Parasitic diseases or damage to the human body by parasites, pathogenic fungi and bacteria are second in frequency after respiratory infections. The main danger is that people are not always aware of the presence of such a lesion, and the signs characteristic of the disease may not appear for months, while the parasites cause irreparable damage to health. For a long time the symptoms of parasites in the body will be masked in fatigue and minor pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract.
Helminthiasis is not just a disease of "dirty hands". If you eat poorly washed fruit, raw fish (sushi) and insufficiently fried meat can cause worms and other protozoa. Helminth eggs can be transmitted from an infected person to a healthy person by tactile contact.
Helminth can be solved with the help of medicines and folk remedies, but there are difficult cases when only surgical intervention will help remove pests.WHO statistics are frightening - about ¾ the entire population of the planet is infected with various parasites. The incidence rate in adults and children with pets is 99. 9%.
Which human organs can be infected with parasites
There are 3 ways for worms and helminths to penetrate the human body - through the mouth, mucous membranes and skin. Against the background of a weakened immune system, parasites multiply unhindered in the body. Immunity is further depleted, secondary immunodeficiency develops, general allergy of the body is manifested and resistance to various types of infections is reduced. Acute pathologies turn into chronic ones, they start with a difficult course.
The favorite habitat of parasites are all parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Of the 300 types of parasitic diseases, 70% are intestinal forms. Extraintestinal types of helminthiasis affect:
- skin and subcutaneous adipose tissue;
- liver;
- muscle tissue;
- light;
- brain;
- heart tissue;
- eyeball;
- blood;
- articular capsules.
The primary symptoms of parasites in the body are similar for all types of helminthic attacks:
- appetite disappears;
- salivation increases;
- diarrhea alternating with constipation;
- attacks of nausea and vomiting;
- sleep disorder.
Grinding teeth during sleep may indicate the presence of worms in the child's body.
The main symptoms of helminthiasis are general malaise, increased irritability, mild dizziness, weight loss and the development of iron deficiency anemia. In the case of allergic reactions (in 70% of cases), parasitic lesions are not paid attention to and are not treated in time.
Main types of parasites and recognizable symptoms of their presence
Currently, 70 species of parasites that can live in humans have been identified. They are divided into the following subgroups:
- roundworms (worms);
- tapes (tapes);
- subcutaneous helminths;
- flukes (flukes);
- tissue parasites;
- protozoa protozoa.
Symptoms caused by different types of parasites can vary. To understand whether the human body is affected or not, we will consider a few of the most typical cases.
Pinworms
Enterobius vermicularis or pinworms are roundworms. They feed on blood and intestinal contents. These white worms of 0, 5-1 centimeters cause the usual helminthiasis - enterobiasis. According to statistics, the total share of this disease in all lesions is 65%, of which 90% are children.
Enterobiasis is contagious and spreads from person to person. The main route for parasites to enter the body is by swallowing eggs. The life cycle is 4 weeks - during this time males and females develop from eggs that come out through the anus and lay eggs on the skin around it and in the perineum. Moving and laying eggs causes acute burning of the skin.
Worms are very difficult to treat because the eggs don’t just come to the skin. Parasite eggs fall on the bedding, shake them on the floor and contaminate household items and toys.
It is difficult to determine the presence of these parasites in the body, but the signs and symptoms of their presence have their own characteristic features:
- frequent urge to urinate, bedwetting;
- bloating and pain in the lower abdomen, often on the right side;
- loss of appetite;
- diarrhea;
- general muscle weakness;
- Female pinworms and piles of eggs are visually located in the folds of the anus.
With a small number of colonies, analysis-based diagnostics can be false negative. To identify parasites, a triple analysis of feces and scrapings is performed which is repeated after a few days. In rare cases, your doctor may prescribe a blood test with an enlarged white blood cell count.
Toxocari - symptoms and treatment of toxocariasis varieties
Refers to a subset of nematodes that enter the body after contact with dogs, cats or soil. Toxocariums are not transmitted from person to person, but the mother can transmit them to the fetus in utero or to the baby with milk during breastfeeding. Infection with parasites of this species often occurs in the fall or spring.
The symptoms of toxocariasis depend on the location of the individuals.
Visceral toxocariasis
This type of lesion is detected when parasites settle in the internal organs: liver, kidneys, pancreas, brain or heart of a person. In the vast majority of cases, toxocariasis is deposited in the patient's lungs. The following clinical picture is often observed:
- fever, chills, fever;
- the liver becomes thicker, the spleen enlarges;
- lymph nodes are slightly enlarged, painful on palpation and separated from surrounding tissues;
- dry cough with moist wheezing, mostly at night;
- shortness of breath and shortness of breath;
- too frequent bronchitis and bronchopneumonia.
Lack of therapy for this form of helminthiasis can be fatal. Parasites in the heart can lead to death.
Neurological toxocariasis
Pathology occurs when parasites enter the central nervous system. Symptoms of the presence of parasites in the human body:
- children become hyperactive, do not pass neuropsychological tests and lag behind in development;
- adults complain that they find it difficult to read and cannot explain why;
- memory is deteriorating;
- all types of neurological disorders are manifested.
If tosocari remain in the brain, convulsions and epileptiform seizures, paresis and limb paralysis are possible.
Cutaneous toxocariasis
Symptoms will appear as localized urticaria, eczema, or papular eruption that occurs during the migration of toxocara larvae. Patients complain of unbearable itching, and the affected areas, in addition to rashes and blisters, become very swollen and red. Loose skin appears around the area.
Ocular toxocariasis
A lesion in which parasite larvae colonize the eyeball. Their migration is clearly visible to the naked eye. Only one eye was affected. In most cases, only one parasite is present. However, there are other signs of the presence of parasites:
- inflammation of the choroid;
- purulent inflammation of the vitreous tissue;
- children develop strabismus;
- There may be "snowball" formations in the exudate of the eyeball.
The main diagnostic technique for any form of toxocariasis is anamnesis, immunological tests and a detailed blood test. Stool testing is not done because these parasites do not live in the intestines. With adequate medical treatment, the prognosis for recovery is favorable.
Wide ribbon
This parasite enters the human body by consuming raw fish or caviar. The disease is called diphyllobotriasis and is not transmitted from person to person.
A wide band can only exist in the small intestine. There are specific symptoms of its presence, which develop in the following order:
- nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting;
- febrile conditions;
- decreased or increased appetite;
- constipation alternating with diarrhea;
- gradual increase in B12 deficiency anemia symptoms;
- intestinal obstruction caused by blockage of the intestinal lumen overgrown with helminths, as well as violation of surface and deep sensitivity;
- unsteady gait and crawling under the skin;
- There may be parasite particles in the stool.
The diagnosis of the presence of parasites is made according to the results of blood tests and coprooscopy.
Bull tapeworm
This tapeworm can grow up to 7-10 meters in length. The parasite enters the human body in the form of larvae or eggs found in poorly cooked or raw infected beef. The disease is called teniarinchiasis; adults are more sensitive to it.
Signs of parasites in the human body with teniarinchiasis appear consecutively:
- there is a lasting feeling of constant hunger, false bulimia;
- there is a decrease in appetite, sometimes complete absence;
- abdominal pains intensify, which may be of different localizations, iliac region on the right side of stronger pain;
- persistent severe bloating and recurrent diarrhea;
- inflammation of the tongue develops;
- Weakened people may have sleep disorders, fainting, seizures.
It is quite easy to identify and check the defeat of bovine tapeworm, its individual segments - proglottids, snails from the anus without the act of defecation, especially often at night.
The simplest and most effective diagnostic method is scraping and analysis of feces for the contents of proglottid eggs. The prognosis of treatment is favorable.
Ehinokok
Echinococcus belongs to the class of tapeworms. The main source are stray dogs, wolves, jackals, foxes, which feed on carrion infected with echinococcus. It is possible to become infected with parasites from a domestic dog if it has come into contact with stray relatives or feces of infected animals.
Human infection occurs when the larvae of the parasite are swallowed, most often by contaminated water. A variant is possible when the eggs are inhaled by a gust of wind and stuck to the mucous membrane of the nose or throat, and when the cough is swallowed and enters the digestive tract.
The larva of the parasite, which has entered the intestine, enters the bloodstream and flows through the venous blood to the liver, where it is fixed. If fixation does not occur, echinococcus can affect the lungs or other organs. Contrary to popular belief, these parasites do not live in human muscles.
Once caught in the organ tissue, the larva begins to grow and creates a cyst. In case of her death, cyst suppuration occurs. When a person is infected with a large number of larvae, numerous live and dead echinococcal cysts form.
Symptoms of the presence of this type of parasite do not appear for long, but as the cyst grows in the liver, the following symptoms appear:
- stool violation, frequent vomiting, pain in the solar plexus;
- nodules are felt in the liver;
- in the case of compression of the cyst develops jaundice, accompanied by characteristic symptoms, which are associated with very severe itching;
- when a purulent cyst opens, severe pain, allergic reactions, all the way to anaphylactic shock.
If the parasite attaches to the lungs, difficulty breathing, weakening of breathing, anxiety due to chest pain and coughing with bleeding develop. The penetration of the cyst into the pleural area is fatal. Penetration into the bronchi develops suffocation, blue skin and severe allergic reactions.
The diagnosis is clarified by a serological blood test and confirmation by ultrasound. Echinococcosis can only be treated surgically! Specific treatment with antiparasitic drugs is carried out only in case of mass infection. Drinking alcohol or taking other folk remedies for these parasites is useless.
Giardia
It is quite easy to become a carrier of these parasites - human infection occurs in cysts of cats, dogs and rodents. Once in the body, parasites are localized not only in the liver but also in the large and small intestine. Giardiasis affects children and adults with a weakened immune system and low stomach acidity.
The disease is characterized by a wavy course with progressive neurological and allergic symptoms:
- cramps pains in right side, especially after eating fatty foods;
- diarrhea alternating with constipation;
- dry and bitter mouth;
- at normal hemoglobin levels in the blood there is pallor of the skin, especially the nose "white"
- hair falls out;
- cracks and bumps appear on the lips;
- the skin on the palms and soles peels off, rashes appear on the skin;
- there are bouts of whooping cough;
- enlarged liver, spleen and lymph nodes;
- develops severe apathy and general weakness.
The feces and contents of the duodenum are examined to clarify the diagnosis.
When you detect signs of parasites, you should not self-medicate, you should contact an infectious disease specialist. Only a doctor will be able to accurately diagnose and prescribe adequate complex treatment.