Today we will talk about how to determine the presence of parasites in the human body, what symptoms can indicate their presence, and what instrumental diagnostic methods are the most effective. The symptoms of helminthiasis are sometimes very difficult to recognize, because many of the signs are similar in nature to other diseases. To protect yourself, you need to know how to accurately determine the presence of parasites. Therefore, this article is only for a sane person who cares about the health of the whole family.
Many of my friends ask me if it is possible to identify helminths at home or if it is better to consult a specialist. In order for you to understand which method best shows your presence, I wrote this material. The article will reveal such points: how toidentify parasites in the human body: traditional and non-traditional methods.
We correctly diagnose parasites in the human body
You can discover that a person is tormented by parasites because of their appearance and because of the work of the whole organism; the presence of worms is clearly noticeable. The signals that the body gives can not always be interpreted correctly for the simple reason that the symptoms are very similar to those typical of other common diseases.
So don't self-medicate, this won't affect helminths. If you notice recurring anxiety symptoms, it is best to see a doctor.
How to know if an adult has parasites
Worms can stay in the body for a long time without showing any obvious signs, having entered the human body with a touch to the animal, eating unwashed fruits and vegetables.
It is important to know how to understand if a person has worms, because the consequences of prolonged activity of worms in the body can result in serious health problems for a person.
As soon as the worms start their activity in the body, it is very difficult to "calculate" them, therefore there are no symptoms in the initial stages of the infection. The obvious symptoms of worms in the body begin to appear when the parasites begin to multiply. and lead an active life, literally feeding off the human body and depleting it.
The signs of parasites in adults will be the following:
- diarrhea of a prolonged or episodic nature (this symptom can be caused by the fact that some types of parasites secrete an enzyme that causes intestinal discomfort, as well as the fact that parasites cause disturbances in the digestive tract);
- bloating, gas, discomfort in the abdomen;
- constipation and stagnation of bile: worms, which are large, can block the bile ducts, which in turn causes constipation (the same happens if the parasites multiply and remain in the body in colonies);
- allergy, which occurs due to the fact that worms weaken the immune system, as well as the fact that the activity of worms poisons the body, and allergy is the inability of the body to cope with these poisons and attack;
- irritable bowel cider: produced because worms constantly irritate the walls of the intestines, causing them to become inflamed;
- pain in muscles and joints: some types of worms can live in joint fluid and injure muscles and joints, causing the same discomfort as with osteoarthritis;
- presence of dermatitis, urticaria, eczema and other skin eruptions;
- acne, blackheads, hair loss, yellowing under the eyes - all this speaks of worms, as they remove nutrients from the body that are necessary to maintain a normal appearance;
- anemia - a symptom appears due to the fact that parasites adhere to the walls of the intestine and suck blood from the vessels;
- a strong weight loss in the context of gastrointestinal upset and increased appetite.
It is possible to understand that a person has worms if at least 5 of the above symptoms appear.
By itself, gnashing your teeth in a dream has nothing to do with worms! This is a symptom of a malfunction of the nervous system. Finding these symptoms in yourself is the first stage. The follow-up actions aim to confirm the diagnosis and determine which parasites attacked the organism.
How to tell if a child has worms
Children are more susceptible to worm infection, which can be caused by their close contact with the outside world, as well as by the use of common utensils and toilets in kindergartens and schools.
Since parents cannot keep track of what the child is touching, it is important that they know the symptoms of parasites in children, which, unlike adults, are much more pronounced.
In preschoolers and school-age children, the signs of parasites are as follows:
- Sharp or achy stomach pain;
- Swelling;
- diarrhea, constipation, or vomiting;
- Express apathy, lethargy.
There are a number of additional symptoms by which it can be understood that roundworms, roundworms and lamblia have settled on the child's body:
- night itching in the anal area;
- restless sleep;
- weakened immunity and frequent colds in this context.
In addition to alerting parents to these symptoms, they can also perform home tests for parasites in children.
There are two ways to do this:
- In the morning, you need to apply tape to the child's anus, and then examine this piece of tape with a magnifying glass. If there are parasites, their eggs will be visible on the tape.
- You can see the baby's stool, as roundworms sometimes come out with the stool.
- Sometimes children feel bad, then in vomiting you can find pinworms, which come out this way when there are many in the stomach.
It is very difficult to identify the presence of worms in babies and in those patients who have the disease in latent form, since in the first case, babies cannot declare and count the symptoms, therefore, parents do not havewhy worry, and in the second case, the symptoms are simply absent.
Although there are some home methods to determine the presence of parasites in the body, only laboratory tests can establish this fact with certainty.
That is why it is important to be able to recognize the signs of parasites in the body and to contact medical institutions in time for diagnosis. Only an attentive attitude towards your body will help to avoid complications with mumps, as well as its appearance in general.
How to determine the presence of parasites in the human body: diagnostic methods
According to the World Health Organization, one in four inhabitants of the planet has signs of infection by parasites, even more people are potential carriers of helminths.
The presence of "illegal immigrants" does not pass without a trace in the body: they poison it with the products of their vital activity, rebuild the functioning of the immune system, provoke inflammatory changes in the digestive system and damage other organs.
Helminthiasis can be disguised as various diseases, which complicates the timely diagnosis of parasites in the patient's body and leads to a delay in the pathological process.
Routine tests are not always reliable, some types of helminths can only be detected by expensive examination. Therefore, the question of how to identify parasites in the human body is very relevant for the majority of the world's population.
The suspicion of the presence of a parasitic creature (or creatures) within the human body may not arise immediately. For a long time, "illegal immigrants" do not manifest themselves in any way, especially in adults with good immunity.
However, a suspicion of the presence of parasites in the body can arise if there is a combination of several of the following:
- Persistent and rebellious allergies: persistent skin rashes, itching, recurrent hives, dermatitis that does not respond to conventional therapy. Especially often, allergic skin reactions are found in echinococcosis, toxocariasis and ascariasis.
Patients are often diagnosed with bronchial asthma.
- Weakening of immunity: increased susceptibility to viruses, pathogenic fungi and bacteria until the development of such serious diseases as oncology, HIV.
- Weight loss with increase or retention of appetite.
- Itching in the anus in the evening and at night; In combination with the detection of small live worms writhing in the stool, this is a one hundred percent sign of pinworm infection and does not require further examination.
- Asthenia: weakness, increased fatigue, decreased performance, headache, sleep disturbances. These symptoms are associated with the constant poisoning of the nervous system with parasitic toxins.
- Dyspepsia: nausea in the morning, bloating, unstable stools from diarrhea to constipation, increased salivation.
These signs are not specific to determine the presence of parasites, they can be present in various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Other symptoms: papillomas on the skin, cracked heels, "geographic tongue", anemia in blood tests, frequent and difficult to treat cough, swelling of the legs, pain in the muscles and joints, etc.
Traditional analysis
Diagnosis of parasites living in the human intestine is most often carried out using a time-tested, yet affordable and reliable method of detecting their eggs in feces under a microscope. To do this, you need to collect fresh stool in a glass dish after stool, it is better to do it in the morning.
As a last resort, it is allowed to store the collected material for no more than 10 hours in the refrigerator. It happens that it is required at least 3 times to donate feces for worms for 2-3 weeks, which is associated with the peculiarities of the life cycle of parasites.
This test detects or does not detect worms that live inside the human body.
This method is effective for helminth types like:
- Strongyloids (hookworms), roundworms, whipworms;
- Pig and bull tapeworms, wide tapeworm;
- Hepatic fluke (feline), schistosomes.
We are often diagnosed with nocturnal itch enterobiasis and intestinal worms in the stool, especially in children. There are ways to scrape the perianal area: at home with duct tape or at a clinic where the fence is made by a medical professional. using a special spatula.
The reliability of this analysis is high if performed in the morning before evacuation and hygiene procedures. Sometimes, several repeated studies are required at intervals of a couple of days.
Not everyone likes to donate feces multiple times, so the question arises of how to detect parasites in the human body by blood tests. Modern science offers three main methods:
- PCR (polymerase chain reaction): detection of DNA worms in human blood;
- serological diagnosis (ELISA) - detection of antibodies against parasites;
- genetic research: investigation of the pathogen genome.
Blood tests are performed in specialized laboratories and are used to diagnose diseases such as:
- Echinococcosis;
- opisthorchiasis;
- Giardiasis;
- Cystecircosis;
- Fascioliasis;
- Amoebic dysentery;
- Toxocariasis;
- Trichinosis.
In addition, the stage of the disease and the duration of the infection can be determined from the blood test.
Unconventional diagnostics
Unwanted tenants can live in the host's body for decades. The symptoms of the diseases they cause usually appear when there are many helminths. Unfortunately, the detection of parasites in the human body sometimes also occurs late.
Worms cannot always be found quickly by conventional means; even repeated stool tests cannot give more than 20% positive results.
Serological methods for diagnosing parasites in the body of patients are more accurate and effective methods, especially when carried out in the later stages of the disease.
One of the most modern methods is the vegetative resonance test or the bioresonance diagnosis, the essence of which is the recording of electromagnetic waves emitted by parasites with a characteristic frequency of their specific type.
Computer diagnostics is based on the use of special programs that allow the comparative analysis of healthy and diseased organs in a patient.
Practicing physicians do not always accept this type of examination of patients and prefer traditional tests. However, everyone has the right to decide for themselves how to identify parasites in the human body, the main thing is to do it in time and reliably.
Diagnostic difficulties: how to tell if a person has worms
Approximately 1. 2 billion people become infected with helminths each year. Also, most don't even know. Poor health, weakness, headache, gastrointestinal tract problems, we prefer to blame stress and poor diet.
But these and other symptoms may indicate "alien invasion". How to find them and how to treat them? Helminthiasis is an insidious disease and can be masked by characteristic symptoms of a wide variety of diseases.
For example, if parasites have settled in the lungs, a person will be bothered by attacks of dry cough, which occurs for no reason and does not go away even after prolonged treatment.
If the worms have settled in the intestines, symptoms can manifest as abdominal discomfort, a tendency to constipation or diarrhea, intolerance to fatty foods, nausea, and edema. Such complaints are not uncommon. You can treat for years, for example, gastritis or dysbiosis, without realizing that the cause of the discomfort is the helminths that parasitize in the human body.
What tests will help identify parasites?
If you suspect the presence of uninvited people in you or your child, you should definitely contact a doctor and undergo an examination. Diagnosing helminthiasis is not an easy task, because it is quite troublesome to detect parasites.
The most common method is to test stool for worm eggs. But, unfortunately, it is ineffective, because worms have several stages of development and do not always lay eggs. To identify parasites, you need to perform a stool test 3-4 times, while there is no guarantee that the analysis will show the real picture.
The immunological blood test method is considered more accurate.
This analysis allows you to determine the presence of antibodies to helminths in the body, helps to determine the type of parasites, their number, to track the dynamics of the development of the process. Regular blood tests for worms are recommended, especially if the family has young children and pets.
Recently, the presence of parasites was determined only by duodenal probing and stool analysis using microscopic studies, the purpose of which is to detect isolated helminths or their fragments, eggs and larvae.
Helminth eggs and larvae that parasitize the liver, bile ducts, pancreas and duodenum were found in the bile and duodenal contents. Stool samples were examined for intestinal forms of helminthiasis. If suspected, the sputum was examined for paragonimiasis and the urine for urogenital schistosomiasis.
But the reliability of these studies depends on the professionalism of the staff, whether the laboratory assistant will notice parasites during the microscopic examination.
Furthermore, if the parasite has not laid eggs by the time the control is performed, its presence will go unnoticed even by a highly skilled laboratory assistant. Often only 8-10 attempts can get a positive result.
Currently, there are immunological studies that make it possible to determine the presence of antigens and antibodies against various types of parasites in the blood of an infected person. The reliability of such analyzes depends on the life cycle of the parasites and their number in the body:
- The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is used to determine antibodies (immunoglobulins) and antigens (parasites themselves, their metabolic products). Immunoglobulins (substances of a protein nature) are produced in the body and are antibodies to antigens. This method has a high sensitivity and specificity, which is 90%.
The main advantage of this method is the ability to determine the type of parasites, their number and the ability to track the dynamics of the development of the process, which is indicated by the level of antibodies.
- ELISA tests are evidence of the body's response to invasion. In this case, laboratory tests are also necessary to identify parasites or their larvae, cysts, eggs (microscopic examination of biological material). However, the direct identification of the parasite is not always possible due to its tissue location (trichinosis, echinococcosis, toxocariasis) or due to the small number of parasitic individuals and their concentration in the test material. In these cases, the sensitivity of ELISA tests has a clear and unconditional advantage.
- In the diagnosis of the acute phase of helminthiasis and diseases caused by tissue helminths or larval stages (echinococcosis, cysticercosis, trichinosis, toxocariasis), other serological methods (blood test methods) are widely used for detection of antigens and antibodies: RNGA (indirect hemagglutination reaction), RAL (latex agglutination reaction), RSK (complement binding reaction), RIF (immunofluorescence reaction); as well as examination of ultrasound and X-rays organs, computed tomography, endoscopy and endobiopsy.
- PCR Diagnostics offers parasite analysis based on DNA analysis. This method can detect invasions of protozoa, viruses, and intracellular parasites (eg, Chlamydia which parasitizes on Trichomonas).
But this method does not reveal the severity of the invasion: the number of parasites in the body.
- Energy information medicine offers bioresonance diagnostics based on the fact that each object and living being creates a certain frequency of vibration, by which they are identified. And even if there are still no symptoms of the disease, this method can identify the pathogen.
What you need to know about eggworm testing
In order not to retest, it is important to consider several nuances when donating feces in an egg worm:
- It is necessary to take material for analysis, that is, stool, approximately 2-3 hours after meals.
- Bowel emptying must occur no later than 24 hours prior to testing.
- More accurate results can be obtained if the analysis is performed 30 minutes after emptying.
- Store material for analysis in a cool place in a closed glass or plastic container.
- The material should be taken from the sides, in the middle and from the beginning and the end of the stool.
In addition, they may prescribe a test such as a smear for enterobiasis.
It is carried out in the following way: the orderly holds a special stick in the area between the buttocks, where the anus is located. It is this test that helps identify the presence of pinworms in the body.
What symptoms indicate a parasite infestation?
Most of the time, a person wonders how to determine if there are parasites in the body, when the state of health may already be seriously weakened. The problem of parasitism is underestimated in society and is not as prominent in preventive medicine as one might wish.
People tend to ignore the signs of damage to the body by uninvited hosts until the vital activity of parasites affects normal health. In order to recognize the parasitic enemy in time and successfully get rid of it, you need to know the main signs of its presence on the body.
Unwanted guests
Parasites are a variety of life forms that survive in the host's body. Human parasites can live on the surface of the skin, infect mucous membranes, internal organs and cells, feed on tissues and blood.
They steal from the owner, consume nutrients from food, while constantly poisoning the human body with the products of their vital activity.
Types of parasites by habitat in the human body:
- Endoparasites are lower animals and plant organisms that live within the host. These are helminths (worms), lamblia, toxoplasma, echinococci, parasitic protozoa, and other organisms. This category also includes viruses, fungi, and bacteria.
- Ectoparasites are parasites that live on the surface of the body, in the environment, feeding on blood and human tissue cells. The most common are lice, bed bugs, ticks, fleas, kandiru catfish, as well as diptera (mosquitoes, horseflies, flies).
It is quite simple to determine the defeat of the human body by ectoparasites, since their activity is often characterized by pronounced symptoms:
- Itching;
- Rash;
- Burning;
- Redness;
- Pain at the site of the bite;
- The presence of a visible bite or penetration wound.
Diagnostic analysis is carried out by visual identification or microscopy (microscope magnification).
It is much more difficult to find ectoparasites, since in the process of evolution the internal "parasites" have learned to feel good and do destructive work on the host's body, practically without showing themselves.
Protozoa and helminths (worms) - Man's oldest companions, insidious and dangerous neighbors, can especially boast of this ability. There is evidence that from the time of infection to the onset of symptoms, indicating the presence of intruders, it can take from several months to ten years.
External manifestations
Most parasites have a long life cycle and reproduce quite actively in the host's body, causing diseases characterized by a chronic and recurrent course.
External manifestations of parasite infestation include:
- Various types of allergic reactions, expressed:
- rash;
- itching;
- urticaria;
- Quincke's edema;
- fever.
The degree of manifestation of the allergy depends on the location of the parasite in the body, its contact with tissues and organs, as well as the amount of toxins released.
- Digestive tract disorders (vomiting, nausea, belching, indigestion, salivation).
- Skin lesions (eczema, ulcers, dermatitis, papillomas, acne, acne).
- Pale skin and mucous membranes.
- Cosmetic problems (brittle nails, split hair ends, seborrhea, excessive dry skin, hair loss, early wrinkles).
- Weight jumps. There is a decrease in body weight due to a lack of nutrients and a decrease in appetite, as well as obesity due to a general weakening of the body and metabolic disorders, craving for sweets.
- Chronic fatigue syndrome, manifested by general fatigue, drowsiness, insomnia, weakness, decreased concentration, and memory impairment.
- Persistent headaches caused by intoxication of the body.
- Bruxism (grinding teeth during sleep).This symptom is more pronounced in children.
- Swelling of the extremities.
- Intermittent cough without other symptoms.
- Pain in muscles and joints of unclear etiology.
- Nervous disorders. Parasites often cause depression, agitation, anxiety, and irritability.
It is equally important to know the obvious signs of helminths in the body:
- Bowel disorders (constipation, diarrhea, bloating, flatulence, spasms, irritable bowel syndrome, oily stools, discoloration of stools). Worms in the human body can reach significant sizes, which is why they physically block movement of feces, disrupt the work of other organs (bile ducts, etc. ).
- Itching in the perineum and anus.
- Visual detection of helminths in the folds of the anus.
- Presence of helminth invasion in vomit.