Infection with helminths is possible even in our civilized society. These parasites imperceptibly make their way into the body and poison it with the products of their vital activity. The secretions of helminths are toxic and cause various ailments - from hives to serious health problems. There are also fatalities.
Common symptoms of worm infestation
Helminths live not only in the human intestine, some types of parasites infect other organs, they can even be found in skeletal muscles. Therefore, the course of each helminthiasis has its own characteristic signs, but still there are general symptoms:
- decreased performance;
- fast fatigability;
- intoxication;
- weakness;
- sleepiness;
- lack of appetite;
- weight loss;
- joint pain;
- constipation;
- bowel disorder;
- intolerance to any type of food.
Sadly, but a lot of people are infected with parasites, some are not even aware of it. Eggs or cysts can be swallowed with seemingly clean food. Often, worms settle in the child's body, getting along with poorly washed fruits and vegetables, through dirty hands, from cats and dogs. The trouble is that often there is no suspicion that someone else lives in us, since there are types of parasites that do not manifest themselves for a long time. Therefore, it is worth knowing better about worms, what types are there and what symptoms of infection cause.
Human roundworms
Pinworms, roundworms, whipworms and Trichinella (less often) can live in the human body.
Roundworms are round worms with a fusiform body, 15-40 cm long and 4-6 mm wide. This helminth lives in the small intestine, although there are cases that roundworms crawl into the bile ducts and clog them. Inside humans, females mate with males and lay eggs, which, together with feces, go outside.
A person does not become infected with roundworms living in animals.
Next, the eggs need to mature in the soil. If they enter the human body with unwashed fruits or vegetables, the larvae are excreted in the intestines, they quickly penetrate into the blood vessels and reach the lungs with blood flow. There, the larvae mature and migrate into the intestines through the trachea and oral cavity. And there new individuals are already hatched and everything is repeated. Roundworms live up to 14 months.
With ascariasis, appetite decreases, there is nausea, diarrhea, pain in the intestines, allergic manifestations. Sleep is also disturbed, irritability appears. When migrating from the lungs, there may be a cough. With the accumulation of ascaris and the formation of a ball by them, intestinal obstruction may develop.
Pinworms are small, whitish worms 3-12 mm long. Pinworms live in the small and large intestines. It is very easy to get infected with these helminths, it is enough not to wash your hands, or you can even swallow helminth eggs by inhaling dust. Female pinworms lay eggs in the anus, causing severe itching. Pinworm eggs are so small that they can even be indoors in the dust being raised.
You can get infected through linen, hygiene items, food, handshake, etc. Further, pinworms undergo the same migration as roundworms. Adults live in humans a little, only 1-2 months, and with appropriate hygiene, they can be disposed of in a short time. In addition to itching, there are: insomnia, absent-mindedness, irritability, allergic rash.
Vlasoglavs are thin worms that live in the large intestines and reach a length of 30-35 mm. You can become infected with parasites in the same way as with roundworms. Vlasoglavs stick to the intestinal walls and suck blood. The toxins released by them cause headaches, poor sleep, dizziness, and nausea. The life span of helminths is 5 years.
Trichinella are small worms, they are only up to 4 mm long. A person becomes infected through raw pig meat, which contains larvae. Adults live in the intestines, mate and lay eggs, after which they die. Trichinella larvae are excreted, they penetrate from the intestines into muscle tissue, where they form a capsule and can stay for years.
Helminthiasis causes the following disorders in the body:
- puffy face;
- eyelid edema;
- swelling of the legs and hands;
- skin rash;
- muscle pain;
- fever, temperature;
- headache;
- insomnia or, conversely, drowsiness;
- decreased mobility of the knee and elbow joints;
- have gastrointestinal disturbances.
Trichinosis is partially cured, since if adult worms can be destroyed with drugs, then larvae in skeletal muscles cannot be killed.
Tapeworms in humans
- Bovine tapewormcan be up to 10 m long. Infection occurs when eating poorly cooked beef, which contains helminth larvae. Housewives can become infected by tasting raw minced meat with salt. In the body, a tapeworm develops from the larva, which lives in the intestine, attaching itself to the wall in order to stay. A person loses weight, loses appetite, dizziness, insomnia, nausea, and often vomiting appear.
- Pork tapewormis smaller, it reaches only 2 m. Infection occurs after eating poorly processed pig meat. Symptoms are the same as with bovine tapeworm.
- Wide tapewormhas a length of 6 m to 15 m. The source of infection is raw freshwater fish. Helminthiasis is manifested by weakness, nausea, vomiting, drooling, abdominal pain, constipation, or diarrhea. On the tongue there are always bright red painful spots and even cracks.
- Dwarf tapewormhas a length of 3-5 cm. They are infected with this helminth through contaminated door handles, toilet seats, if they have eggs of worms. Children get sick more often. Helminthiasis causes decreased appetite, nausea and abdominal pain, sometimes diarrhea. In rare cases, children may have seizures similar to epileptic seizures.
- Echinococcusis one of the most dangerous helminths. Infection occurs from dogs and cats - carriers of adult individuals of the parasite. In the human body, larvae hatch from the eggs, which are transported with the blood flow to different organs, more often to the liver, and there they form echinococcal cysts. In some cases, they even reach the size of the head of a newborn baby. Cysts are removed only by surgery.
Human suckers
- Flukeparasitizes in the bile ducts and in the gallbladder itself. The size of the helminths is small - 4-13 mm. The parasite enters the body through the use of slightly salted or poorly cooked (fried) fish. First, this helminthiasis manifests itself with a high temperature (up to 40 degrees), pain in joints and muscles, disorders in the gastrointestinal tract, in rare cases, jaundice develops. Then the acute symptoms fade away, there are paroxysmal pains in the pancreas. There may be complications.
- Fasciolais hazardous to health. Worms are up to 3-7 cm long and also settle in the gallbladder and biliary tract. A person becomes infected through unboiled water or by eating aquatic plants. Weakness, fever, pain in the head and abdomen, urticaria appear.
In conclusion about human helminths
Some types of worms live for years in the human body, as they can hardly manifest themselves in any way. Often, the symptoms of helminthiasis are similar to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, so an erroneous diagnosis is made if special tests are not made to identify helminths. But you urgently need to get rid of any parasites, since they not only take useful substances from the body, but also release toxins that are dangerous to health.