According to the World Health Organization, approximately 90% of the world's population is infected with a particular type of parasite. Only about 250 species of worms (helminthiases) can live in the human body, but in addition to them there are also protozoa (amoebae, lamblias and others), arthropods, insect larvae and many other parasites.
Very often, residents of large cities are infected with banal worms, roundworms and tapeworms, parasites dangerous to health and very unpleasant, but only residents of tropical countries and tourists going on vacation to the south usually encounter truly terrible creatures that parasitize the human body America, Africa or Australia.
Every day, every person faces a huge number of parasites; it is possible to become infected with worms by eating food or drinking water with eggs or larvae of parasites, through close contact with a carrier of parasites (animal or human), less often, infection occurs through household objects or insect bites.
The most common parasites
- Nematodes– Every year 100 million people around the world are diagnosed with representatives of this type of worms. An adult roundworm is a roundworm, up to 40 cm long, that can exist for years in the human intestine, feeding on its red blood cells and poisoning the human body with waste products. Female nematodes can lay up to 200 thousand eggs per day, which are released together with feces and infect the soil. Ascaris larvae can migrate throughout the body, affecting internal organs, blood vessels, and even the human brain.
- Pinworms- small roundworms that live in the large intestine. Pinworm infection is common in childhood; parasites enter the human body when the rules of personal hygiene are not followed (not washing hands after using the toilet, walking and before eating, not changing underwear on time, licking fingers and Presto). These roundworms do not cause such severe intoxication as other worms, but can cause the development of diseases such as enterocolitis, vulvovaginitis, salpingitis, cystitis and others. During the breeding season, adult worms leave the lower parts of the large intestine and lay eggs in the perianal folds, causing severe itching in the child, which is the main symptom of worm infection.
- Bovine and porcine tapewormare large tapeworms, the length of which can reach 10 M. Despite such impressive dimensions, tapeworms are not considered the largest and longest parasites. The longest worm in the world, the broad tapeworm, can reach a length of 25 meters. Infection with parasites occurs when eating undercooked meat or through touching and household contact. Tapeworms not only cause intoxication and depletion of the host's body, but can also cause blockage of bile ducts or intestinal obstruction. No less dangerous are the larvae of worms, which penetrate the internal organs, brain and even eyeballs.
- Giardia- protozoans or protozoan parasites that live in the small intestine of humans. Protozoan infection is possible by eating food or water contaminated with cysts. Diagnosing Giardia infection is quite difficult, as there are no specific symptoms of the disease. A sick person constantly feels bad, often gets sick or is diagnosed with symptoms of a variety of diseases of internal organs.
Which parasites are considered the most dangerous?
Representatives of the following species are considered the most terrible and dangerous parasites in the world: filaria, schistosomes, guinea worms, cysticerci, toxoplasma, loa loa and some other less common parasites.
Filaria
Filariae are round and long worms, their length is about 45 cm; it is possible to become infected with heartworm larvae through the bite of blood-sucking insects; mosquitoes usually carry larvae, and less often other insects. The heartworms penetrate the lymphatic vessels and block them. Due to the infection, a person's lower extremities swell so much that he loses the ability to move independently.
The "elephant disease" is widespread in hot countries and affects both residents and tourists, the latter in a more serious form. This disease is considered especially dangerous due to difficulties in diagnosis and treatment: the disease becomes noticeable only when it becomes chronic, which is almost impossible to cure.
Schistosomes
Schistosomes are a special type of worm that live in human blood vessels. Small flatworms, up to 2 mm long, enter the human body when swimming or drinking water contaminated by parasitic cercariae.
Schistosomiasis is predominantly a tropical disease, contracted by swimming in open water. Once in the human body, schistosomes can cause serious damage to the liver, bladder or intestines.
Guinea worm
Guinea worm or dracunculiasis is another serious parasitic disease that can be contracted by drinking dirty water in tropical countries. Roundworms, entering the human intestine, literally gnaw it, then penetrate into the lymphatic vessels and subcutaneous fat, where they can grow up to 80 cm in length.
Where parasites live, deep abscesses appear, inside which one or more large worms can be found. This parasitosis can only be treated surgically.
Loa Loa
Loa Loa or "eye worm" is a round helminth that parasitizes subcutaneous fat. A person becomes infected by the bite of a bloodsucking insect, which is the intermediate host of the parasite.
Once in the human body, the Loa Loa begins to migrate throughout the body, even penetrating the eyeballs, brain or nervous tissue.
Mustachioed Vandellia
Unlike other parasites, it belongs to freshwater fish and lives in the rivers of the Amazon. A fairly large fish - up to 15 cm long, due to its transparency and eel-like shape, it is almost invisible in the water and silently swims towards its victims. The whiskered vandellia can swim into the human urethra, attach itself to the wall of a blood vessel and suck blood, literally eating its owner from the inside. You can get rid of such a parasite only through severe surgical intervention.
Anyone can be infected by parasites; hundreds of thousands of dangerous parasites are lurking for each of us: in water, in soil, on tree leaves, in public transport, in seafood, on fresh fruit and vegetables. Therefore, it is so important to follow all sanitary and hygienic rules and teach children the rules of personal hygiene as early as possible.
The entry of most parasites into the human body occurs completely unnoticed; the first symptoms of the disease appear only several weeks or months after infection. The symptoms of parasitosis can be different: from mild malaise and headache to a marked worsening of conditions, fever and hemoptysis.
Only constant monitoring of your health, regular medical examinations and extreme caution when visiting tropical countries will help you avoid infection with the most terrible parasites or, at least, diagnose such an infection in time.