For a parasitologist, parasites in the human body are a standard working front. For an ordinary patient, helminthic invasion is a terrible pathology. The situation is made worse by the fact that a person tends to increase the scale of the problem without knowing the enemy by sight. Basic knowledge of the types of parasites that can live in the human body will help to defeat fear. And knowing the problem, you can now build competent methods to deal with it or the principles of protection against it. In the following material, we will analyze which worms parasitize in the human body.
Types of worms in the human body
It is worth knowing that not all real-life worms in the human body can live. For many, the natural habitat is animal organisms, water or just soil. Below is a list of the most common parasites in the human body with concomitant clinical manifestations.
Pinworm
This is the most common parasite that enters the human body. In addition, even humanoid primates can suffer from enterobiasis. Most of the time, the moth is located on the body of children of preschool age. Children aged 1 to 10 are sick.
Worm infection occurs when a healthy person comes into contact with an infected person (shaking hands, touching dirty sheets, towels, etc. ) under the condition of dirty hands. In addition, with food, moth eggs enter the human body.
Important: insects (flies, cockroaches) can also carry helminth eggs.
An adult female crawls out of the anus at night and lays her eggs in the folds of the skin of the anus, which causes severe itching. In addition, the patient may experience periodic pain in the lower abdomen if the intensity of the helminthic invasion is already high. It is these symptoms of parasite infection that indicate worms in the body. They can be mixed with general fatigue and allergic skin reactions.
Giardia
Protozoa of the flagellated genus. The location of these parasites in the human body occurs more frequently in the small intestine. However, with blood flow, protozoa can reach the liver and gallbladder. Parasites enter a person through dirty hands, unwashed vegetables / fruits or by drinking dirty water.
The symptoms of lamblia parasites are:
- Pain in the right hypochondrium;
- Faecal disorders;
- Excessive gasification;
- Nausea;
- Neuroses;
- Allergic manifestations on the skin.
Ascaris
Roundworms in humans that live more often in the small intestine. But at the same time, with blood flow, they can easily migrate to any organ. Often located in the heart, lungs, liver and even the brain.
Infection with helminthic infestation occurs through dirty hands, in which eggs from the parasite of vegetables, fruits, soil, etc. can remain. In this case, the symptoms of the parasites vary depending on the stage of the disease. Therefore, during migration of the larva, the following symptoms of parasites in the body are observed:
- Increased body temperature (38 degrees);
- Dry night cough with shortness of breath;
- Swollen lymph nodes.
With the additional location of worms in the human body, the following symptoms are formed:
- Stool disorder (constipation and diarrhea);
- Nervous diseases;
- Pneumonia;
- Heart failure;
- Nausea;
- Vomiting;
- Frequent headaches;
- Stomach pain.
Histological amoeba
The amoeba is a protozoan parasite. It affects the human body through dirty hands, through the use of dirty foods (vegetables, fruits, herbs) and even through anal intercourse. Flies can also transmit amoebiosis. The amoeba causes the formation of ulcers on the walls of the large intestine and further damage to other organs and systems. In this case, the signs of parasites in the body will be as follows:
- Stool with blood and mucus;
- Pain in the abdomen;
- Anemia;
- Weakness and general fatigue;
- Formation of abscesses in the organs in which the parasite may be located.
Toksokara
Round helminths that cause a helminthic invasion called toxocariasis. In this case, the parasite may be located in the intestines, in the eyes, in the brain. The toxocar carriers are canines (dogs, wolves, foxes, etc. ). The infection occurs by contact with a sick animal or by indirect contact with its feces. Infection with parasites of this type causes a variety of symptoms, depending on the organ in which the worm larva is installed. Thus, with intestinal toxocariasis, the symptoms will be as follows:
- Nausea and vomiting;
- Diarrhea and constipation;
- Pain in the abdomen.
With ocular toxocariasis, the patient shows the following signs of parasitic infestation:
- Decreased vision;
- Purulent discharge from the affected eye;
- Formation of boils on the eyelids;
- Redness of the sclera of the eyes;
- Retinal detachment.
If the toxocara settles in the brain, the patient will have the following signs of the presence of a parasite in the body:
- Headaches;
- Dizziness and fainting;
- Increased intracranial pressure;
- Nervousness and hallucinations;
- Decreased vision and concentration.
In this case, the clinical picture is often confused with cerebral oncology.
- With cardiac toxocariasis, the patient will have heart failure, such as tachycardia, arrhythmia, valve failure and heart pain.
- If the respiratory system is affected by toxocar, there will be signs of pneumonia or bronchitis, as well as frequent shortness of breath.
- If the worm settles under the skin, the patient will experience itching, movement and redness in the skin at the site of the helminths.
Broadband
These helminths live in the small intestine of their biological host. It arrives through the mouth with contaminated food (fish, fish eggs) or water. The signs of worms in such a body are as follows:
- Pain in the abdomen;
- Nausea;
- Persistent anemia that cannot be corrected with iron supplementation;
- In an advanced stage of pathology, the patient develops an intestinal obstruction due to a large accumulation of parasites.
Pork tapeworm
These helminths live in the body of cattle (rabbits, pigs), as well as in the bodies of dogs and even camels. It enters the human body along with contaminated meat that has undergone insufficient heat treatment. If an adult worm is found on the patient's body, the diagnosis is "teniasis". If helminths are detected in the larval phase, the diagnosis is "cysticercosis".
Important: a patient with teniasis is dangerous both for himself (ingestion of parasite larvae in the brain, eyes, bone skeleton) and for others.
The list of symptoms of the parasite in the human body looks like this:
- A marked decrease in appetite;
- Severe headaches;
- Pain in the abdomen;
- Fainting;
- Decreased vision (with ocular teniasis).
Important: the treatment of pig tapeworm is performed only in a hospital under the supervision of specialists.
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Bovine tapeworm (tapeworm)
A parasite that lives in the human body in a single individual. He gets there with infected beef. The list of parasite signs in the human body looks like this:
- Irrepressible appetite and lack of weight gain;
- Unstable chair;
- Pain in the abdomen;
- Serious allergic manifestations;
- Nausea.
Important: the parasite appears on its own when using certain anthelmintic drugs. In addition, its maximum length can be about 12 meters.
The necator and hookworm
These round parasites routinely enter the human body through dirty hands and food or through the soil through contact with them. The symptoms of the presence of such parasites in the human body are as follows:
- Rash on the body in the form of papules and vesicles (pimples with purulent content);
- Severe dry cough with shortness of breath;
- Abdominal pain;
- Persistent anemia;
- Diarrhea;
- Nausea;
- Critical loss of appetite.
Alveococcus
This parasite belongs to the cestodes group. At the same time, it is important to know that helminths are extremely dangerous for humans, as they first form a primary inflammatory focus in the liver and then their metastases spread to other organs. Human infection occurs through ingesting helminth oncospheres in the human mouth. Most of the time this happens when cutting animal carcasses, during hunting, using herbs and fruits harvested in the forest and insufficiently processed for food, as well as through direct contact with pets infected with the invasion. In that case, only a specialist should evaluate symptoms and treatment tactics. The clinical picture of helminthic invasion is as follows:
- Nausea and specific burps;
- Pain in the right hypochondrium;
- Allergy;
- Intense itching of the skin;
- Suppuration of the location where the parasite is located and the abscess has burst.
Important: the location of such an invasion is usually found in the lungs or brain. They only get rid of the parasite promptly.
Echinococcus
Canids and cats are carriers of echinococcus. In that case, a person for the parasite is just an intermediate host. The danger of echinococcus for humans lies in the fact that helminths severely affect a person's organs and systems, causing the formation of cysts in them. Most of the time, people who work with animals and cut meat are infected with echinococcus. That is, the parasite can enter the human body when cutting an animal's carcass, eating contaminated meat or water. It is worth knowing here that the signs of the presence of parasites in an adult can take a long time. After the phase of absence of symptoms, the following clinical picture appears:
- Severe urticaria;
- Itchy skin;
- Pain in the location of the parasite's larva;
- Fever and fever (subject to suppuration of cysts).
Gnatostoma
This type of helminth enters the human body with contaminated birds, fish or frog meat. You can also be infected with dirty water containing worms larvae. The presence of such worms in the human body is manifested by the following symptoms:
- Severe dry cough;
- Pain in the area where the parasite's larva is located;
- Severe swelling;
- Intense itching of the skin;
- Increased body temperature.
Important: after a week, all symptoms disappear on their own, but reappear regularly for many years. A great danger is the eyes and brain caused by worms. This can be fatal.
Schistosoma
Flow worm. It is dangerous because it can penetrate the human body even through intact skin. The infection occurs in dirty water (most often in Africa), when washing clothes in dirty water or wetting the soil with it. In the acute phase of the invasion, the following first signs appear:
- Excessively high body temperature (up to 39 degrees and above);
- Formation of papules in the body;
- Intense itching of the skin.
In the chronic stage, the disease manifests itself in the form of symptoms of prostatitis, colitis, colitis, ascites, renal hydronephrosis, etc. Schistosomiasis can be detected by analyzing the urine.
Trichinella
A round parasite that parasitizes the muscles of the human body in the larval phase and migrates to the small intestine when reaching maturity. Trichinella is deadly to humans. You can become infected with this invasion by eating undercooked / fried meat from wild and domestic animals infected with worms. If the reader does not know how to determine the presence of such a parasite in the body, then the clinical picture of the pathology is as follows:
- Vomiting and severe diarrhea;
- Pain in the abdomen;
- Loss of appetite;
- Muscle pain;
- Skin rashes;
- Swelling of the eyelids;
- The temperature rises to 40 degrees.
Important: trichinosis is the only helminthic invasion in the human body that is also treated with corticosteroids.
Having learned which parasites can live in the human body and how the infection occurs, as well as what the symptoms of helminth infestation are, you can insure yourself and your loved ones against infection. And if you suspect infection with either type of parasite, seek expert help in time.