Parasitic diseases or damage to the human body by parasites, pathogenic fungi and bacteria are the second most common 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 several months, while parasites cause irreparable damage to health. Symptoms of parasites in the body for a long time will be disguised as fatigue and minor pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract.
Helminthiasis is not just a "dirty hands" disease. Eating 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 through tactile contact.
WHO statistics are scary - approx. ¾ of the entire population of the planet is infected with various parasites. The incidence in adults and children with pets is 99. 9%.
It is possible to get rid of helminths with the help of medicine and folk medicine, but there are difficult cases where only surgery can help get rid of pests.
Which human organs can be infected by parasites
There are 3 ways in which worms and helminths penetrate the human body - through the mouth, mucous membranes and skin. Due to a weakening of the immune system, parasites multiply unhindered in the body. Immunity is depleted even more, secondary immune deficiency develops, general allergy to the body manifests itself, and resistance to various kinds of infections decreases. Acute pathologies develop into chronic, taking a serious course.
The parasites' favorite habitat is all parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Of the 300 varieties of parasitic diseases, 70% are intestinal. Extraintestinal types of helminthiasis affect:
- skin and subcutaneous adipose tissue;
- liver;
- muscle tissue;
- lys;
- brain;
- heart tissue;
- eyeball;
- blood
- joint capsules.
The moment of the first symptoms of a lesion depends on the type of parasites, the number, the location of their location and also on the current state of human health.
The primary symptoms of parasites in the body are the same for all types of helminthic attacks:
- appetite disappears;
- saliva increases;
- diarrhea alternating with constipation
- nausea and vomiting
- sleep disorder.
Grinding of teeth during sleep may indicate the existence of worms in a child's body.
The main signs of helminthiasis are general malaise, increased irritability, dizziness, weight loss and the development of iron deficiency anemia. In case of allergic reactions (in 70% of cases) it is the parasitic lesions that are not aware of and are not treated in a timely manner.
The main types of parasites and the characteristic symptoms of their presence
Currently, 70 types of parasites that can live in humans have been identified. They are divided into the following subgroups:
- round worms (worms);
- tapeworm (tapeworm);
- subcutaneous helminths;
- flukes (flukes);
- tissue parasites;
- protozoic protozoa.
Symptoms caused by different types of parasites can vary. To understand whether the human body is affected or not, we will consider several of the most typical cases.
Pinworms
Enterobius vermicularis or pinworms are roundworms. They live on blood and intestinal contents. These white worms of 0, 5-1 centimeters cause a widespread helminthiasis - enterobiasis. According to statistics, the total proportion of this disease of all lesions is 65%, of which 90% are children.
Enterobiasis is contagious and spreads from person to person. The main pathway for the penetration of parasites into the body is by swallowing eggs. The life cycle is 4 weeks - during this time males and females develop from the eggs that go out through the anus and lay eggs on the skin around it and in the perineum. Moving and laying causes a sharp burning sensation of the skin.
Pinworms are very difficult to treat because eggs do not just get on the skin. The parasites' eggs come on the bed linen, shake them to the floor and contaminate household items and toys.
It is difficult to determine the presence of these parasites in the body, but signs and symptoms of their presence have their own characteristics:
- frequent urge to urinate, bedwetting;
- bloating and abdominal pain, often on the right side
- loss of appetite
- diarrhea
- general muscle weakness
- female worms and egg clips are visually found in the folds of the anus.
With a small number of colonies, diagnostic-based diagnostics can be false-negative. To identify parasites, a triple analysis of feces and scraping is performed, which is repeated after a few days. In rare cases, your doctor may prescribe a blood test with an expanded leukocyte count.
Toxocars - symptoms and treatment of varieties of toxocariasis
Refers to a subset of nematodes that enter the body after contact with dogs, cats or soil. Toxocars are not transmitted from person to person, but can be transmitted by the mother to the fetus in utero or come to the baby with milk when breastfeeding. Parasite infestations of this kind often occur in the fall or spring.
Symptoms of toxocariasis depend on the location of the individuals.
Visceral toxocariasis
This type of lesion is detected when parasites settle in internal organs: in the liver, kidneys, pancreas, brain or heart of a person. In the vast majority of cases, toxocars settle in the patient's lungs. The following clinical picture is often observed:
- fever, chills, fever
- the liver thickens, the spleen enlarges;
- lymph nodes rise easily, are painful on palpation and are detached from the surrounding tissue;
- dry cough with moist wheezing, mostly at night
- difficulty breathing and shortness of breath
- for frequent bronchitis and bronchopneumonia.
Failure to treat this form of helminthiasis can be fatal. Parasites in the heart can lead to death.
Neurological toxocariase
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 it is difficult for them to read and can not explain why;
- memory is degraded;
- all kinds of neurological disorders are manifested.
If tosokars remain in the brain, seizures and epileptiform seizures are possible, paresis and paralysis of the limbs.
Kutan toksocariasis
Symptoms appear as localized urticaria, eczema, or papular outbreaks that appear when the toxocar larvae migrate. Patients complain of intolerable itching, and the affected areas in addition to rashes and blisters swell and blush a lot. Skin weakness appears around the areas.
Ocular toxocariasis
A lesion in which the parasitic larvae colonize the eyeball. Their migration is clearly visible even to the naked eye. Only one eye is 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
- children develop strabismus;
- In the exudate of the eyeball, there may be formations in the form of "snowballs".
The most important diagnostic techniques for any type of toxocariasis are anamnesis, immunological tests and a detailed blood test. Stool tests are not performed because these parasites do not live in the intestines. With adequate medication, the prognosis for cure is favorable.
Broadband
This parasite enters the human body by eating raw fish or caviar. The disease is called diphyllobothriasis and does not spread from person to person.
Broad tapeworm can only exist in the small intestine. There are specific symptoms of its presence, which develop in the following order:
- nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting
- fever;
- decreased or increased appetite
- constipation alternating with diarrhea
- gradual increase in symptoms of B12 deficiency anemia;
- intestinal obstruction caused by blockage of the intestinal lumen by an overgrown helminth as well as a violation of superficial and deep sensitivity;
- unstable gait and creep under the skin
- Parasite particles may be present in the faeces.
Diagnosis of the presence of parasites is performed according to the results of blood tests and coproovoscopy.
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 contained in poorly cooked or raw infected beef. The disease is called teniarinchiasis, adults are more susceptible to it.
Signs of parasites in the human body with teniarinchiasis appear sequentially:
- there is a persistent feeling of constant hunger, false bulimia;
- there is a decrease in appetite, sometimes to a complete absence;
- abdominal pain, which may be of different localization, increases, the iliac region on the right hurts more;
- persistent severe flatulence and recurrent diarrhea
- tongue inflammation develops
- debilitated people may have sleep disorders, fainting, seizures.
It is quite easy to identify and control the defeat of the bovine tapeworm, its individual segments - proglottids, crawling out of the anus without a stool, especially often at night.
The simplest and most effective diagnostic method is scraping and analysis of feces for the content of proglottide eggs. The prognosis for the treatment is favorable.
Echinococcus
Echinococcus belongs to the class of tapeworms. The main source is stray dogs, wolves, jackals, foxes that feed on carrion infected with echinococcus. It is possible to become infected with parasites from a domestic animal if it has come into contact with stray relatives or feces from infected animals.
Human infection occurs when larvae of parasites are swallowed, most often with contaminated water. One possibility is possible when the eggs are inhaled with a gust of wind and adhere to the mucous membranes of the nose or throat, and when the mucous membrane is swallowed and enters the digestive tract.
The parasite's larva, which has entered the intestine, burrows into the bloodstream and reaches the flow of venous blood reaching the liver, where it is attached. If fixation does not occur, echinococcus can affect the lungs or other organs. Contrary to many people's beliefs, these parasites do not live in human muscles.
Capture on organ tissue, the larva begins to grow and forms a cyst. In case of her death, cyst suppuration occurs. When a person is infected with a large number of larvae, several living and dead echinococcal cysts form.
Symptoms of the presence of this type of parasite do not appear for a long time, but as the cyst grows in the liver, the following symptoms appear:
- defecation, frequent vomiting, solar plexus pain
- nodules are felt in the liver;
- in case of compression of cysts develops jaundice accompanied by characteristic symptoms associated with very severe itching;
- when a purulent cyst is opened, severe pain, allergic reactions, up to anaphylactic shock occur.
If the parasite has attached to the lungs, shortness of breath develops, impaired breathing, chest pain, and coughing with bleeding occurs. A breakthrough of a cyst in the pleural area is fatal. With a breakthrough in the bronchi develops suffocation, blue skin and severe allergic reactions.
The diagnosis is clarified by serological blood test and confirmation by ultrasound. Echinococcosis can only be treated surgically! Specific antiparasitic drug treatment is performed only in case of massive 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 - infection in humans occurs with cysts from cats, dogs and rodents. Once in the body, parasites are not only localized in the liver but also in the colon. Giardiasis affects children and adults with weakened immunity and low stomach acid.
The disease is characterized by an undulating course with progressive neurological and allergic symptoms:
- cramps in the right side, especially after eating fatty foods;
- diarrhea alternating with constipation
- dry and bitter mouth
- at a normal level of hemoglobin in the blood there is a pallor in the skin, especially the nose "whitens";
- hair falls out;
- lip cracks and bumps appear;
- the skin on the palms and feet peels off, rash appears on the skin
- there are attacks of suffocating cough;
- enlarged liver, spleen and lymph nodes
- develops severe apathy and general weakness.
The stool and contents of the duodenal are examined to clarify the diagnosis.
When you notice signs of parasites, you should not self-medicate, you should contact an infection specialist. Only a physician is able to accurately diagnose and prescribe an appropriately complex treatment.