About 80% of the people on the planet are infected with various helminths. It is often necessary to treat a disease for a long time and without success, the real cause of which is parasites. The worms that can live in a person violate the integrity of the vascular walls, block the intestinal lumen and damage internal organs. They produce toxic substances which enter the bloodstream.
What worms do humans have?
Helminths inhabit the intestines or parasitize, inhabiting all other organs. There are several varieties, the most common being nematodes. Their body is elongated, in cross section - round, shaped, narrowed at the ends. The infection occurs most often:
- roundworms, trichinae, settling in the small intestine and other organs;
- whipworms that live in the large intestine and feed on blood and mucous membranes;
- pinworms accumulating in the cecum and colon.
Pinworms are especially often found in children when feces are tested for enterobiosis.
In addition to those listed, there are over a hundred less common parasites that inhabit different parts of the intestine. For example, human worms such as hookworms and roundworms are in a thin segment, the thick section is often obstructed by whipworms. People become hosts for adults of long-bodied tapeworms. Large bovine and porcine tapeworms, cestodes, echinococci are deposited in the intestines.
Fluke worms have suckers on their bodies that vary in length from a few millimeters (Siberian fluke) to 7 cm (fasciole). Parasites pass to humans as a result of eating raw fish, with unboiled water. Sometimes infection with worms occurs through the skin while swimming in lakes, rivers (schistosome). Having settled once, they can feel good in various human organs for several years.
Methods of infection
The means by which different types of worms get inside are varied. The main method of infection with parasites is fecal-oral. It is associated with the penetration of helminths with food and water. People simply swallow unseen organisms when they forget to wash their hands before eating. Worms in the stool are rarely seen with the naked eye. But the flies that fly over the droppings still carry their eggs. If the insect sits on a piece of food, the chances of infection increase dramatically.
Worms in humans appear after working without gloves with dirt, sand. In the latter case, young children are more likely to suffer from parasites, for whom the sandbox is a favorite place to play. On the surface of the soil, helminths fall with the feces of animals - cats, dogs, cattle, and are carried by flies. They enter the human body through unwashed hands, micro-injuries on the skin, insufficiently processed vegetables. Inhalation of street dust saturated with very stubborn larvae can also be infected.
Another factor contributing to the appearance of worms is the use of poor quality water. It is strongly recommended not to swallow the liquid while swimming in the sea, river or lake. It contains a huge amount of parasites from the droppings of fish, waterfowl and pets. Human consumption of raw fish, meat threatens infection, and parasites - cattle, pork tapeworm, large tapeworm - will settle in the body. In medical reference books there are photos of worms, the length of which reaches several meters.
Symptoms and signs of helminthic invasion
Becoming hosts of parasites, people start to lose weight quickly, feel exhausted, look pale. Indicate the presence of worms:
- body aches;
- painful sensations in the joints;
- general weakness;
- loss of appetite;
- diarrhea or constipation;
- episodes of nausea.
But to make sure that helminths are present in the body, you need to be examined. This will help identify worms in the stool or specific antibodies in the blood.
Symptoms are worse without timely treatment. Depending on the prevalent worms in the body, the places of their accumulation will differ in signs of disease. Biliary stasis occurs when the ducts are blocked by parasites. A person feels heaviness and pain in the right hypochondrium, bitterness in the mouth. Periodically tormented by fits of nausea, constipation.
Many worms secrete substances that irritate the intestinal walls - diarrhea appears, in which the feces are watery and foamy. In addition to this, the patient increased gas production, loud rumbling in the abdomen, pain in the navel.
Worms, once in the human body, are able to migrate. Their progression is accompanied by severe pain. Most often, a patient with helminthiasis thinks he has an exacerbation of arthritis. In fact, the unpleasant sensations with worms are the body's response to tissue damage.
A person experiences apathy, deterioration of the ability to concentrate, memory problems. This happens if parasites are present in the body for a long time. There is a previously unusual allergy, intolerance to the body of certain products. Worms are the culprits of skin problems. The most common:
- acne, pimples all over the body;
- urticaria, atopic dermatitis, eczema;
- formation of wrinkles too early;
- hair loss, bald patches.
More frequent rhinitis, bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia may well be caused by the migration of worms with the blood. Sometimes the parasites take up residence in the lungs, lay eggs there, which mature and develop into full-fledged individuals. On x-ray images, scans obtained after tomography, the worms look like a focal obscuration of round or oval shape.
The release of toxic helminth waste into the bloodstream causes people to complain of:
- constant anxiety, irritability;
- depression;
- insomnia.
Obesity and being underweight are common symptoms of worms. Digestive problems, intoxication lead to a lack of appetite. A person loses body weight. The prolonged presence of parasites is the reason for a decrease in blood sugar 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 treatment
Treatment of helminthiasis without prior consultation with a specialist is not recommended for several reasons. The first is that even after passing feces several times for analysis, it is not always possible to identify the parasites. To determine exactly what type of worms have settled in a person, you will need to do a more detailed examination, including:
- general blood test with leukoformula;
- biochemical blood test (liver function tests);
- analysis of stool and rectal mucus.
Sometimes, to detect the worms that have infested the body, it is necessary to examine the bile, sputum and small sections of the skin.
Self-treatment of worms in an adult or child is a dubious endeavor. Pharmacological drugs are quite toxic. At the same time, many of them have an action directed against a particular species, without affecting the others.
If, according to the results of the test, worms in a person's stool were detected or the presence of parasites was confirmed by other diagnostic procedures, the infectious disease doctor selects the mosteffective. The doctor who prescribes the pills should indicate exactly how many times the medicine should be taken and its dose, depending on the patient's weight. Worm processing is carried out:
- Albendazole;
- Paraziquantel;
- Medamin;
- Mebendazole;
- Pirantel.
The procedure for getting rid of worms is supplemented with drugs that remove intoxication (sorbents), antiallergic drugs, vitamins.
Preventive measures
Since worms are very easily transmitted from animals or from an infected person, every effort should be made to prevent their occurrence. To do this, you must strictly observe hygiene. An important factor of protection against worms is the correct preparation of the products from which the food is prepared.
Doctors recommend an annual prophylactic procedure to clean up worms in the spring and fall. Even if there are no obvious symptoms of infection in a person. To achieve its maximum effectiveness, it is achieved if all members of the family take the remedy recommended by the doctor. Most parasites are so small that you can only see a photo of some worms' eggs taken under a powerful microscope when examining feces, another biomaterial.