Coughs and worms are phenomena that seem to be poorly compatible.However, the cause of a dry cough is often helminths that have settled and multiplied in the human body.
Not all helminths are capable of this, but only those that can be localized in the respiratory system.
What Worms Cause Cough?These are the parasites that originally lived in the intestines, but as a result of rapid reproduction or in the search for better living conditions, they ended up in the liver, and from there they reached the bronchopulmonary tissue through the general blood flow.
Types of helminths
Roundworms, roundworms, live and multiply in the intestines.Infection with them occurs through eggs that enter the body with food or from hands and objects used by an infected person.Soil, fruit, vegetables, poorly cooked meat and fish - all this can introduce helminth eggs into the human body.
To avoid infection, you should:
- avoid contact with infected animals;
- do not use things from people with helminth infections;
- keep your hands clean, especially after returning from the street and before eating;
- wash foods eaten raw (fruits and vegetables) well;
- prepare fish and meat dishes correctly.
Worth knowing!Roundworms cause a dry cough.When they migrate through the circulatory system, their larvae penetrate the respiratory organs - bronchi, trachea, lungs - irritating the receptors and causing this symptom.The period of migration of larvae throughout the body is one to two weeks.
Giardia are very small single-celled microorganisms that live in stagnant water.The disease caused by them is called giardiasis.Infection with parasites mainly occurs in the following ways.
- From an infected person or animal to a healthy one.
- When eating poorly washed food.
- When you drink raw milk or unboiled water.
After settling in the small intestine of a person, Giardia becomes able to infect other people within 10 days.After some time, giardiasis becomes chronic.The cause of giardiasis cough is allergic reactions that occur when the body is intoxicated with waste products from parasites.For a person infected with Giardia, the case often ends with bronchial asthma.
One of the greatest dangers of giardiasis is the absence in the initial phase of pronounced symptoms that would allow an accurate diagnosis of the disease.The release of worms from the body is episodic, so it is not always possible to detect Giardia cysts in the stool.You must take samples for analysis several times before you can diagnose the disease with certainty.
In addition to roundworms and lamblia, the symptom can also be caused by toxocara, which is also called dog roundworm due to its widespread occurrence in dogs.After reaching the bronchi, the larvae cause allergic reactions.
Types of helminths affecting children
If a child develops a cough and a cold is excluded, there are serious reasons to assume that he may be infected with helminths.Since it can be a reaction to different types of worms, only laboratory tests can determine which particular helminth is responsible.
Attention!Most often, helminthic cough is observed in young children.
It is not surprising that parents often mistake it for a symptom of a cold and begin to treat it with generally accepted drugs, which, due to the specificity of their action, actually eliminate the problem.But at the same time, the reason that caused it, namely helminthic attack, remains unresolved.Worms continue to multiply in the child's body and the disease progresses.
Giardiasis and ascariasis
What parasites cause symptoms in a child?Only those that are able to migrate throughout the body and reach the respiratory tract.These parasites include roundworms and lamblia.Their sexually mature individuals live in the intestines, but the larvae of the parasites have the ability to penetrate with the blood into the respiratory system, irritating the receptors and causing allergic reactions.
In this case, some of the larvae are expelled, the other is swallowed and enters the intestine again, where the next life cycle of the parasites begins.Some of the larvae remain in the respiratory system, interfering with its functioning.
Toxocara and pulmonary failure
The most dangerous for the respiratory system are flatworms, especially flukes and toxocaras.After attaching to the lungs, they cause paragonimiasis and toxocariasis - serious diseases accompanied by the destruction of lung tissue and a progressive inflammatory process.
The penetration of flatworms into the child's lungs causes him to cough.If not treated, the inflammatory process progresses and enters a stage accompanied by the formation of mucus.Coughed up sputum may contain blood.This alarming manifestation should force parents to immediately consult a doctor with infectious diseases.
Important!When infected by a fluke, sputum with pus and blood is inevitable.
Types of worms that infect adults
Not all patients believe that helminth and cough can be part of the same process, but this is actually the case.A cough caused by worms is usually dry and can easily be mistaken for a cold.In this case, the absence of other ARVI symptoms that usually accompany a cold should be alarming.
What explains this condition?There are two reasons for this:
- Mechanical effects of helminth larvae on lung tissue.
- Allergies with which the infected body reacts to the presence of waste products from worms and the decomposition of dead individuals.
There are not so many worms and other parasites that affect the respiratory tract.These are:
- roundworms;
- Giardia;
- stroke of luck;
- Echinococcus tapeworm.
Ascariasis
Roundworms are very widespread, so coughing on the background of ascariasis is a typical phenomenon.Infection with roundworms occurs via traditional routes for helminthiases.These include contact with soil, eating unwashed fruits and vegetables, and dirty hands.
Ascaris larvae cause the problem by mechanically affecting the tissues of the respiratory system.This occurs during the parasite's migration phase.The mechanism and sequence of the impact of roundworms on the human respiratory system is as follows.
Once in the gastrointestinal tract, roundworm eggs, under the influence of their own enzymes and digestive juices, shed their shells and become larvae.The latter is equipped with the ability to penetrate through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream.After which they are carried by the blood throughout the body - when they reach the liver, heart, lungs and respiratory tract.
On the lining of the trachea there are cilia, which transport the larva upwards with their reflex movements.In this case, the receptors are irritated and a cough occurs that throws the helminths into the mouth, from where they are either spit out or swallowed and return to the intestines.
For your information!Cough with ascariasis is usually a short-term phenomenon.However, if the attack is of a recurring nature, it can become almost permanent.
Giardiasis
Despite being a microscopic creature, Giardia causes very serious damage to the body.Giardia's natural habitat is standing water.They enter the human body by consuming dirty or poorly processed food or by drinking unboiled milk or water.Transmission from infected humans and animals is possible.
The main location of Giardia is the intestine.Parasites only need 10 days from the moment of infection before the larvae start to emerge from the eggs.If they penetrate through the intestinal walls, they enter the blood and reach the respiratory organs with it, disrupting their function and causing coughing.
Lung failure
The swarm lives in the lungs in pairs and forms cysts in the bronchi.Attacks occur when eating crabs and crayfish infected with the parasite.Once in the gastrointestinal tract, the lung loop penetrates the peritoneum and reaches the lungs through the diaphragm, causing a persistent cough in the patient.
The small helminth lungworm, belonging to the class of trematodes, "specializes" in parasitizing specifically in the lungs.It causes much more serious problems in the respiratory system than, for example, roundworms.
In the place of its localization, infiltrates appear and hemorrhages develop, as a result of which cavities appear filled with decaying metabolites of worms, dead parasites and lung tissue.The damage from the lungworm is further aggravated by the fact that it is a long-liver and can live in the host's body for up to 20 years.
To cope with this dangerous parasite, treatment is necessary under the strict supervision of a doctor.Only he can choose an effective medicine, which should be different for each individual case.
However, the mastery of "harmfulness" does not belong to the lungworm, but to the larvae of alveococcus and echinococcus.They are small (up to 7 mm long) tapeworms, which are carried by wolves, coyotes, dogs, jackals, foxes, wild and domestic cats without harming themselves much.
Helminths of the trematode class (digenetic flukes) and trichinella roundworms cause an allergic cough, which can be particularly severe in children.
Runny nose due to helminthiasis and other parasites
A runny nose is caused by the presence of helminths much less often.This manifestation is not at all typical of helminthiasis.Nevertheless, in some cases, parasites can cause a runny nose and nasal congestion.
Sometimes pinworm, in rare cases, with the so-called perverted (random, non-characteristic) localization penetrates into the nasal passages and causes runny nose and nasal congestion.
If we talk about non-helminthic parasitic diseases, then as an example of an attack that causes a runny nose and abundant discharge of mucus from the nose, we can mention nasal myiasis, which are the larvae of midges and flies that have settled in the nasal cavity.
Attention!A runny nose, sometimes caused by Giardia, is a consequence of the body's reaction in the form of an allergic reaction to Giardia waste.
As for roundworms, they do not cause a runny or stuffy nose.
Conclusion
If cough occurs due to helminthiasis, treatment should include antiparasitic therapy aimed at destroying worms.Taking cold pills in such cases means that the treatment is not directed at the disease itself, but at its symptoms.