for more serious infectious diseases, but there is no risk of contracting these other illnesses in a Northern Michigan lake. The fact that swimmerвЂ™s itch is a human response explains why people react differently, as the reaction is determined not by the invading parasite, but by the immune systemвЂ™s response of each biologically unique human. SwimmerвЂ™s itch is an uncomfortable by-product of the human immune system-but itвЂ™s certainly better than a flatworm swimming around our bodies. Just as our bodies react to mosquito bites by inflaming surrounding tissue, our bodies also react to this parasite by rushing resources to the site of entry, leaving itchy, red inflammation.

This unwelcome parasite doesnвЂ™t live long in the human body: our immune systems recognize the foreign invader and attack it. In its simplest terms, swimmerвЂ™s itch is a reaction caused by a parasite entering a swimmerвЂ™s body. The biological mechanisms of swimmerвЂ™s itch are quite complex, and the red, raised bumps that characterize it are a side effect of the life cycles of rather resourceful flatworms that inhabit Northern Michigan lakes.

Swimmers itch michigan