About 80% of the planet's inhabitants are infected with various helminths.Often, the treatment of a disease whose real cause is parasites takes a long time and without success.Worms that can live in humans disrupt the integrity of vascular walls, block the lumen of the intestine and damage internal organs.They produce toxic substances that enter the blood.
What worms do people have?
Helminths colonize the intestine or parasitize, living in any other organ.There are several varieties, the most common being nematodes.Their body has an elongated, circular cross-sectional shape, narrowed at the ends.Infection occurs more often than others:
- roundworms, trichinella, settling in the small intestine and other organs;
- worms that live in the large intestine and feed on blood and mucus;
- sedges that accumulate in the cecum and colon.
Pinworms are especially often found in children when they do a stool test for enterobiosis.
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 hookworms and roundworms are found in the thin segment;the thick section is often clogged with maggots.Humans become hosts to adult tapeworms, which have a flat, long body.Large bovine and porcine tapeworms, cestodes and echinococci live in the intestines.
Fluke worms have shoots on their bodies ranging in length from a few millimeters (Siberian fluke) to 7 cm (fasciola).Parasites are transmitted to humans as a result of consumption of raw fish and unboiled water.Sometimes infection with worms occurs through the skin while swimming in lakes and rivers (schistosoma).Once established, 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 with 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 people after working with dirt 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 soil surface together with the feces of animals - cats, dogs, cattle, and are carried by flies.They enter the human body through unwashed hands, microtraumas on the skin and insufficiently processed vegetables.Inhalation of street dust saturated with very persistent larvae can also become infected.
Another factor contributing to the appearance of worms is the use of poor quality water.It is extremely 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 of infection and parasites settling in the body - beef tapeworm, pork tapeworm, tapeworm.In medical reference books there are pictures of worms, the length of which reaches several meters.
Symptoms and signs of helminth infestation
Having become hosts to parasites, people begin to lose weight rapidly, feel exhausted and look pale.Indicate the presence of worms:
- pains in the whole body;
- painful sensations in the joints;
- general weakness;
- loss of appetite;
- diarrhea or constipation;
- bouts of nausea.
But in order to be sure that there are helminths 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.Bile stagnation occurs when the ducts are blocked by parasites.A person feels heaviness and pain in the right hypochondrium, bitterness in the mouth.They periodically suffer from bouts of nausea and constipation.
Many worms secrete substances that irritate the intestinal walls - diarrhea occurs, in which the stools are watery and foamy.In addition to this, the patient experiences increased gas formation, severe rumbling in the abdomen and pain in the navel area.
Worms, once inside the human body, can 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, there is a deterioration in the ability to concentrate and memory problems.This happens if the parasites are present in the body for a long time.A previously unusual allergy or intolerance of the body to certain foods occurs.Worms become the culprit 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.
The more common runny nose, bronchitis, asthma and pneumonia can be caused by worms migrating through the bloodstream.Sometimes the parasites settle in the lungs, lay eggs there, which mature and become full-fledged individuals.On X-rays and scans obtained after tomography, worms appear as a focal darkening with a round or oval shape.
The entry of toxic waste products from helminths into the blood causes people to complain of:
- 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.The long-term presence of parasites leads to a decrease in blood sugar 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 prior consultation with a specialist for several reasons.The first is that even after passing stools for analysis several times, it is not always possible to identify the parasites.To determine exactly which type of worms have settled in a person, you will need to do a more detailed examination, including:
- general blood test with leukemia formula;
- biochemical blood test (liver test);
- analysis of feces and rectal mucus.
Sometimes it is necessary to examine bile, sputum and small areas of skin to detect worms that have colonized the body.
Self-treatment of worms in an adult or child is a dubious idea.Pharmacological drugs are quite toxic.At the same time, many of them have an effect directed against a certain species without affecting others.
If the test results reveal worms in a person's feces or the presence of parasites is confirmed by other diagnostic procedures, the infectious disease doctor chooses the most effective drug.The doctor who prescribes the pills must specify exactly how many times the drug will need to be taken and its dosage based on the patient's weight.Treatment of worms is carried out:
- Albendazole;
- Paraziquantheloma;
- medamine;
- mebendazole;
- Pyrantel.
The procedure for removing worms is supplemented with means that relieve intoxication (sorbents), anti-allergic drugs and vitamins.
Preventive measures
Given that worms are very easily transmitted by animals or an infected person, every effort should be made to prevent their occurrence.To do this, you must strictly observe hygiene.An important factor in preventing worms is the correct preparation of the products from which the food is prepared.
Doctors recommend carrying out an annual preventive procedure to clear the worms in the 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 medicine recommended by the doctor.Most parasites are so small that you can only see pictures of the eggs of some worms taken through a powerful microscope when examining feces or other biomaterial.