Beware! A Fun Trip to the Park Can Leave You Blind; Signs of Horrific Parasite Lurking in Playgrounds

A shocking new report has highlighted that a fun-filled trip to a park with your friends or family can leave you blind. Soil tests from parks in Dublin, Ireland, have revealed that the entrances of many parks are the most contaminated with roundworms, which can make you really sick.

Roundworms are small organisms that can live in your intestines - part of your digestive system. These are also found in cats, dogs, and foxes, and from there the eggs can end up in the soil, where they lay millions of microscopic eggs in the animal's intestines, which are expelled when the animal poops. If you touch it, and then your mouth or food without washing your hands, you can catch the parasite.

These can be harmful and cause a lot of problems, including belly pain, fever, and diarrhoea. In rare cases, roundworms also cause high fever, skin rashes, pneumonia, and even vision loss.

In the study, published in the journal PLOS, scientists from Trinity College Dublin collected samples from 12 parks in Dublin and tested them for roundworm eggs, also known as Toxocara. They focused on areas like entrances, playgrounds, sports fields, and seating areas to see where contamination was highest.

While nine parks tested positive for roundworm eggs, nearly all of them were viable, with the potential to cause infection. Scientists said the highest number of eggs were found at park entrances—mostly because many dogs out for walks tend to poo as soon as they reach the gates. The second most contaminated locations were playgrounds, even though most were fenced off to keep dogs out.

Tests confirmed that dogs, rather than cats or foxes, were the primary culprits in these fenced-off playgrounds.

The study’s lead author said that it was common to witness dog owners with puppies in these areas, suggesting that puppies, in particular, were likely responsible for the contamination. “Many dog-fouling reduction interventions are not assessed for their effectiveness after implementation, so such an assessment must be built into any plan in the future,” they wrote.

According to doctors, the route into the human body depends on the type of roundworm. Many of these parasites enter the body through the mouth. Infection often happens from touching poop or soil that's infected with eggs and not washing hands. Pinworm infections result from touching eggs laid near the opening of the buttocks.

You can accidentally ingest roundworm eggs by preparing food or touching soil that's contaminated. The eggs then hatch inside your body. For other roundworms, eggs may hide in the food people eat. And in some cases, larvae can enter the body directly through your skin.

Regardless of how they enter, most roundworms end up in your intestines, causing infection or disease.

If you have a roundworm infection of your intestines, you may not have symptoms. You may see live worms in your poop though. If you do have symptoms, they may include:

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