How to tell if you have worms

Personal hygiene has improved significantly over the past century, but the worm problem is still important not only for rural residents but also for urban residents. Statistics make it clear how high the risk of contracting helminthic invasions is: every third person on the planet suffers from helminthiasis. But this disease does not always appear clearly and in some cases, patients can not correctly interpret the symptoms and remain in the dark for a long time without taking any action. Questions about how to find out if you have worms arise with both helminthiasis and other pathologies with similar symptoms.

Worms are a wide group of parasitic worms, the main signs of whose presence in the human body are similar to each other. Doctors believe that every person at least once in his life was exposed to helminthiasis. Moreover, the presence of helminths in the body can provoke the development of other diseases, sometimes very dangerous, so the issue of diagnosing this disease is very important.

Mechanisms of infection

Worm infection occurs in four main ways:

• Water, soil or sand. Soil and water provide ideal conditions for storing parasite eggs. A person bathing in open water is always at risk of swallowing eggs, which then turn into adults. Not as infrequently as it may seem, people also swallow soil particles, exposing themselves to the risk of infection. Some types of parasites can enter the body directly through the skin.
• Food.In the skins of fruits and vegetables that are not washed or cooked properly, there may be worm eggs. No less risk is associated with the consumption of raw or lightly processed meat, dried fish, dairy products, etc.
• Contact with the patient. Direct contact can occur with both a sick person and an infected animal. Joint activities, living in a common area, close communication contribute to the rapid entry of parasites into the intestine and its further development.
• Bites.Worms can be transmitted by insect bites. This is one of the rarest ways of infection in mild latitude, but sometimes it becomes the cause of the disease. In hot places, this route is more common, which should be remembered when going on vacation in warm lands.

Symptoms

For those who want to know how to understand that you have worms, you need to understand the principles of symptom identification. Any symptoms of helminthiasis do not appear immediately after infection, but only when the parasite stops migrating through the gastrointestinal tract and begins to develop into an adult.

Some of the signs are due to the ingestion of toxins that the worm releases during life. All waste enters the intestinal lumen, from where it is absorbed into the bloodstream and transported to all organs. There are usually more signs and they are stronger in conditions of multiple infection, when the number of worms becomes considerable. In people who are immunosuppressed or have other chronic diseases, the symptoms worsen in a relatively short period of time.

All signs are divided into two major groups: explicit and implicit. The explicit ones can be evaluated independently at home, while the hidden ones can be determined only on an outpatient basis with the help of appointments for certain analyzes and examinations.

Clear

The obvious ones include symptoms by which it can be understood that worms are present in the body. Their presence does not cause very obvious symptoms, as happens, for example, with the development of viruses. The parasites target life inside the body, so excessive deterioration of the infected host's condition would be a threat to their lives. For this reason, the symptoms do not require urgent care.

You may suspect or understand the presence of helminthic infestation by the following signs:

• Gradual weight loss for no apparent reason, which lasts for several months, and sometimes for several years in a row. The rate of weight loss is not catastrophic, most often they are 2-5% per month. With a high infection intensity in people with reduced immunity, this figure can reach up to 10%.
• Gastrointestinal tract disorders. Some worms are able to block the bile ducts or intestinal lumen, which provokes persistent constipation. With a high intensity release of toxins, on the contrary, recurrent diarrhea may occur. Due to the inflammation of the walls of the upper part of the small intestine, increased bloating and gas formation is often observed and bloating is possible.
• Severe joint and muscle pain. Often such manifestations are attributed to the development of osteoarthritis, but in the case of helminths, it is caused by the migration of parasites. In addition, such pain may be due to the impact of toxins on the joints and muscle tissue.
• Itching near the anus. This phenomenon is caused by the fact that a large number of species of parasitic worms crawl from the lumen of the rectum to reproduce and lay eggs. This causes intense itching, which tends to worsen in the evening and at night.
• allergic manifestations. It often occurs in response to the appearance of a large number of toxins in the blood or due to damage to the intestinal mucosa, which causes an increase in the immune system and an allergic reaction.
• Pulmonary manifestations. Possible in a wide range, starting with persistent cough and ending with pneumonia. Characteristic for intense ascariasis that appears in a period not less than three months from the moment of infection.
• Elevated temperature. Such a manifestation can be of different intensity. Most often, a low temperature of about 37 ° C persists throughout the hour, but in rare cases fever may be observed.

Hidden

The hidden signs can only be discovered by a doctor who will adequately assess the clinical picture and will be able to understand that worms may be the possible cause. Preventive measures for the diagnosis of helminthiasis are:

• Fecal analysis for worms. It must be submitted in two stages, therefore, experts do not consider the results of an analysis to be reliable. This is due to the cyclicity of reproduction, so it is not always possible to understand from a fecal analysis that the patient suffers from helminths.
• Clinical blood test. Elevated eosinophil levels indicate that parasites are likely to be present in the body. Often such an assumption arises after tests during the treatment or diagnosis of other diseases.
• Antibody analysis. At the moment, it is one of the most reliable diagnostic methods that helps to understand if a person has worms. Despite the fact that it is more expensive than similar drugs, recently doctors increasingly prefer to prescribe it due to its high information content and reliability.

Antiparasitic drugs or laxatives should not be taken before any clinical analysis for parasites, as this complicates the diagnosis.

Signs in a child

In children, the presence of worms is diagnosed more often than in adults. This is facilitated by poor hygiene, close contact with pets or the street and incomplete development of the immune system. A growing organism usually reacts more acutely to the presence of parasites and the consequences may be more global than in adults. But understanding that a child has worms is not very easy. The symptoms may be the same as in adults, but more often they are more acute.

In most cases, the signs that suggest helminthic infestation in children are:

• Rapid weight loss. With a running appearance, such a manifestation can lead to a delay in physical development;
• Deterioration of hair and nails. Occurs due to long-term lack of nutrients and vitamins caused by a violation of the absorption of digested food in the intestine.
• Sleep disorder. Pathology can cause the child to wake up more often at night, to cry, to turn around and to speak in a dream.
• Nervousness. Nervous system intoxication and poor health can affect the emotional state of the child, cause increased excitement, capriciousness, tears, etc.
• The desire to constantly scratch the anus. Children do not control external manifestations, so this symptom often helps to understand the cause of illness and physical changes.

Some parents tend to give their children broad-spectrum antiparasitic drugs for prevention, but experts do not recommend this, as most of these drugs are quite difficult to tolerate. It is better to understand first if the child is infected and what kind of treatment he needs, as the therapy of different types of worms is significantly different and is not always effective for helminths of other groups.