There is a risk of contracting worms without leaving home.Various types of helminths can be found on household items, paper money, crockery, food, and drinking water.
Parasites enter the human body in a way that is easy for them: they can enter through the digestive system with food, water, through dirty hands or insect bites.
Next, helminths infect certain internal organs, use the resources of the human body, cause mechanical damage and actively reproduce.Their important process is accompanied by unpleasant and often dangerous symptoms and damage to various organs.
How to recognize intestinal helminths
Intestinal helminthiasis consists of a group of diseases caused by various types of worms.Often, ascariasis (ringworm), enterobiasis (pinworm), hookworm disease (hookworm) can be identified.This parasite lives in the lumen of the human intestine, feeds on its contents, and its presence can be suspected by several characteristic symptoms:
- Drastic weight loss without changing your diet and physical activity.Helminths of the intestinal group use nutrients from the human body as a source of energy for growth and reproduction, and their devices for anchoring in the intestine (suction cups, hooks) injure its walls and interfere with the absorption of the remaining microelements.
- Pain in the stomach, navel, and itching in the rectum caused by the movement of worms, the mechanical damage they cause, as well as the release of larvae or adults from the body to the external environment.
- Various digestive disorders: diarrhea or constipation, flatulence, the presence of mucus, foam or blood in the stool, nausea, vomiting.In some cases, adult parasites can be found in the feces.
- The human body can react to the appearance of parasites with allergic reactions and intoxication phenomena caused by the waste products of helminths.More often this is indicated by skin itching, redness of certain areas, rashes (vesicles, blisters of different sizes).
Diagnosis of intestinal helminthiases includes stool examination, clinical and biochemical blood tests (eosinophilia, leukocytosis), and, if necessary, body ultrasound data.
Signs of parasites in the liver
A large number of nutrients accumulate in the human liver, and intensive blood circulation also occurs, which is suitable for parasites.Common liver helminthiasis: fascioliasis, opisthorchiasis, dicroceliosis, caused by worms of the group of liver worms.
They can be identified by certain signs:
- Sharp pain in the right hypochondrium caused by the mechanical action of helminths.Therefore, echinococcus forms cysts in organ tissue, provoking the development of inflammatory processes or even necrosis.
- Adult worms (ringworms) can block the bile ducts, as a result of which the outflow of bile is interrupted, the digestion process in the body becomes difficult, and the patient shows signs of jaundice.A person's visible mucous membrane acquires a yellow color, and as the pathology develops, the skin also becomes colored.
- Non-specific symptoms of the appearance of parasites will be a deterioration in the general condition of the body, weight loss, nausea, and lethargy.
To clarify the diagnosis, they donate blood for analysis.Leukocytosis, eosinophilia is detected, and biochemical tests will show an increase in the activity of liver enzymes (ALT, AST).When performing an ultrasound, damage to the liver will be visible in the body: enlargement, inflammation, and in some cases parasitic cysts can be found.
What does the presence of lungworm mean?
Some parasites (ascaris, toxoplasma, echinococcus, acenur) can enter the human lungs from the gastrointestinal tract through blood or lymph.They multiply in the alveoli, making breathing difficult, and some species (echinococcus unilocular) form cysts, damaging the structure of the organ.
Determining the presence of parasites in the lungs can be difficult, because the symptoms are similar to the manifestations of respiratory diseases of viral and non-infectious etiology (bronchitis, ARVI).Cough, difficulty breathing, pain in the chest, increased temperature indicate the need to conduct an additional examination of the patient's body.
For the diagnosis of pulmonary helminthiasis, the most informative method is the radiographic method.The pictures will show lesions on the human body caused by echinococcus (cysts) and bovine tapeworms (fibrous formations), which then need to be differentiated from neoplasms, cysts of various etiologies and pneumonia.
Parasites that live in the blood
In the lumen of blood vessels, protozoan single-celled worms can be found.Babesia, plasmodia (plasmodium malaria), trypanosomes, microfilaria, and schistosoma cause dangerous diseases that threaten human life.
By destroying the elements that are formed, they disrupt the process of energy metabolism in the body and block the flow of nutrients into organs and tissues.
In most cases, human infection occurs after an insect or tick bite.After some time, signs of anemia develop in the body: paleness and then cyanosis of mucous membranes, dizziness, sudden weight loss and deterioration of health.Without timely medical treatment, blood parasites can pose a serious threat to human life.
Diagnostics involves conducting a microscopic blood test, where single-celled parasites and destroyed red blood cells can be found, as well as the type of worm can be determined.Treatment is long-term and is carried out as an inpatient under the supervision of a qualified doctor.
An unusual parasite habitat
Some types of helminths can penetrate the human heart, subcutaneous tissue (dirofilaria), brain and spinal cord (cysticerci, echinococci).You can get infected not only in exotic countries, but also by eating ordinary food that has not been properly cooked, and pets can be carriers.Signs of invasion depend on the degree of damage to a particular organ.
In the brain, worms can form cysts and fibrous formations that cause neurological phenomena.
Headaches of unknown etiology, tremors (tremors) of the limbs, changes in touch sensitivity, movement coordination disorders, sharp deterioration in hearing and vision - signs of the development of invasion depending on the location of worms and their larvae.
Adult parasites can be detected visually under the skin, usually accompanied by itching and tingling sensations, as well as in the eyes, ear canal and other places.
What to do if signs of worm infestation are observed
Diseases of parasitic etiology are treated under the supervision of a doctor after all the necessary examinations have been carried out and the type of parasite has been established.Anthelmintic drugs with a narrow or broad spectrum of action are prescribed, general strengthening and symptomatic therapy are carried out, and they help remove worms from the body.In some cases, surgery is indicated.
The prognosis for most diseases is good with timely treatment.If you delay a visit to the doctor or start taking self-medication, the recovery process may be delayed, and many types of parasites can damage important organs or body systems or even lead to death.