Parasitologists have their own definition of the summer season - the season of helminths.During the warm season, various types of parasites feel good and reproduce actively.
You can meet them everywhere - in the country gardens, during a picnic and when communicating with our younger brothers.How to avoid this encounter and what to do if it happens?
Worms or helminths are parasites that affect humans, animals, and even plants.Previously, it was generally accepted that helminth infections were the fate of unscrupulous people, but today it is known that this is not the case.No one is safe from helminth infection.And according to expert estimates, worms affect from 70 to 95% of the world's population.
Signs of helminthiasis
Often there are situations when it is not easy to guess about such a neighborhood.Symptoms of the presence of parasites in the body are non-specific.For some they will cause intestinal disorders, for others - asthenia, and for others they will not feel anything at all.Experts warn that worms can live in the human body for years and go undetected.However, a lot depends not only on your individual characteristics, but also on the type of parasites themselves.
People at risk for helminth infection include people with weakened immune systems and children under 3 years of age.The acidity of the gastric juice of a healthy adult is often fatal to worms.Parasites live in every sandbox, and if a baby likes to put his fingers in his mouth, it can end sadly.
Pediatrician Maxim Pereverzentsev claims that for every square meter of the sandbox there are at least fifty worm eggs.In addition, young children often play with pets, which carry parasite eggs in their fur or saliva.
Enterobiasis
The most common childhood parasites are worms, which cause the disease enterobiasis.It is not difficult to suspect their presence.At night, hookworms lay eggs in the anus area, causing severe itching in humans.Other symptoms include decreased appetite and disturbed sleep.Enterobiasis must be treated and only a doctor can help with this.A little known fact: if a child is infected with worms, the vaccines given to him will not be effective.
Here are some other symptoms that may indicate the presence of worms in the human body: abdominal pain, skin rash, allergic reactions, increased salivation, constipation or diarrhea, vomiting.
Of the three hundred types of worms known in the world, the two most widespread in our country are breast worms and roundworms, which parasitize the intestines.According to the doctor of laboratory diagnostics Vasily Yurasov, at least half of the population of our country has one or the other.
Ascariasis
For example, it is quite easy to get infected with roundworms in the cottage - there are a lot of them in our garden beds.They enter the body through poorly washed vegetables and leafy greens.The lifespan of a roundworm is measured in two years and, as Yurasov says, theoretically, ascariasis can go away by itself (to continue to exist, the worm must be in the soil).However, during these two years, these worms can greatly destroy your life, because they affect not only the gastrointestinal tract, but also the respiratory system.Most often, ascariasis manifests as skin dermatitis, muscle pain, stool disorders and dry cough, which worsens at night.If there are many roundworms, they can lead to the development of pancreatitis, inflammation of the appendix, cholecystitis, intestinal obstruction and liver abscess.
Toxoporosis
Toxoporosis is transmitted through domestic animals, which causes damage to the liver and mucous membranes of the eyes.Badly fried kebabs or insufficiently smoked or salted fish (usually carp and carp) transmit tapeworms and liver flukes.
If we talk about the diagnosis of helminths, then everything is not so simple here.Each of us has been tested for egg worms at least once in our life (for example, to get a certificate for a swimming pool), but their detection in research material is quite difficult.For example, roundworms lay eggs every few days.Therefore, to understand the real situation, says doctor of laboratory diagnostics Vasily Yurasov, such tests should be done at least three days in a row.
Diagnosis and treatment of helminthiasis
In addition, if there are serious doubts about the presence of worms in the body, the doctor can prescribe an additional test - a stool test for worms.Based on the results of this analysis, a specialist will be able to understand the presence of helminths in the body based on a number of indirect signs.Another important aid for determining helminthic infections is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent blood test, which allows you to determine antibodies to different types of parasites.To complete the picture, the doctor can prescribe a routine biochemical blood test to the patient.For example, if it turns out that a person has exceeded the normative value of eosinophils, it is quite possible that the reason is the presence of something else in his body.
Parasites should be treated only under the strict supervision of a specialist.You should contact a therapist or parasitologist.As for prevention, it is quite simple.Wash your hands as often as possible, thoroughly rinse greens from your garden beds, brown your meat and fish well, and don't let your pets eat too much.Good folk remedies for prevention include pumpkin seeds, ginger and tansy.