Approximately 80% of the world's inhabitants are infected with various helminths. Often, it is necessary to treat a disease for a long time and without success, the true 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 the internal organs. They produce toxic substances that enter the bloodstream.
What worms do humans have?
Helminths inhabit the intestines or parasitize, inhabiting any other organ. There are several varieties of them, the most common are nematodes. Its body is elongated, in cross section: round, in shape, narrow at the ends. The infection occurs most frequently:
- roundworms, trichinae, which settle in the small intestine and other organs;
- whipworms that live in the large intestine and feed on blood and mucous membranes;
- pinworms that accumulate in the cecum and colon.
Pinworms are especially found in children when stool is tested for enterobiasis.
In addition to those listed, there are more than 100 less common parasites that inhabit different parts of the intestine. For example, worms in humans such as hookworms and roundworms are found in a thin segment, the thick section is often clogged with whipworms. People become hosts for adult tapeworms with a long, flat body. Large bovine and porcine tapeworms, cestodes and echinococci settle in the intestines.
Fluke worms have suction cups on their bodies that vary in length from several millimeters (Siberian flounder) to 7 cm (fasciola). The parasites pass to humans as a result of consuming raw fish, with unboiled water. Sometimes worm infection occurs through the skin when swimming in lakes or rivers (schistosome). Having settled once, they can feel good in various human organs for several years.
Infection methods
The ways in 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 together with food and water. People simply swallow invisible organisms when they forget to wash their hands before eating. Worms in feces are rarely seen with the naked eye. But flies that circle the droppings always carry their eggs. If the insect sits on a piece of food, the chances of infection are significantly increased.
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 together with the feces of animals: cats, dogs, cattle, and are carried by flies. They penetrate the human body through unwashed hands, micro-injuries to the skin, insufficiently processed vegetables. Inhaling street dust saturated with very tenacious larvae can also become infected.
Another factor that contributes to the appearance of worms is the use of poor quality water. It is very undesirable to swallow the liquid while swimming in the sea, river or lake. It contains a large number of parasites from the feces of fish, waterfowl and domestic animals. Human consumption of raw fish and meat threatens to become infected and parasites - cattle, pork tapeworms, broad tapeworms - 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 helminth invasion
By becoming the host of parasites, people begin to lose weight rapidly, feel exhausted, look pale. Indicate the presence of worms:
- body aches;
- painful sensations in the joints;
- general weakness;
- loss of appetite;
- diarrhea or constipation;
- bouts of nausea.
But to make sure there are helminths in the body, it is necessary to undergo an examination. It will help identify worms in the stool or specific antibodies in the blood.
Symptoms get worse without prompt treatment. Depending on which worms prevail in the body, the places of their accumulation will differ in the signs of ailment. 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 tormented by bouts of nausea, constipation.
Many worms secrete substances that irritate the intestinal walls: diarrhea occurs, in which the stool is watery and foamy. In addition to this, the patient has increased gas production, loud noises in the abdomen, pain in the navel.
Worms, once in the human body, can migrate. Its progress is accompanied by severe pain. Very often, a patient with helminthiasis thinks that he has an exacerbation of arthritis. In fact, unpleasant sensations with worms are the body's response to tissue injury.
A person experiences a state of apathy, has a deterioration in the ability to concentrate, memory problems. This happens when parasites are present in the body for a long time. There is a previously unusual allergy, intolerance to the body of some products. Worms are to blame for skin problems. The most common:
- acne, pimples all over the body;
- urticaria, atopic dermatitis, eczema;
- early wrinkle formation;
- hair loss, bald patches.
The most common rhinitis, bronchitis, asthma and pneumonia can be caused by the migration of worms with the bloodstream. Sometimes the parasites settle in the lungs, lay eggs there, which mature into full-fledged individuals. On X-ray images, scans obtained after the CT scan, the worms appear as focal blackouts of round or oval shape.
The release of toxic helminth waste products into the bloodstream causes people to complain about:
- constant anxiety, irritability;
- depression;
- insomnia.
Both obesity and underweight are common symptoms of worms. Digestive problems, intoxication cause poor appetite. A person loses body weight. The prolonged presence of parasites is the reason for 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
Treating helminthiasis without prior consultation with a specialist is not recommended for several reasons. The first is that even after passing the stool for analysis several times, it is not always possible to identify the parasites. To determine exactly what types of worms have settled in a person, you will need to conduct a more detailed examination, including:
- general blood test with leucoformula;
- biochemical blood tests (liver function tests);
- analysis of stool and rectal mucus.
Sometimes, to detect worms that have infested the body, it is necessary to examine the bile, sputum, and small sections of the skin.
It is a dubious undertaking to independently treat worms in an adult or child. Pharmacological preparations are quite toxic. At the same time, many of them have an action directed against a particular species, without affecting others.
If, based on the test results, worms were detected in a person's feces or the presence of parasites was confirmed by other diagnostic procedures, the infectious disease physician selects the most effective drug. The doctor who prescribes the pills must indicate exactly how many times the medicine should be taken and its dose, based on the patient's weight. Treatment of worms is done:
- Albendazole;
- Paraziquantel;
- Medamin;
- mebendazole;
- Pirantel.
The procedure for getting rid of worms is supplemented with drugs that eliminate intoxication (sorbents), anti-allergy drugs, vitamins.
Preventive measures
Since worms are very easily transmitted from animals or an infected person, every effort should be made to prevent their appearance. To do this, you must strictly adhere to hygiene. An important factor of protection against worms is the correct preparation of the products from which food is prepared.
Doctors recommend an annual prophylactic procedure to clean out worms in spring and fall. Even if there are no obvious symptoms of infection in a person. To achieve its maximum effectiveness, it is obtained if all members of the family take the remedy recommended by the doctor. Most parasites are so small that only a photo of the eggs of some worms can be seen, made through a powerful microscope when examining feces, another biomaterial.