Worms in humans, the symptoms and treatment of which will be promoted by a doctor, in the human body are provoked by two types of worms - round (nematodes) and flat (fluxes and streaks). Each of the parasites causes considerable damage to the organism, especially if proper treatment is not provided in time.
Be sure to wash your hands when you get home and also rinse vegetables or fruits under a stream of warm or hot water, as parasitic eggs are likely to be found in them. Products such as fish meat or livestock must necessarily undergo heat treatment. Under the action of high temperature, the meat gets rid of the eggs of various helminths and may be convenient to eat.
Varieties of roundworms
Worms are small flat gray-white parasitic worms that awaken enterobiasis.
Such parasites enter the human body in the following ways:
- food (through the oral cavity);
- through unwashed / dirty hands.
Worm eggs can be found in unwashed fruits or vegetables, or in the coat of a sick animal. Children who scratch areas of skin that itch and then swallow eggs (for example, along with contaminated foods) are more likely to become infected with enterobiasis. It takes two weeks for the worm larvae to develop in the digestive tract environment and after full development, a complete worm lives in all parts of the colon.
Trichinella - these parasites have a round body no more than 5 mm in length and irritate the trichinosis in the body. Larvae and eggs prefer to be in poorly fried meats (wild boar, pork, bear meat). In the human body it takes up to 4 days for Trichinella to become an adult and its life cycle is 40 days. The main purpose of this type of worm is to enter the bloodstream through the intestinal walls and settle in the muscles. Moreover, the muscles of the respiratory and musculoskeletal systems are often affected.
Roundworms are representatives of large sizes, having a finger shape with a reddish-yellow tinge. Males of this species reach a size of 15-25 cm, and females - up to 40 cm. Their body has no adaptation for fixation in the intestine, they simply move independently in the food mass through the intestines.
You can become infected with roundworms by swallowing ripe eggs when you eat unwashed vegetables or fruits, on which the smallest particles of soil remain. Once the eggs enter the body's internal environment, the adult larvae emerge from them, terrorizing the intestinal walls. Through the bloodstream, parasites can reach the heart muscle, and later the lungs.
Only on this, the cycle of travel through the body does not end, because the larva moves through the respiratory tract to the mouth.
By re-ingesting the parasite, the body already creates a favorable environment for its development.
The path of a complete worm will extend through the small intestine. Their life cycle is 12 months, and then they die and are excreted in the feces.
Vlasoglavy - worms in humans, the symptoms and treatment of which is determined at any time after infection, preferring to live directly in the intestines. This worm eats the blood component or feeds on the intestinal mucosa.
Females lay eggs directly on the walls of the affected organ, then emerge along with the feces and develop under environmental conditions. An already mature larva, whose body is elongated and does not exceed 5-15 mm. food enters the human body.
These parasites have a round body no more than 5 millimeters in length and excite trichinosis in the body. Egg larvae are found in poorly fried meat (wild boar, pork, bear meat).
In the human body it takes a maximum of 4 days for Trichinella to become an adult and its life cycle does not exceed 40 days. The main purpose of this type of worm is to enter the bloodstream through the intestinal walls and settle in the muscles. Moreover, the muscles of the respiratory and musculoskeletal systems are often affected.
Necator / worm hook. The connection between these parasites is direct, in relation to the diseases caused and the biological signs. They live in the duodenum, and due to their small size (10-15 mm) move freely in its environment.
Larvae can only enter the body through the skin if a person has been in contact with contaminated soil. Another target of worms are the lungs along with the digestive tract. They feed only on the blood that comes out of the bitten blood vessels. As a result of the violent activity of these parasites, blood coagulation is disrupted. Adults consume blood in the range 0, 1-0, 35 ml per day.
Varieties of flatworms
Wide ribbon. The body length of the parasite, which is 10-20 meters, deserves attention.
The parasite originates in freshwater fish and lobster, the larvae enter the eggs and fish fillets.
The formation of an adult worm lasts a maximum of 25 days, and then a person becomes ill with diphyllobothriasis (digestive tract is disturbed, lack of vitamin B).
The liver worm is a flatworm, reaching a size of 10-20 mm, and has a second name for this parasite - cat fluke. In 50% of cases of infection suffer residents who have consumed infected fish (carp, crucian carp, cockroach). Fish are infected with liver fluids through a consumed snail that has previously consumed helminth eggs with fresh water.
To clean the fish from the parasite heat treatment is needed, otherwise the larva will enter the internal environment of the body, damaging the gallbladder with the intestines. Signs of the acute stage of development of helminthiasis in humans are a mixed feeling, turning into vomiting, pain in the upper abdomen, allergic reactions, muscle spasms. The parasite creates irreversible changes in the body, even after its removal from the body of patients, all sorts of inflammations and disorders will surely occur.
Pork / beef ribbon. The body length of the parasite is 5-6 meters, and its larvae hide in the meat of large animals (pork, cattle). The clever disease from these helminths is called teniasis and teniarinhoz.
The larvae of both types of tapeworms, the Finns, are white vesicles attached to the walls of the small intestine. To reach and form an adult, the parasite needs 3 months and the worm develops every day. The total number of segments reaches 2000, the end of which freely "grooves" the colon.
The worms then leave the body along with the feces through the anus. The most common and obvious symptom of helminthiasis is a disorder of the digestive tract, as well as ingestion of food in large volumes and the patient does not visually gain weight.
Ekinokoku. In this case, a person acts as an intermediate host, because the ultimate ones are wolves, cats, dogs. Animals can be infected through direct contact with contaminated objects or people. As soon as the eggs of the parasite enter the intestine, the larvae with six hooks develop, which in medicine are called oncospheres.
The worm's favorite habitat is the lungs and liver, and the larva becomes an echinococcal cyst, increasing in size. All tissues near it are subject to rapid destruction.
Doctors often do not detect echinococcosis and confuse it with a malignant or benign formation. In addition to constriction of blood vessels and internal organs, ruptures of the echinococcal cyst are common.
If this happens, not only does toxic shock occur immediately in the body, but a ruptured cyst provokes the formation of some new ones.
The last type of parasite are alveococci, in the medical literature they are called echinococci. It is this worm that awakens a terrible disease that causes damage in relation to liver cancer and cirrhosis. The oncospheres of the worm enter the intestines, then the embryos emerge from the eggs and begin to destroy the intestinal walls. After piercing the walls, the parasite enters the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body.
Most often, as mentioned earlier, alveococci terrorize the liver, where the larva gradually grows. In the process of development, the larvae form into worms - an aggressive formation that is rapidly increasing in size (a multi-chambered vesicle, gradually growing). These vesicles enter the liver cells, on the same principle as cancerous metastases.
Nearby tissues feel a violation of blood flow, and later necrotic changes occur in them. Such multi-chamber bubble fibrous nodules form in nearby structures and they can stay in the human body for several years. This is why doctors, when they detect this parasite, resort to surgical intervention.
note
Modern science recognizes about 280 species of worms. It is these microorganisms that can parasitize and grow in a variety of tissues and organs of the human body.
Every year, these worms in humans, whose symptoms and treatment are determined by the doctor, affect the organs and tissues of about 15 million people and most, to be more precise, 80% of them are children.
How to get worms:
- Use of meat dishes with poor thermal treatment or raw meat in general. So beef is the habitat of tapeworm and pork carries pork worm.
- Consumption of infected fish in slightly salted or raw form. River water is often contaminated with helminth larvae.
- Water can also cause worms. This is due to the fact that a person can drink raw water, or wash food, dishes with contaminated water. The risk is especially high when you are outside.
- Soil can also cause worms to appear. Because it may contain animal or human feces. But how do worms enter the human body? The answer is simple - through unwashed hands after work in the garden or outdoor recreation.
In addition, you can become infected through direct contact with a person who has helminthiasis. That is, the infection occurs through dishes, linen or personal hygiene items.
If the case is completely neglected and the parasitic infection is in the acute stage of its development, then doctors prescribe detoxifying and desensitizing therapy. And if the disease is very severe, then glucocorticoids are prescribed.
Speaking of specific therapies, it takes into account the nature of the pathogen and includes specific chemotherapeutic agents of an anthelmintic nature.
In addition, patients are advised to take various antihistamines. At the end of treatment, you will need to take a course of probiotics. All this is necessary to restore the intestinal microflora. In the treatment process, the patient must adhere to a special diet, which consists of easily digestible foods with a minimum fat content.
At the time of therapy, it is very important to adhere to impeccable personal hygiene, otherwise there is a risk of re-infection.
Also, all family members, as well as other persons who were in constant and close contact with the patient, should undergo anti-helminthic treatment.
Signs of worms in humans: symptoms in children and adults
Signs of worms in humans, the symptoms of which may be the same, can be seen acutely, both in adults and children:
- Unreasonable increase in appetite and abundant saliva, and at the same time, weight is lost rapidly.
- Another variant of the development of symptoms can occur - the appetite disappears, after eating the person feels sick.
- Perhaps the appearance of headaches and dizziness.
- Loose stools or constipation may also indicate the presence of worms.
- Abdominal pain.
- Sudden onset of an allergy with unexplained symptoms.
- Weakening of hair and nails (their fragility increases due to lack of iron and vitamin B12).
- Due to the weakening of the immune system, various inflammations appear in the nasopharynx and genital area.
If the body is highly infected with worms, a large amount of toxic substances that appear due to the vital activity of helminths are released into human blood. This circumstance can greatly affect the health of the child. First of all, the nervous system suffers. Therefore, if a child exhibits sudden aggression, irritability, insomnia and other signs of nervous disorders, the child should be checked for the presence of helminths.
Even if there are no marked signs, and there are no functional disorders, worms may be present in the human body and it is necessary to do regular tests to identify them.
It often happens that after preventive vaccinations, a child develops an allergic reaction due to the presence in the body of toxic substances secreted by helminths.
In fact, determining whether or not there are worms based solely on surface marks is a rather difficult task. After all, the symptoms displayed may be a sign of another disease. This task is especially difficult for pregnant women. Since all of the above signs of worms in humans, the symptoms of which were described above, in pregnant women appear due to the process itself.
For this reason, the signs of helminth infection in pregnant women can be distinguished from such symptoms: itching in the anus and burning in the vaginal area, which increase at night, weight loss, fatigue, fever.
To diagnose helminth infection, a number of measures are performed, including the following procedures:
- Collection of a medical history to identify possible sources of infection.
- Study of fecal and blood samples, rectal and perianal mucus, muscle tissue, saliva and bile in the laboratory. While performing these activities, signs of the presence of helminths in the body (eggs or the worms themselves, as well as their parts) can be detected. It is also worth noting that an increased number of eosinophils can serve as a sign of the presence of worms in the body.
- Serological studies (ELISA, RSK, etc. ) make it possible to detect the presence of parasites in the larval stage or helminths that live in muscle tissue.
- Ultrasound, CT and endoscopy are prescribed to determine the presence of parasites affecting the liver.
Worms in the human liver: symptoms according to the type of worm
Worms in the human liver, the symptoms of which depend mainly on the type of helminth, can also migrate to other organs.
The appearance of primary signs of worm infection does not appear immediately. In many ways, the time of onset of distinguishing traits depends on the species composition of the parasites. So the presence of ascaris in almost two to three days is manifested by a deterioration of a person's general condition.
The first symptoms of infection with other species of helminths in most cases begin to appear only two to three weeks after the end of the incubation period. There are such parasites (for example, filariasis) in which the incubation period exceeds a mark of six months.
The problem with determining the presence of helminths in the human body is that in the case of primary infection with a small number of worms or a single individual, there are virtually no visual signs. Symptoms begin to appear only after intensive reproduction of helminths or when they reach large sizes (wide strip, roundworm).
It is most reliably possible to diagnose infection with breast worms. In their presence appears a characteristic itching in the anus, which intensifies at night. Basically, itching occurs within a few days, then subsides for about two weeks and resumes again.
When infected with helminths such as trichuriasis, ankilostomidosis, schistosomiasis, diphyllobothriasis, beriberi and anemia develop.
The appearance of symptoms of roundworm infection depends mainly on the period of parasite development. So if they are in the initial stage of development, the larvae move through the blood to almost all internal organs and the following symptoms of the disease appear: subfebrile fever, weakness, cough with purulent saliva, volatile infiltrates are visible on x-rays. lungs, which then disappear.
With severe infection, bronchitis and pneumonia can develop. With the further development of parasites, there is a violation of the functions of the gastrointestinal tract.
Trichinosis - its presence is mainly manifested by pain in muscle tissue, fever and swelling.
Such worms in the human liver, the symptoms of which are manifested by an icteric complexion, such as fascioliasis, opisthorchiasis, clonorrhea, reveal their presence with an increase of the spleen and liver and other serious disorders of the body.
Almost all types of worms cause disorders of the central nervous system, while the sufferer feels severe headaches and fatigue, a generally calm person becomes irritable and intolerant, and unreasonable aggression attacks may occur.