There is a risk of contracting worms without even leaving the house.Various types of helminths can be found on household items, banknotes, dishes, food and drinking water.
Parasites enter the human body in their own way: they can enter through the digestive system with food, water, through dirty hands or insect bites.
Subsequently, helminths infect some internal organs, use the resources of the human body, cause mechanical damage and actively reproduce.Their vital processes are accompanied by unpleasant and often dangerous symptoms and damage to various organs.
How to recognize intestinal helminths
Intestinal helminthiasis includes a group of diseases caused by worms of different types.Most often you can identify ascariasis (roundworms), enterobiasis (pinworms), hookworms (hookworms).These parasites live in the lumen of the human intestine, feed on its contents, and their presence can be suspected by a number of 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 anchoring devices in the intestine (suckers, hooks) damage its walls and interfere with the absorption of the remaining microelements.
- Pain in the stomach, navel and itching in the rectum are caused by the movement of worms, the mechanical damage they cause and the release of larvae or adults from the body into the external environment.
- Various digestive disorders: diarrhea or constipation, flatulence, presence of mucus, foam or blood in the stool, nausea, vomiting.In some cases, adult parasites can be found in feces.
- The human body can react to the appearance of parasites with allergic reactions and intoxication phenomena caused by helminth waste products.Most often this is manifested by itching of the skin, redness of some areas, rashes (vesicles, blisters of different sizes).
The diagnosis of intestinal helminthiasis includes stool tests, clinical and biochemical blood tests (eosinophilia, leukocytosis) and, if necessary, ultrasound data of the body.
Signs of parasites in the liver
A large amount of nutrients accumulates in the human liver, and intense blood circulation also occurs, which is convenient for parasites.Common hepatic helminthiasis: fascioliasis, opisthorchiasis, dicrocoeliosis, caused by worms of the liver fluke group.
They can be identified by specific signals:
- Sharp pain in the right hypochondrium is caused by the mechanical action of helminths.Therefore, echinococcus forms cysts in the tissues of the organ, provoking the development of inflammatory processes or even necrosis.
- Adult worms (roundworms) can block the bile ducts, as a result of which the outflow of bile is disrupted, the digestion process in the body becomes difficult, and the patient shows signs of jaundice.The visible mucous membranes of a person acquire a yellow tint, and as the pathology develops, the skin also becomes colored.
- Non-specific symptoms of the appearance of parasites will be a deterioration of the general condition of the body, weight loss, nausea and lethargy.
To clarify the diagnosis, they donate blood for analysis.Leukocytosis, eosinophilia are detected, and biochemical tests will indicate increased liver enzyme activity (ALT, AST).When performing an ultrasound, liver damage will be visible in the body: enlargement, inflammation, and in some cases parasitic cysts can be found.
What does the presence of lungworms 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 uniloculare) form cysts, damaging the structure of the organ.
Determining the presence of parasites in the lungs can be difficult, since the symptoms are similar to the manifestations of respiratory diseases of viral and non-infectious etiology (bronchitis, ARVI).Cough, difficulty breathing, chest pain, increased temperature indicate the need to conduct further examination of the patient's body.
For the diagnosis of pulmonary helminthiasis, the most informative method will be the radiographic method.The photographs will show lesions of the human body caused by echinococcus (cysts) and bovine tapeworms (fibrous formations), which must then be distinguished from neoplasms, cysts of various etiologies and pneumonia.
Parasites that live in the blood
Protozoan unicellular worms can be found in the lumen of blood vessels.Babesia, plasmodia (malarial plasmodium), trypanosomes, microfilariae and schistosomes cause dangerous diseases that pose a threat to human life.
Destroying the formed elements, they disrupt the processes 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 the 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 carrying out microscopic blood tests, during which it is possible to detect single-celled parasites and destroyed red blood cells, as well as determine the type of worm.The treatment is long-term and is carried out in hospital under the supervision of a qualified doctor.
Unusual habitats of parasites
Some types of helminths can penetrate the human heart, subcutaneous tissue (dirofilaria), brain and spinal cord (cysticerci, echinococci).It is possible to get the infection not only in exotic countries, but also by eating familiar food that has not been cooked properly, and pets can become 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 nervous phenomena.
Headaches of unknown etiology, tremors (tremors) of the limbs, changes in tactile sensitivity, reduced coordination of movements, strong deterioration of hearing and vision - signs of the development of the invasion depend on the location of the worms and their larvae.
Adult parasites can be detected visually under the skin, usually accompanied by itching and tingling sensation, as well as in the eyes, ear canals and other places.
What to do if you notice signs of worm infestation
Diseases of parasitic etiology are treated under the supervision of a doctor after carrying out all the necessary tests and establishing the type of parasite.Anthelminthic drugs with a narrow or broad spectrum of action are prescribed, general strengthening and symptomatic therapy is carried out, and they help remove worms from the body.In some cases, surgery is indicated.
The prognosis for most diseases is favorable if treatment is started promptly.If you postpone a visit to the doctor or start taking medications on your own, the recovery process may be delayed, and many types of parasites can damage vital organs or body systems or even lead to death.