Cough and worms are seemingly incompatible phenomena.However, the cause of dry cough is often due to helminths that have settled and multiplied in the human body.
Not all types of helminths have this ability, only those that can localize in the respiratory system.
Which worm causes cough?These are parasites that initially live in the intestines, but due to rapid reproduction or the search for better living conditions, they reach the liver and from there, through the common bloodstream, they reach bronchopulmonary tissue.
Types of helminths
Roundworms, roundworms, live and reproduce in the intestines.Infection occurs through eggs entering the body with food or from hands and objects used by an infected person.Soil, fruits, vegetables, undercooked meat and fish - all this can introduce helminth eggs into the human body.
To avoid infection, you need:
- Avoid contact with infected animals;
- Do not use items belonging to people infected with helminths;
- keep your hands clean, especially after traveling and before eating;
- wash raw foods (fruits and vegetables);
- Properly prepare fish and meat dishes.
Worth knowing!Roundworms cause dry cough.Moving through the circulatory system, their larvae enter the respiratory organs - bronchi, trachea, lungs - stimulating the receptors and causing this symptom.The time it takes for the larvae to move around the body is from one to two weeks.
Giardia are very small single-celled microorganisms that live in stagnant water.The disease they cause is called giardiasis.Parasitic infections occur mainly in the following ways.
- From infected people or animals to healthy people.
- When eating food that has not been washed.
- When drinking fresh milk or unboiled water.
Settling in the small intestine of a person, Giardia within 10 days is capable of infecting others.After a while, giardiasis becomes chronic.The cause of cough due to giardia infection is an allergic reaction that occurs when the body is poisoned by the parasite's waste products.For people infected with Giardia, the problem often ends in bronchial asthma.
One of the main dangers of giardiasis is the absence in the early stages of pronounced symptoms that would allow the correct diagnosis of the disease.Worms are eliminated from the body in stages, so it is not always possible to detect Giardia cysts in the stool.You must take samples many times to be able to confidently diagnose the disease.
In addition to roundworms and lamblia, this symptom can also be caused by toxocara, also known as canine roundworm due to its common occurrence in dogs.Once in the bronchi, the larvae cause an allergic reaction.
Types of helminths affecting children
If a child's cough and cold are excluded, there are serious reasons to assume that he may be infected with helminths.Since it can be a reaction to different types of worms, only laboratory tests can determine which specific type of worm is causing it.
Attention!Most often, helminthic cough is observed in young children.
It is not surprising that parents often mistake it for a cold symptom and begin treatment with widely accepted drugs that, due to the specificity of their action, really eliminate the problem.But at the same time, the cause of it, namely helminth infection, remains unresolved.Worms continue to multiply in the child's body and the disease progresses seriously.
Giardiasis and ringworm
Which parasite causes symptoms in children?Only species are able to move throughout the body and reach the respiratory tract.These parasites include roundworms and lamblia.Their sexually mature individuals live in the intestines, but the larvae of the parasite are able to penetrate through the bloodstream into the respiratory system, stimulating receptors and causing allergic reactions.
In this case, some of the larvae are thrown out, the rest are swallowed and enter the intestines again, where the next life cycle of the parasite begins.Some larvae remain in the respiratory system, disrupting its function.
Toxocara and lung flukes
The most dangerous for the respiratory system are flatworms, especially trematodes and roundworms.When attached to the lungs, they cause paragonimiasis and toxocariasis - serious diseases accompanied by destruction of lung tissue and progressive inflammation.
The invasion of flatworms into the child's lungs causes the child to cough.If left untreated, the inflammatory process will progress and enter a stage accompanied by mucus formation.Coughing up phlegm may contain blood.This alarming manifestation forces parents to urgently consult an infectious disease specialist.
Important!When infected with trematodes, sputum containing pus and blood is unavoidable.
Types of worms that infect adults
Not all patients believe that helminths and coughing can be part of the same process, but they are.Coughs caused by worms are often dry and can easily be mistaken for a cold.In this case, the absence of other ARVI symptoms that often accompany colds is alarming.
What explains this situation?There are two reasons for this:
- Mechanical effects of helminth larvae on lung tissue.
- Allergic with which the infected body reacts to the presence of worm waste and the decomposition of dead bodies.
There are not many worms and other parasites that affect the respiratory tract.This is:
- roundworms;
- Giardia;
- fluke;
- Echinococcus tapeworm.
Ascariasis
Roundworms are very common, so coughing due to roundworms is a typical phenomenon.Roundworm infection occurs through traditional routes for helminthiasis.These include contact with soil, eating unwashed fruits and vegetables, and dirty hands.
Ascaris larvae cause problems by mechanically affecting the tissues of the respiratory system.This occurs during the migration phase of the parasite.The mechanism and sequence of effects of roundworms on the human respiratory system are as follows.
When entering the digestive tract, roundworm eggs, under the influence of enzymes and their own digestive juices, will shed their shells and turn into larvae.The latter has the ability to penetrate the intestinal wall into the bloodstream.They are then carried by the blood throughout the body - to the liver, heart, lungs and respiratory tract.
On the mucous membrane of the trachea there are cilia that transport the larvae upward with their reflex movements.In this case, the receptors are stimulated and coughing occurs, throwing helminths into the mouth, from where they are spit out or swallowed, returning to the intestines.
For your information!Cough caused by roundworms is usually a short-term phenomenon.But if the infestation is periodic, it can become almost permanent.
Giardiasis
Although Giardia is a microscopic organism, it causes very serious harm to the body.Giardia's natural habitat is standing water.They enter the human body by eating dirty or poorly prepared food, or drinking unboiled milk or water.Can be transmitted from infected people and animals.
The main location of Giardia is the intestine.The parasite only needs 10 days from the moment of larval infection to begin to emerge from the egg.Penetrating through the intestinal wall, they enter the bloodstream and reach the organs of the respiratory system, disrupting their function and causing coughing.
Lung flukes
Flukes live in the lungs in pairs, forming cysts in the bronchi.Infection occurs when eating crabs and shrimp infected with parasites.Once in the digestive tract, lung flukes penetrate the peritoneum and reach the lungs through the diaphragm, causing persistent cough in patients.
Lung flukes are small helminths belonging to the class trematodes, "specializing" in parasitic infections, especially in the lungs.For example, it causes more serious respiratory system problems than roundworm.
At the site of its localization, infiltrates appear and hemorrhages develop, as a result of which cavities appear filled with decomposing metabolites of worms, dead parasites and lung tissue.The harmful effects of lung fluke are even more serious because it is a long-liver and can live in the host's body for up to 20 years.
To deal with this dangerous parasite, treatment is necessary under the close supervision of a doctor.Only he can choose an effective medicine, which will be different depending on each case.
However, the champion in terms of "harmful" does not belong to lung flukes but to alveolar and echinococcus larvae.These are small tapeworms (up to 7 mm long), which are carried by wolves, coyotes, dogs, jackals, foxes, wild cats and domestic cats without causing much harm to themselves.
Helminths belong to the trematodes group (genetic flukes) and the trichinella roundworm causes allergic cough, which can be especially severe in children.
Runny nose due to helminths and other parasitic diseases
A runny nose is caused by the presence of helminths much less often.This manifestation is completely atypical for helminths.However, in some cases, parasites can cause runny nose and nasal congestion.
Sometimes pinworms, in rare cases, with so-called aberrant (random, non-specific) localization, enter the nasal passages and cause rhinorrhea and nasal congestion.
If we talk about parasitic diseases other than helminths, then as an example of an infection that causes a runny nose and abundant mucus from the nose, we can call rhinocerciasis, which are larvae of flies and flies that have settled in the nasal cavity.
Attention!Runny nose, sometimes caused by Giardia, is a consequence of the body's reaction in the form of an allergic reaction to Giardia excretions.
Roundworms do not cause runny nose or stuffy nose.
Conclude
If coughing occurs due to helminthiasis, treatment should include antiparasitic therapy aimed at killing the worms.Taking cold medicine in such cases means that the treatment is directed not against the disease but against its symptoms.