Diseases caused by parasites, pathogenic fungi and bacteria that harm the human body, are the second most common disease after respiratory tract infection. The main danger is that people are not always aware of the presence of such a lesion, and the characteristic signs of the disease may not appear for months, while the parasite causes damage. can not be overcome for health. Over time, the symptoms of parasites in the body will be disguised as fatigue and minor digestive tract diseases.
Worm disease is not just a disease of "dirty hands". Eating unwashed fruit, raw fish (sushi) and poorly fried meats can cause the appearance of worms and other protozoa. Worm eggs can be passed from sick to healthy people through touch.
WHO statistics are frightening - about a quarter of the entire population on the planet is infected with different types of parasites. The rate of disease in adults and children with pets is 99. 9%.
It is possible to remove worms with drugs and folk remedies, but there are difficult cases where only surgical intervention can help to remove the worm.
What parts of a person can be infected with the parasite
There are 3 ways of worm and helminth entry into the human body - through the mouth, mucous membranes and skin. Against the background of a weakened immune system, the parasite proliferates in the body. Immunity is further impaired, secondary immunodeficiency develops, general allergic manifestations of the body decrease, and its ability to fight off infections. Acute pathology develops into a chronic, severe course.
The parasite's preferred habitat are all parts of the digestive tract. Of the 300 varieties of parasitic diseases, 70% are intestinal. Types of worms in the gastrointestinal tract affect:
- skin and subcutaneous adipose tissue;
- liver;
- muscle tissue;
- light; brain
- ;
- heart tissue; eyeball
- ;
- blood;
- joint capsule.
The time when the first symptoms of lesions appear depend on the type of parasite, their number, their localized location, as well as the current state of human health.
The main symptoms of parasites in the body are the same for all types of helminth infections:
- the cravings disappear;
- increased salivation;
- diarrhea alternated with constipation;
- nausea and vomiting;
- sleep disturbance.
Grinding your teeth while sleeping can indicate the existence of worms in a child's body.
The main signs of helminthiasis are general malaise, irritability, dizziness, weight loss and development of iron deficiency anemia. When allergic reactions occur (70% of cases), they are parasitic lesions that go unnoticed and not treated promptly.
The main types of parasites and the differentiating symptoms of having them
At present, 70 types of parasites have been identified that can live inside humans. These are divided into the following subgroups:
- nematodes (worms);
- tapeworm (tapeworm);
- subcutaneous helminths;
- flukes (flukes);
- tissue parasitic; Protozoa
- .
Symptoms caused by parasites can vary. To understand whether a person's body is affected, consider a few of the most prominent cases.
Pinworms
Enterobius vermicularis or pinworm is a roundworm. They eat blood and intestinal substances. These white worms of size 0, 5-1 cm cause helminthiasis - large-scale enterobiasis. According to statistics, the total incidence of this disease of all lesions is 65%, of which 90% are children.
Enterobiasis is contagious and spreads from person to person. The main way for a parasite to enter the body is to swallow an egg. The life cycle is 4 weeks - during this time, the male and female develop from the egg, exit through the anus and lay eggs on the skin around it and in the perineum. Moving and laying eggs causes a throbbing pain in the skin.
Pinworms are difficult to treat because the eggs don't just stick on the skin. The parasite's eggs fall on bed sheets, flake off on the floor, and contaminate objects and toys in the home.
It is difficult to determine the presence of these parasites in the body, but the signs and symptoms of their presence have distinct characteristics:
- frequent urination, bed-wetting;
- flatulence and pain in the lower abdomen, usually on the right side;
- anorexia;
- diarrhea;
- general muscle weakness;
- Female pinworms and oocytes are found visually in the folds of the anus.
For a small number of colonies, the diagnosis based on analysis may be false negative. To identify the parasite, the stool and crumbs were analyzed three times, repeated after a few days. In rare cases, your doctor may order blood tests with an enlarged white blood cell count.
Toxocari - symptoms and treatment of toxocariasis infections
Refers to a subtype of nematodes that enter the body after coming into contact with a dog, cat or soil. The toxin is not transmitted from person to person, but can be passed from mother to fetus in the womb, or passed to a baby through breast milk. The parasitic infestation of this species usually occurs in the fall or spring.
The symptoms of Toxocara canis disease depend on the location of each individual.
Visceral Poisoning
This type of damage is detected when the parasite settles in the internal organs: liver, kidney, pancreas, brain or heart. In the majority of cases, toxins are deposited in the patient's lungs. The following clinical image is commonly observed:
- fever, chills, fever;
- liver becomes denser, spleen enlarges; Lymph nodes
- are slightly increased, painful to touch and separate from surrounding tissues;
- dry cough with a wet wheezing, mainly at night;
- difficulty breathing and shortness of breath;
- too often suffer from bronchitis and bronchitis.
Lack of treatment for this type of helminthiasis can be fatal. Parasites in the heart can lead to death.
Ringworm disease
Pathology occurs when a parasite enters the central nervous system. Symptoms of the presence of the parasite in the human body:
- children become hyperactive, fail to pass mental tests and have developmental delay;
- adults complain that they are difficult to read and cannot explain why;
- memory decline;
- all types of neurological disorders are manifested.
If the tosokars remains in the brain, epileptiform convulsions and convulsions, hemiplegia and quadriplegia may occur.
Skin toxocariasis
Symptoms will appear such as local urticaria, eczema or a rash that appears when toxocar larvae move. The patient complains of the unbearable itching, and the affected areas, in addition to rashes and blisters, are greatly swollen and red. Skin is loose around areas.
Toxocara canis in the eye
A lesion where the parasitic larvae reside on the eyeball. Their migration is clearly visible even with the naked eye. Only one eye is affected. In most cases, there is only one type of parasite. However, there are other signs of the parasite's presence:
- meningitis;
- purulent inflammation of the vitreous tissue;
- strabismus children;
- In the secretions of the eyeballs may form in the form of a "snowball".
The primary diagnostic technique for any type of toxocariasis infection is disease detection, immunological testing, and detailed blood testing. The stool test is not done because these parasites do not live in the intestines. With adequate medication, the prognosis of recovery is favorable.
Wide ribbon
This parasite enters the human body by eating raw fish or caviar. This disease is called diphyllobothriasis and is not spread from person to person.
Broad tapeworms can only exist in the small intestine. There are specific symptoms of its presence, which develop in the following order:
- nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting;
- fever conditions;
- decreased or increased appetite;
- constipation alternated with diarrhea;
- gradually increased symptoms of B12 deficiency anemia;
- intestinal obstruction due to lumen obstruction caused by an overgrowth of helminths, as well as a violation of sensitivity in the surface and depth;
- unsteady gait and crawl under the skin;
- May contain parasitic particles in feces.
Diagnosis of the presence of parasites is done based on the results of blood test and coproovoscopy.
Beef tapeworm
This tapeworm can be up to 7-10 meters long. The parasite enters the human body in the form of larvae or eggs found in uncooked or raw infected meat. This disease is called dilation of the foreskin; Adults are more susceptible to disease.
The signs of parasites in the human body with dilation appear sequentially:
- has a persistent, persistent feeling of hunger, binge eating;
- decreased appetite, sometimes completely absent;
- pain in the abdomen, which can vary, increasing, the right pelvic pain more;
- severe persistent flatulence and recurrent diarrhea;
- glossitis develops;
- impaired people may experience sleep disturbances, fainting and seizures.
Quite easy to identify and test the failure of the bovine tapeworm, its individual segments - proglottids, crawling out of the anus without defecation, especially often at night.
The simplest and most effective diagnostic method is curettage and fecal analysis to find the proglottid content of eggs. The prognosis of treatment is favorable.
Echinococcus
Echinococcus belongs to the tapeworm class. The main source is wild dogs, wolves, jackals, foxes, they eat echinococcus infected flesh. It is possible to get the parasite from a domestic dog if it comes into contact with stray relatives or the feces of an infected animal.
Human infection occurs when larvae of parasites are swallowed, usually contaminated water. It is possible that eggs are inhaled by the wind, sticking to the nasopharynx mucosa, when sputum is ingested.
The larvae of the parasite, have entered the intestine, enter the bloodstream and follow the flow of venous blood to the liver, where it is fixed. If immobilization does not occur, echinococcus can affect the lungs or other organs. Contrary to popular belief, these parasites do not live in human muscles.
Attaching to organ tissue, the larvae begin to develop and form a cyst. In the event of her death, a cyst depletion occurred. When a person is infected with a large number of larvae, many living and dead cocci are formed.
Symptoms of the presence of this parasite do not appear for a long time, but as the cyst develops in the liver, the following symptoms will appear:
- violation of the stool, frequent vomiting, pain in the temporal region; The
- nodules are palpable in the liver;
- in the case of a pinched cyst, developing jaundice, accompanied by characteristic symptoms, accompanied by very severe itching;
- when a purulent cyst is opened, severe pain, allergic reactions, up to anaphylactic shock occur.
If the parasite has attached to the lungs, we will have difficulty breathing, weak breathing, chest pain and cough with bleeding. The breakout of the cyst into the pleural region is fatal. When it breaks into the bronchi, asphyxiation, blue skin and severe allergic reactions develop.
Diagnosis is clarified by serological tests and confirmed by ultrasound. Echinococcosis can only be treated with surgery! Treatment with specific antiparasitic drugs is carried out only in case of major infection. Drinking alcohol or applying other folk remedies to these parasites is useless.
Giardia
Very easy to become a carrier of these parasites - human infection occurs with cysts from cats, dogs and rodents. Once in the body, the parasite is not only localized in the liver, but also in the large intestine and small intestine. Giardiasis affects children and adults with weakened immunity and low stomach acid levels.
The disease is characterized by a undulating process with progressive neurological and allergic symptoms:
- cramping pain on the right side, especially after eating fatty foods;
- diarrhea alternated with constipation;
- dry and bitter mouth;
- with normal blood hemoglobin concentration, pale skin, especially a "white" nose
- hair loss a lot;
- appears cracks and swelling of the lips;
- skin on palms of hands, flaky feet, red skin rash;
- has episodes of suffocating cough;
- enlarged liver, spleen and lymph nodes;
- developed severe lethargy and general weakness.
Feces and substance in the duodenum are examined to clarify the diagnosis.
When detecting signs of parasites, do not self-medicate, contact a specialist in infectious diseases. Only a doctor can accurately diagnose and prescribe an appropriate, complex treatment.