Numerous studies in modern medicine prove that helminths in humans are the cause of many diseases. The penetration of parasites into the body is not immediately felt and the symptoms are often disguised as other diseases. Many people have been treated for years for diseases of the liver, kidneys, gallbladder, looking for the causes of the development of allergic diseases. But they don't even think to check the body for the presence of helminth invasion.
Infection Methods
There are about 250 types of helminths in nature. Furthermore, each parasite causes a certain disease with characteristic symptoms. The problem is widespread in both children and adults.
There are several reasons for defeat:
- Method of Contact - Some types of parasites, including worms, are passed from person to person with a handshake.
- Nutrition - Eating raw or semi-raw meat, poor quality fish infected with helminths causes them to enter the body.
- Through soil and water - if the land and water are infected with helminths, which are excreted in the faeces of people or animals with helminthiasis.
- Contact with animals infected with helminth infestation.
- Transfer of worm eggs by insects to food.
- Insect bites can carry some types of parasites into the body.
Doctors note that the main mechanism of dissemination is considered to be oral-fecal. In other words, human helminths are affected by ingesting contaminated water and food.
Often, the reason for the spread is lack of basic hygiene. After being outdoors, and especially after working with dirt, you should wash your hands thoroughly.
Children are especially susceptible to helminth invasion. When walking on the street, contact with pets leads to the rapid spread of the problem. Worm infection is very simple. The female moth is able to leave the intestine at night to lay eggs near the anus, which causes intense itching in the child. Children involuntarily scratch this place, which leads to contamination of hands and feet, clothes and bedding. Contact with children's belongings, furniture that the baby could handle with dirty hands, doorknobs and taps, is a cause of infection for everyone who lives in the apartment.
How to identify the problem?
Helminths in humans can cause different symptoms, so different treatments are prescribed.
But there are also typical signs that are found more often in people infected with parasites:
- noticeable weight loss;
- anemia;
- intense itching in the anus;
- lack of appetite;
- constant fatigue.
For these symptoms, most people immediately begin to suspect a worm infection.
But helminths in humans often cause other symptoms, more reminiscent of signs of other illnesses.
- Gastrointestinal Tract Problems - Recurrent nausea, diarrhea or vomiting, flatulence, and abdominal pain may speak not of stomach problems but of worm infection. This usually occurs when the parasites are located in the intestines. Symptoms can be severe or mild. But, in any case, they bring great discomfort to the person.
- General malaise and negative effects on the nervous system. This condition is caused by toxins capable of releasing parasites in the human body. Gradual intoxication leads to frequent headaches, dizziness and mild nausea. With a severe infection, there is a possibility of fever and joint pain. Due to worms in the human body, the amount of vitamins and nutrients is drastically reduced. As a result, this leads to drowsiness, constant fatigue and nervousness. Children are especially susceptible - they become capricious and irritable, they sleep restless at night, they become inattentive.
- Allergic Skin Reactions - Parasite waste products desensitize the body and therefore proteins similar to them when ingested are perceived as allergens. Consequently, several options for allergies - rash, hives, constant itching. Among the symptoms of helminths, there are even allergic rhinitis and coughing.
- Insufficient immunity, which leads to the frequent manifestation of infectious diseases. The problem arises in the context of a decrease in the amount of vitamins and nutrients in the body.
According to popular belief, the presence of worms in the body can be determined even by snoring or teeth grinding during sleep. These methods of determination still exist, but medicine says they are just guesswork. Snoring and teeth grinding can be caused by many other reasons.
Where do parasites live?
Human helminths can inhabit the body in different places.
Depending on that, there are:
- Cavitary - colonizes the small and large intestine. There are about a hundred species of such worms.
- Tissue - occupies tissues and organs. They can be found in the liver, muscles, lungs, brain, lymph vessels.
Some types of worms, like roundworms, are cavities and tissues. They in the form of larvae can infect organs and worms infect the intestines.
Helminth diagnosis
To determine helminthiasis, modern medicine uses several methods:
- examine a person's stool for an ovarian leaf;
- scrape the anus;
- vaginal scraping in girls;
- immunological tests for antibodies.
In addition, the doctor may send urine and blood tests, bile and sputum tests. In case of severe infection, ultrasound, biopsy, CT scan are used. These research methods help determine the location of parasite colonies in the human body.
How to get rid of helminthiasis?
In the arsenal of doctors today, there are many drugs that can quickly and successfully deal with the problem of damage to the human body caused by parasites. But it is important to make the correct diagnosis to find the ideal medication. Only then will the treatment be successful.
Depending on the type of parasites, they are prescribed:
- Mebendazole-based medications are the best option for enterobiasis infection, trichocephalosis.
- Medications with diethylcarbamazine are recommended for the treatment of filariasis.
- Levamisole tablets are often prescribed by doctors to patients when the body is infected with trichocephalosis, ascariasis, toxoplasmosis.
- Albendazole preparations - have been shown to be effective in cysticercosis and echinococcosis.
- Pills with Praziquantel - help to deal with cestodes, schistosomiasis, trimodosis.
Most of the time, you can manage helminthiasis by prescribing pills. But in case of reinfection or exacerbation, doctors recommend more serious treatment, which includes injections of ascorbic acid, vitamin B6 or calcium gluconate, as well as medication for high blood pressure and means to relieve fever.
prevention measures
It's so easy to get infected with worms. And it takes a long time to get rid of the parasites. In order not to undergo numerous studies and not to poison the body with portions of helminth-removing remedies, it is better to prevent the appearance of a problem.
Furthermore, prevention is not difficult:
- Respect basic personal hygiene rules - wash your hands after a walk, use personal hygiene items.
- Handle meat and fish correctly.
- Wash vegetables and fruits well before eating.
- Pet owners should treat their pets for worms several times a year. Animals also need timely vaccination.
- With frequent trips to nature, contact with the soil does not hurt once a year to carry out drug prophylaxis for parasites.
- It is recommended that children take drug prophylaxis twice a year.
Literally, each of us has been a carrier of worms at least once in our lives. In fact, not a single person is insured against infections, regardless of status and status. This problem does not lead to death, but it creates great discomfort. Therefore, the sooner the parasites are noticed, the faster the patient will undergo competent treatment and forget about the unpleasant problem.