About 80% of the planet's inhabitants are infected with various helminths.Often it takes a long time and unsuccessfully to treat a disease whose true cause is parasites.Worms that can live in humans violate the integrity of vascular walls, block the intestinal lumen, and damage internal organs.They produce toxic substances that enter the blood.
What kind of worms do humans have?
Helminths colonize the intestines or parasitize, living in any other organ.There are several varieties, the most common being nematodes.Their body has an elongated, round cross-section shape, narrowing at the ends.More often than others, infection occurs:
- roundworms, trichinae, settling in the small intestine and other organs;
- whipworms that live in the large intestine and feed on blood and mucous;
- pinworms that accumulate in the cecum and colon.
Pinworms are especially often found in children when they do a stool test for enterobiasis.
In addition to those listed, there are more than a hundred less common parasites that inhabit different parts of the intestine.For example, in humans such worms as hookworm and roundworm are found in the thin segment; the thick section is often clogged with whipworms.People become hosts for adult tapeworms, which have a flat, long body.Large bovine and pork tapeworms, cestodes, and echinococci inhabit the intestines.
Fluke worms have suckers on their bodies ranging from a few millimeters in length (Siberian fluke) to 7 cm (fasciola).Parasites pass to humans as a result of consuming raw fish and unboiled water.Sometimes infection with worms occurs through the skin while swimming in lakes and rivers (schistosoma).Once settled, they can feel great in various human organs for several years.
Methods of infection
The routes by which different types of worms enter are varied.The main method of infection by parasites is fecal-oral.It is associated with the penetration of helminths along with food and water.People simply ingest invisible organisms when they forget to wash their hands before eating.Worms in feces are rarely visible to the naked eye.But flies hovering over excrement always carry their eggs.If an insect lands on a piece of food, the chances of infection increase significantly.
Worms appear in humans after working with soil or sand without gloves.In the latter case, small children, for whom the sandbox is a favorite place to play, are more likely to suffer from parasites.Helminths reach the surface of the soil together with the feces of animals - cats, dogs, livestock, and are carried by flies.They enter the human body through unwashed hands, microtraumas on the skin, and insufficiently processed vegetables.Inhaling street dust, saturated with very tenacious larvae, can also become infected.
Another factor contributing to the appearance of worms is the use of poor quality water.It is highly undesirable to swallow liquid while swimming in the sea, river or lake.It contains a huge number of parasites from the feces of fish, waterfowl, and domestic animals.If a person consumes raw fish or meat, there is a risk that infection will occur and parasites - bovine tapeworm, pork tapeworm, tapeworm - will take up residence in the body.In medical reference books there are photos of worms, the length of which reaches several meters.
Symptoms and signs of helminthic infestation
Having become hosts to parasites, people begin to quickly lose weight, feel exhausted, and look pale.Indicate the presence of worms:
- aches throughout the body;
- painful sensations in the joints;
- general weakness;
- loss of appetite;
- diarrhea or constipation;
- attacks of nausea.
But to make sure that helminths are present in the body, it is necessary to undergo an examination.It will help identify worms in the stool or special antibodies in the blood.
Symptoms increase in the absence of timely treatment.Depending on which worms predominate in the body, where they accumulate, the signs of the disease will differ.Stagnation of bile occurs when the ducts are blocked by parasites.A person feels heaviness and pain in the right hypochondrium, bitterness in the mouth.Periodically suffer from attacks of nausea and constipation.
Many worms secrete substances that irritate the intestinal walls - diarrhea appears, in which the stool is watery and foamy.In addition to this, the patient experiences increased gas formation, loud rumbling in the abdomen, and pain in the navel area.
Worms, once in the human body, are able to migrate.Their progress is accompanied by severe pain.Most often, a person with helminthiasis thinks that he has an exacerbation of arthritis.In fact, the unpleasant sensations caused by worms are the body’s response to tissue injury.
A person experiences a state of apathy, he has a deterioration in the ability to concentrate, and memory problems.This happens if parasites are present in the body for a long time.A previously unusual allergy or intolerance by the body to certain foods occurs.Worms become the culprits of skin problems.The most common:
- acne, pimples all over the body;
- urticaria, atopic dermatitis, eczema;
- too early formation of wrinkles;
- hair loss, bald spots.
More frequent runny noses, bronchitis, asthma, and pneumonia may well be caused by the migration of worms through the bloodstream.Sometimes parasites settle in the lungs, lay eggs there, which mature and turn into full-fledged individuals.On X-rays and scans obtained after tomography, worms look like focal darkening of a round or oval shape.
The entry of toxic waste products of helminths into the blood causes people to complain about:
- constant anxiety, irritability;
- depression;
- insomnia.
Both obesity and underweight are common symptoms of worms.Digestive problems and intoxication lead to poor appetite.A person loses body weight.Long-term presence of parasites causes a decrease in blood glucose levels and a constant feeling of hunger.At the cellular level, there is a lack of nutrients, which is compensated by the accumulation of adipose tissue.
Drug therapy
It is not recommended to treat helminthiasis without first consulting a specialist for several reasons.The first is that even after passing feces for analysis several times, it is not always possible to identify parasites.To accurately determine which type of worms have settled in a person, you will have to do a more detailed examination, including:
- general blood test with leukemia formula;
- biochemical blood test (liver tests);
- analysis of stool and rectal mucus.
Sometimes, to detect worms that have colonized the body, examination of bile, sputum, and small sections of skin is required.
Treating worms in an adult or child on your own is a dubious idea.Pharmacological drugs are quite toxic.At the same time, many of them have an effect directed against a specific species without affecting others.
If the results of the tests revealed worms in a person’s feces or the presence of parasites was confirmed by other diagnostic procedures, the infectious disease doctor selects the most effective drug.The doctor prescribing the pills must indicate exactly how many times the medicine will have to be taken and its dose, based on the patient’s weight.Treatment of worms is carried out:
- Albendazole;
- Paraziquanthelome;
- Medamine;
- Mebendazole;
- Pyrantel.
The procedure for getting rid of worms is supplemented with agents that relieve intoxication (sorbents), antiallergic drugs, and vitamins.
Preventive measures
Considering that worms are very easily transmitted from animals or an infected person, every effort should be made to prevent their occurrence.To do this, you must strictly adhere to hygiene.An important factor in protecting against worms is the proper preparation of the products from which food is prepared.
Doctors recommend carrying out an annual preventive procedure to clear worms in spring and autumn.Even if a person has no obvious symptoms of infection.Its maximum effectiveness can be achieved if all family members take the drug recommended by the doctor.Most parasites are so small that you can only see photos of the eggs of some worms, taken through a powerful microscope when examining feces or other biomaterial.