Parasites can inhabit the human body, in any of its organs and systems. These creatures enter the body from the environment and are carried throughout the body with the bloodstream. There are a huge number of varieties of parasites that can inhabit the human body. All of them pose a threat to human health and cause negative changes in the work of organs. So, today we will talk about the varieties of human parasites. In the next article you will learn which parasites can settle in the human body.
How can you get infected with worms
To protect yourself, you need to know 4 ways to spread and infect worm eggs with eggs:
- Through the soil and water - geohelminthiasis. They develop in sand, soil and water, then enter the human body and begin to lay eggs there. In addition, the worm's eggs enter the external environment along with the droppings and wait in the wings to infect a new person. Eating poorly washed fruits and vegetables, dirty hands, dust on food can lead to human geohelminth infections. Some parasite eggs enter the human body through the skin of the feet and ankles.
- Through direct contact. Worms in pets and humans are transmitted through hand contact, games, and joint activities.
- Through the use of contaminated food of animal origin - biohelminthiasis. Eating raw, lightly processed meat (kebabs, bacon, preserves, homemade game) and fish (sushi, dried fish, canned fish) is potentially dangerous. There is the possibility of contracting intestinal infections and biohelminths.
- With insect bites. This type of infection is quite rare. These include intestinal myiasis, cantariasis and scoleciasis. Do not confuse parasite eggs and insect larvae, which also settle under the skin of animals and the skin of people (for example, gadfly larvae).
The main mechanisms of spread of worms
- Soil, sand and other types of soil are the most fertile habitat for worm eggs. The fruit plants are in continuous contact with the ground. During the harvest, vegetables, fruits and vegetables come into contact with the hands of the workers, with dusty shelves of vegetable shops and trucks. Under such conditions, contamination of food with parasite eggs is highly likely. Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly wash the products of plant origin under running water, and then pour them with boiling water. You should be especially vigilant in the countryside, where pets walk around the yard and then enter the house. It is not difficult to imagine what kind of sewage a cat or dog can put in the house after a night walk. Flies and cockroaches are also carriers of helminth eggs. When sitting on food, insects can infect the food. Any contact with earth and sand can lead to the entry of parasites into the human body. Therefore, it is necessary to wash your hands thoroughly, especially under the nails. This is especially true for children.
- From person to person. This infection mechanism is highly efficient. For example, pinworms lay eggs at night in the area around the anus. A child, in a state of sleep, scratches the place where the eggs are laid, as itching begins there. Thousands of eggs fall on clothes, on the bed, and in the morning on the doorknobs and on everything that a little agitation touches in the morning even before washing your hands and face. As a result, the whole family is at risk of infection.
- By contact with water. Open water bodies contain a huge number of types of worms. Accidentally bathing and swallowing water is a serious risk of infection
Children are much more likely than adults to be susceptible to helminth invasion. This is due to the fact that the baby's body is poorly protected (defense mechanisms are just forming) and the baby is actively in contact with the external environment. It takes an incredible amount of effort for parents to teach him the basic rules of personal hygiene. Children are much more likely than adults to be susceptible to helminth invasion.
A child under the age of 6 is at high risk of infection. According to statistics, about 95% of children under the age of 4-5 are infected with worms. Therefore, special attention should be paid to prevention. Most types of worms are found inside the body, only there they lay eggs and after a certain period of time they die. For example, pinworms live 6-8 weeks, nematodes - up to 1 year. The number of parasites in the body only increases with the entry of new eggs from the outside.
The treatment allows you to get rid of worms much faster and stop egg-laying in the intestine. It is nearly impossible for children with helminth infestation to recover without medication. New eggs will constantly enter the oral cavity, replenishing the adult ranks in the child's body.
What are the signs to recognize the Helminth invasion
The signs of the appearance of worms in humans are evident and hidden. The obvious ones include "unreasonable" weight loss, pale appearance (skin anemia), chronic fatigue, nocturnal itching in the anal canal. These manifestations are well known and are indicative of contamination.
Cases of invasion of helminths are not uncommon, in which diseases of internal organs are aggravated, diseases that have not manifested themselves previously occur. These are considered hidden signs. A person is brought to the treatment of many diseases and the cause is ignored. At the same time, the therapy does not bring results. Here are some examples of such cases:
Infectious diseases due to decreased immunity
Parasites, being in the human body, consume a lot of nutrients and release toxic substances. Such circumstances significantly reduce the patient's immunity. An exacerbation of chronic diseases, various inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx can begin. Treatment of sinusitis or stomatitis in the standard way is useless. It is important to rule out the cause. In girls and women, inflammation of the appendages of the uterus, vulvovaginitis, vaginosis of various origins can often begin.
General malaise due to intoxication of the body
The more severe the patient's helminthic invasion, the more harmful substances the parasites release. This has a detrimental effect on the well-being and nervous system of adults and children. An example of this is migraine, dizziness, joint pain. Overcoming the nausea, the person takes painkillers, but the pains return after a short time: the cause of the disorder has been ignored. The more severe the patient's helminthic invasion, the more harmful substances the parasites release
In children, nervous system disorders are accompanied by irritability, apathy and aggression. If your child starts sleeping badly, talking in dreams, having nightmares, or has slipped off to school, then it's time to start preventing helminthiasis.
Allergic reactions, skin pathologies
Worm waste products are perceived as triggers of allergens. Skin reactions (rash, itching, rash, peeling of the skin) are the least of the symptoms that can occur when an allergy begins. There is a likelihood of general reactions of the body: exacerbation of asthma, rhinitis, cough. Sometimes helminth invasion is accompanied by brittleness and hair loss, cracking of the skin on the heels and peeling of the nails.
Gastrointestinal disorders
Depending on the severity of the infection, symptoms can range from mild to severe forms of the disorder. From mild nausea and diarrhea, to chronic flatulence, constipation, vomiting, pain in the navel and hypochondrium. Worms in the tissues do not affect the gastrointestinal tract as much as intestinal parasites.
Which organs can parasites live in?
Parasitic worms are divided into two categories, which correspond to the site of activity in the donor's body.
- Cavities - worms that live in various parts of the gastrointestinal tract. There are about 100 varieties of intestinal parasites, and there are a couple of dozen species for each section of the intestine. The small intestine is ready to accept roundworms, antilostomy, broad tapeworms and other less common "siblings". The small intestine will "share living space" with pinworms, dwarf tapeworms and others. The medical literature describes cases when a person was simultaneously infected with several types of parasites.
- Tissue: worms located in organs, tissues and even blood. Modern medicine successfully copes with paragonymiasis (lungs), cysticercosis (brain), echinococcosis (liver) and filariasis (lymphatics). Some worm larvae move through the body through the circulatory system and randomly attach themselves to any organ. If many eggs are introduced, the whole body could be infected.
Symptoms of worms depending on the type of parasite
Symptoms will differ for the different types of worms in humans. It is also worth considering the duration and strength of parasite infection, the general condition of the patient before infection. The table below summarizes the main symptoms of the presence of worms in humans by type.
| Type of parasite (disease) | Method of infection | Symptoms | Time of onset of symptoms |
| pinworms (enterobiasis) | With food of plant origin. | Night itching around the anus, the presence of parasites in the stool, acute short-term pain in the navel. | 2-3 days after infection |
| Vlasoglav (trichocephalosis) | With contaminated food prepared in unsanitary conditions. | Symptoms are expressed only with severe invasion: diarrhea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, inflammation of the appendix. In children, body growth can be retarded and rectal prolapse can also occur. | Few weeks |
| Wide tapeworm (diphyllobothriasis) | When you eat infected river fish. | This parasite can live up to 25 years inside the patient. Mechanical damage to the intestine, vitamin deficiency, intestinal obstruction, body poisoning, allergies. | Few weeks |
| nematode (hookworm) | When walking barefoot on loaded ground. | Itching, swelling of the feet and legs where the parasite enters. Cough, phlegm, bronchial and lung damage. Weakness, dizziness. The menstrual cycle in women is disturbed. Men have impotence. | Several days |
| Ascaris (ascariasis) | With food of plant origin. | Pain in the intestines, peritonitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, liver disease, pancreas. It can cause choking by crawling from the gastrointestinal tract into the esophagus or respiratory tract. | About 3 months |
| Trichinella (Trichinosis) | Lightly processed meat, lard. | Nausea and heartburn attacks, diarrhea. | 2 days |
| Hepatic and giant fluke (fascioliasis) | Plant food and water. | Fever, dry cough, loss of appetite, abdominal pain. | 2-4 weeks |
The symptomatology of helminthiasis is as varied as the pathogens of the parasitosis, their life cycle, routes of entry, migration and preferred location are different from each other.
The general symptoms of parasitic diseases are explained by the fact that with helminthic invasions, parasites suppress a person's immunity, contribute to the development of inflammatory and autoimmune processes. General symptoms are associated with intoxication, the death of parasites, their vital activity and reproduction, manifest as weakness, lability and mood changes, decreased school performance and performance, memory and learning ability in children.
Pain in the right hypochondrium, bitterness, the appearance of jaundice may indicate that the parasitic disease is localized mainly in the hepatoduodenal zone (the area of the liver and ducts). At the same time, the patient may notice nausea, episodes of regurgitation (vomiting).
Symptoms associated with damage to the liver and ducts related to the hepatobiliary system are observed, for example, when infected with the flatworm - opistorchis. This helminth enters the body of the final host - a human - when eating poorly processed fish of some breeds (carp). Symptoms associated with damage to the liver and ducts related to the hepatobiliary system are observed, for example, when infected with a flat worm - Opisthorchis
The disease is endemic and has special distribution areas. For the transmission of the pathogen, the parasite larva has to go through a complex cycle with a change of host (a mollusk of a certain species, a fish from the carp family).
Often, with many parasitic diseases, there are some skin manifestations in the form of itchy skin, various rashes, scratches, atopic dermatitis, eczema and other skin diseases. Skin processes are not always associated with the invasion of helminths and are unsuccessfully treated by dermatologists.
It is important that with helminthiasis all organs and tissues can be affected, patients are often worried about headaches, arthralgia (joint syndrome), upper and lower respiratory tract disorders appear. Often persistent cough, frequent ARVI, pharyngitis, laryngitis, respiratory distress are associated with inflammation, a key place in the pathogenesis of which is parasitic (helminth) infection.
Giardiasis and its characteristics
Giardiasis is a protozoal disease in which the pathogen exists in a vegetative form and in the form of a cyst. Giardia infection occurs by ingestion of cysts, which are very persistent in the environment and can persist for a long time in the environment (soil, food, water, various objects).
1 ml of feces can contain millions of lamblia cysts, which, if placed in a favorable environment, can transform into vegetative forms. In the human intestine, a vegetative and mobile form is formed from cysts for several hours with flagella attached between the cells of the intestinal epithelium, where the pathogen finds a favorable environment for itself with a sufficient amount of carbohydrate food , which is a preferred substrate for lamblia. Giardia in a favorable environment are divided tracks (into two parts) and soon their number increases many times. In addition to the intestine, the vegetative forms of lamblia affect the hepatobiliary system (bile ducts, gall bladder).
Symptoms of giardiasis are associated with asthenia, poor school performance, weakness, in combination with signs of intestinal and hepatobiliary damage. The course of giardiasis and other parasitic diseases is largely associated with the characteristics of the immune response. Intestinal form, gastroenterocolitica - a common form of giardiasis. The endotoxins of the pathogen can affect the nervous system, which explains the presence of many common extraintestinal symptoms.
Ascariasis
Another common and ubiquitous parasitic disease is ascariasis. This helminthiasis most often occurs in children, but in adult patients it often causes numerous ailments and symptoms. Many chronic inflammatory diseases, as well as somatic pathologies, can be initiated by parasitic invasion and intensified in the presence of various parasites (including roundworm).
Often children and adults with roundworms develop chronic colitis, enteritis, bronchitis, even such a serious disease as bronchial asthma, other allergic processes (atopic dermatitis, eczema, rhinitis, psoriasis) can be supported.
Ascaris enters the stomach when the eggs are ingested. After entering the upper parts of the digestive tract (stomach), the larvae, getting rid of the capsule, migrate into the blood vessels, with the blood flow they enter the alveoli of the pulmonary system, thereby causing the patient to cough, cough and other bronchitis phenomena.
Often this condition is considered a viral infection, exacerbation of chronic bronchopulmonary disease and is usually associated, in this case, with the movement of parasite larvae.
After coughing the ascaris larvae and ingesting pathogens with phlegm in the pharynx, they are ingested with saliva and re-enter the stomach, then pass into the intestine, where there are favorable conditions for the further growth and development of the parasite. After coughing up the ascaris larvae and introducing pathogens with phlegm into the pharynx, they are ingested with saliva and re-enter the stomach, then pass into the intestine, where there are favorable conditions for further growth and development of the parasite
In the human intestine, nematodes, feeding on its contents, transform into sexually mature individuals (female 50 cm, male 20 cm). In the process of growth and vital activity, as well as as a result of the migration of larvae, the parasite has a negative toxic and mechanical effect on the human body.
In the process of growth, vital activity, spawning and maturation, the pathogen has a suppressive effect on the immunity of the body, can cause diseases of the lungs, intestines and other parts of the digestive tract, anemia. Ascaris can live in the human intestine for up to one year.
Medicines for helminths
Medical treatment of a person with pills is possible with the help of a large number of modern means.
Since some funds do not work on the larvae and eggs of worms, and there is also a high risk of reinfection (pinworm self-infection), the course of treatment is repeated after 2-3 weeks. Among the folk methods, the most effective are the old time-tested methods - the use of pumpkin seeds and tansy. Medical treatment of a person with pills is possible with the help of a large number of modern means.
The fact that pumpkin seeds are a good anthelmintic has been known for a long time, it is best to buy unpeeled seeds, peel them yourself, store and eat a thin film between the seed and the peel, and consume 300 g in the morning. within an hour, previously chopped and mixed with honey or jam. So do not eat for 3-4 hours and do an enema, you can repeat this treatment after 2 weeks.
Interesting Facts About Human Parasites
- According to the WHO, around 3 billion people are infected with helminth infestations each year. 1. 2 billion have enterobiasis, 0. 9 billion hookworms, 0. 7 billion heartworms And that's just an official statistic !;
- In European countries, every third inhabitant carries intestinal parasites into the body;
- With severe invasions, a person loses up to 500 ml of blood per day. From here originate disorders and chronic fatigue;
- Some parasites are localized in the brain, eyeball, bone marrow and can live there for up to 30 years. For example, cytisterk. ;
- Ascaris females lay 240, 000 eggs per day. Constant reinfection will not allow a person to be cured the first time. Repeated courses of treatment are required;
- The waste products of parasites - poisons and toxins - undermine human health 24 hours a day;
- Some types of tapeworms reach lengths of up to 12 meters. Sometimes it threatens with obstruction of the human intestine;
- Pumpkin seeds contain cucurbits, which help treat worm infestations without resorting to medication. Pumpkin seeds are often given to children for prevention;
- It is optimal to treat pets every 3 months. Thus you will save yourself and your children from parasites;
- Worm eggs can wait in the wings of doorknobs for up to 6 months;
- An infected dog scatters the parasite eggs by breathing within a radius of 5 meters;
- In order not to be digested in the stomach and intestines, the worms and their eggs release protective anti-enzymes;
- Trichinella does not lay eggs, but produces ready-made worms. Therefore, under laboratory conditions, it is impossible to detect the presence of this parasite;
- The most effective test for detecting invasion is considered to be the enzyme immunoassay. Swabs, stool tests may not provide reliable information.
Summing up, it should be said that regular prevention of helminth infections, even with cheap drugs (they are also considered the most delicate), helps to protect the whole family. Be responsible for hand and body hygiene and carefully prepare food for use. Children and pets need constant monitoring for parasites.