One of the world's most deadly creatures is one you might not even see, because it doesn't attack you from the outside. Instead, it attacks you from the inside. How's that for horrible, horrible horror?

Tapeworms and roundworms are collectively responsible for about 5,000 deaths per year. According to the CDC, the larval cysts of the tapeworm cause a parasitic tissue infection called cysticercosis. Sometimes, they can cause neurocysticercosis, which is what happens when the larval cysts implant themselves in your brain. How does one get cysticercosis? By swallowing the eggs found in the poop of an infected human. So in case you didn't already have enough reasons to wash your hands, well, there you go.

Cysticercosis kills roughly 700 people a year, but ascariasis — a disease caused by roundworms — is much, much worse, claiming at least 4,500 people a year. It's easier to get than cysticercosis, too, because the eggs of the roundworm can just hang out in dirt, although they usually get there because an infected person decided to poop in the great outdoors. That's probably why ascariasis is uncommon in the U.S., as indoor plumbing has pretty much eliminated the whole pooping in the outdoors thing. 

Ascariasis can cause protein-energy malnutrition and eventually death. In fact, it's thought that ascariasis-related deaths may be underreported because intestinal infections are often not counted as the cause of malnutrition deaths. So the true numbers might be much, much higher.

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