Parasitism in nature is a very widespread phenomenon.It refers to the coexistence of two or more organisms that are not interconnected in any way, but form a chain of host-parasite relationships.The second side uses the first as a source of food and habitat.One person often has to act as the owner.
Classification
Human parasites include all creatures, except bacteria and viruses, that live and feed at its expense, causing harm.There are many creatures that can live on or inside the human body.They can be divided into two large groups:
- endoparasites;
- ectoparasites.
The former exist within the body, in a variety of physiological systems and organs.The latter live on the body like mites or lice, or attack like bedbugs.
Group of endoparasites
A very large group that includes protozoa, helminths and some other parasites.
Protozoa or protozoa
They are called that because most of them are unicellular microorganisms.The human body can be affected by approximately 50 species of single-celled organisms.Protozoan infections cause various diseases.
Infection from them can occur in several ways:
- during sexual contacts;
- together with food;
- through insect bites, etc.
The most common sexually transmitted parasitic infection is trichomoniasis.Its etiological agent is Trichomonas vaginalis.According to statistics, two out of every hundred people on the planet are infected with trichomoniasis.
The presence of trichomoniasis can be recognized by the following symptoms.Women experience:
- abundant frothy discharge of yellowish-greenish secretions;
- burning, itching and swelling of the genitals;
- hyperemia of the vaginal mucosa, etc.
Signs of the disease in men are less pronounced:
- pain when urinating;
- discharge from the urethra;
- sometimes blood in the urine.
Trichomonas are dangerous because they can cause various complications (infertility, cervical cancer, etc.).
Furthermore, they can change shape, disguise themselves as other cells in the body (lymphocytes, platelets) and provide shelter for intracellular microorganisms (viruses, chlamydia, etc.), making them difficult to identify and destroy.
Antimicrobial drugs from the 5-nitroimidazole group are mainly used for treatment.
Another common disease of protozoan origin is giardiasis.The etiological agent is lamblia.Parasitizes the small intestine.After penetration into the large intestine, Giardia loses its mobility and turns into cysts (a temporary and stable form of existence), which are expelled together with feces.
Infection occurs through consumption of food and water contaminated with cysts.
Cysts can also be introduced into the body through dirty hands.For this reason, giardiasis often affects young children (1-4 years), who are not inclined to observe the rules of personal hygiene..
The presence of Giardia can be suspected by intestinal disorders (constipation alternating with diarrhea, abdominal swelling, rumbling, nausea, pain in the upper part of the abdomen) and by general malaise (poor appetite, weakness, irritability, etc.).
Giardiasis is treated with the same drugs as trichomoniasis.
Other diseases caused by protozoan parasites:
- amoebiasis;
- malaria;
- leishmaniasis;
- toxoplasmosis;
- sleeping sickness, etc.
Helminths
People often call them worms.More than 400 types of parasitic worms can live in humans.The most common are pinworms and human roundworms.
Pinworms are small roundworms.Males reach a length of 5-6 millimeters, females - 10. They are the cause of enterobiasis.They live in the cecum and appendix.Pinworms are not difficult to spot because they cause severe itching in the anal area.This is due to the fact that females crawl out of the anus at night and lay eggs in the skin.
When you scratch, the eggs end up under your nails and on your hands.Then the person spreads them himself, touching various things with unwashed hands.
Therapy is carried out with anthelmintic drugs.All family members should be treated.In addition to medications, hygiene is very important in this case, since enterobiasis is a classic disease of dirty hands.Nails should be cut short, hands washed thoroughly, linen should be washed in hot water and ironed with a hot iron.The apartment must be cleaned with water.
The human roundworm is another type of parasitic roundworm.They are much larger and more dangerous than pinworms.The length of females can reach 40 centimeters, males are smaller in size.
Ascaris eggs enter the body in the same way as pinworm eggs.In the small intestine, eggs turn into larvae, which penetrate through its walls into the circulatory system.Then migration throughout the body begins.The blood flow carries them to the liver, the right side of the heart, the lungs and even the brain.
Moving through these organs, the larvae create a whole host of problems for humans.In the digestive system they damage the liver, intestines and pancreas.
They can block the bile ducts and lead to acute cholangitis and pancreatitis.
Being in the heart, they cause pain, local hemorrhages and the development of coronary heart disease.
The results of staying in the lungs are coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, bronchitis, etc.
When it moves through the brain, neurosis, dizziness, convulsions and epileptic-type seizures can be observed.
Other symptoms of ascariasis:
- nausea and vomiting;
- rapid fatigue during physical work;
- loss of appetite and body weight;
- diarrhea;
- abdominal pain;
- skin rashes and itching.
To combat roundworms, various anthelmintics are used.
Other common helminthiases include:
- schistosomiasis;
- trichinosis;
- echinococcosis;
- clonorchiasis;
- opisthorchiasis;
- hookworm infection, etc.
Other endoparasites
This group contains parasites that are rarely found.For example, the larva of the horsefly, which lives in Central and South America, can cause dermatobiasis.The female horsefly lays eggs in the abdomen of mosquitoes, gnats and ticks.When bitten by insects, the larvae emerge from the eggs and burrow into the skin.Inflammation begins and pus forms.After a certain time, the larvae leave the person.
The sand flea, which causes tungiasis, acts in a similar way.But here a fertilized female is introduced into the epidermis.
Ectoparasites
There are fewer of them than endoparasites.The most famous among them:
- lice;
- ticks.
Ectoparasites also include fleas, bed bugs and mosquitoes.But they never live directly on or inside a person.They attack a person and, having had their fill, leave him.
Three types of lice parasitize humans (head, body and pubic).
Parasites, contrary to popular belief (they love dirt), can be acquired by any clean person.
Regardless of the type of lice, its symptoms are the same:
- itching;
- crying (release of serous exudate through damage to the epidermis);
- scabs on painful areas;
- pyoderma (purulent skin lesion).
Different types of lice prefer to live in different parts of the body, hence the classification of head lice.
Sometimes it is of a mixed type, for example when there are head and pubic parasites on the body.
The most dangerous are lice.They can carry typhus, relapsing fever and Volyn fever.Lice cannot tolerate other dangerous diseases (HIV, hepatitis), since viruses, entering the intestinal tract together with the blood of an infected person, are digested.
It is better not to use home remedies (kerosene, dichlorvos) to get rid of lice.The pharmaceutical industry offers a wide selection of anti-lice drugs in the form of ointments, creams, aerosols and shampoos.They are based on insecticides.The package includes a thin comb to remove nits.Disinfection of clothes and linens is also necessary.
The scabies, or itch, mite causes scabies, a contagious skin disease.You can get infected in the most random way, for example, by holding the railing in a public building.Infection is ensured through close physical contact, especially sexual contact.The tick takes 15 minutes to penetrate the epidermis.The insect is very small in size (from one to three tenths of a millimetre).Ticks come to the surface twice in their life.The first time in the form of a larva penetrates to another place, the second time - for mating.
The main problems for humans are caused by females.They lay eggs during the first half of the day, and at night they gnaw passages in the epidermis.
Recognizing scabies is easy.It is accompanied by unbearable itching, which sharply intensifies in the evening and night hours.Inflamed linear scabies can be observed on the skin.People prone to allergies experience severe allergic reactions.Due to severe scratching, the skin becomes saturated with fluid, swells and sometimes becomes covered with bloody crusts.
Scabies is treated with antiscabiotic agents.They are available in the form of emulsions, aerosols and creams.It is necessary to treat not only the affected areas, but also the entire body (with the exception of the face and scalp).They wash the body before or after therapy.You can't wash during this.If there are crusts on the body, they are softened and removed.Massage the cream or emulsion for at least two minutes.Do not wash your hands for three hours after using the product.You can shower every other day.Linen is ironed, furniture and clothes are treated with antiseptic.After two days, the course is repeated.
Another intradermal mite is acne iron.It is also very small in size (maximum 0.5 millimeters).It lives in the mouth of the hair follicles, in the ducts of the sebaceous and meibomian glands (at the edges of the eyelids).In this case the disease is called demodicosis.
90% of people suffer from acne, but the pathological process does not always begin, especially when the immune system is weakened or following severe stress.
In the initial stage, acne, rashes and ulcers appear.When follicles are damaged, eyelashes and hair fall out.As the disease progresses, the skin changes color to earth gray and becomes lumpy.Demodicosis is dangerous due to the addition of a secondary infection and scar formation.
The treatment of demodicosis is quite complicated.The disease is chronic in nature, as long courses of therapy and high concentrations of drugs are required.Intensive use of antiparasitic drugs has a negative effect on the condition of the liver and hematopoietic processes.However, it is possible to achieve stable long-term remission.Simultaneous treatment by a dermatologist and a dermatocosmetologist is considered the most effective.
If you suspect a parasitic infection, you should not try to identify them on your own and check the effectiveness of antiparasitic drugs or folk remedies.It is easier to go to the doctor and do all the necessary tests.Properly prescribed treatment will cleanse the body of these harmful parasites.