Numerous studies of modern medicine prove that helminths in humans are the cause of many diseases. The penetration of parasites into the body does not immediately make itself felt, and often the symptoms are disguised as other diseases. For years, many people have been treated for diseases of the liver, kidneys, gallbladder, looking for the causes of the development of allergic diseases. But they do not even think about checking the body for the presence of helminthic invasion.
Infection methods
There are about 250 types of helminths in nature. Moreover, each parasite causes a certain ailment with characteristic symptoms. The problem is widespread in both children and adults.
There are several reasons for the defeat:
- Contact method - some types of parasites, including pinworms, are transmitted from person to person by shaking hands.
- 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 from the feces of people or animals with helminthiasis.
- Contact with animals infected with helminthic infestation.
- Transfer of eggs of worms by insects to food.
- Insect bites can carry some types of parasites into the body.
Doctors note that the main mechanism of spread is considered to be oral-fecal. In other words, human helminths are affected by eating contaminated food and water.
Also often the reason for the spread is the lack of basic hygiene. After being outdoors, and especially after working with soil, you should wash your hands thoroughly.
Children are especially susceptible to helminthic invasion. Walking on the street, contact with pets lead to the rapid spread of the problem. Infection with pinworms is very simple. Since the female pinworm at night is able to get out of the intestines to lay eggs near the anus, which causes severe itching in the child. Children involuntarily scratch this place, and this leads to contamination of hands and feet, clothes and bed. Contact with children's belongings, furniture, which the baby could handle with unwashed hands, doorknobs and plumbing fixtures, is the cause of infection for everyone who lives in the apartment.
How to identify the problem?
Helminths in humans can cause different symptoms, therefore, different treatment is prescribed.
But there are also typical signs that are most often found in people infected with parasites:
- noticeable weight loss;
- anemia;
- severe itching in the anus;
- lack of appetite;
- constant fatigue.
For these symptoms, most people immediately begin to suspect infection with worms.
But often helminths in humans cause other symptoms, more reminiscent of signs of other diseases.
- Problems of the gastrointestinal tract - recurrent nausea, diarrhea or vomiting, flatulence and abdominal pain can speak not of stomach problems, but of infection with worms. This is often the case if the parasites are located in the intestines. Symptoms can be severe or mild. But in any case, they bring great discomfort to a person.
- General malaise and negative effects on the nervous system. This condition is provoked by toxins that are capable of releasing parasites in the human body. Gradual intoxication leads to frequent headaches, dizziness, mild nausea. With a strong infection, there is a possibility of fever and joint pain. Due to worms in the human body, the amount of vitamins and nutrients is sharply reduced. As a result, this leads to drowsiness, constant fatigue and nervousness. Children are especially susceptible - they become capricious and irritable, sleep restlessly at night, become inattentive.
- Allergic reactions on the skin - the waste products of parasites desensitize the body, and therefore proteins that are similar to them when ingested are perceived as allergens. Hence, various options for allergies - skin rashes, hives, constant itching. Among the symptoms of helminths, even allergic rhinitis and cough are noted.
- Poor immunity, which leads to the frequent manifestation of infectious diseases. The problem arises against the background 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 gnashing of teeth during sleep. Such methods of determination still exist, but medicine claims that these are just assumptions. Snoring and gnashing of teeth can be caused by many other reasons.
Where do parasites live?
Human helminths can inhabit the body in different places.
Depending on this, there are:
- Cavitary - colonize the small and large intestines. There are about a hundred species of such worms.
- Tissue - occupy tissues and organs. They can be found in the liver, muscles, lungs, brain, lymphatic vessels.
Some types of worms, such as roundworms, are both cavity and tissue. They in the form of larvae can infect organs, and worms infect the intestines.
Diagnostics of helminths
To determine helminthiasis, modern medicine uses several methods:
- examine a person's feces for an ovarian leaf;
- do a scraping in the anus;
- scraping from the vagina in girls;
- immunological tests for antibodies.
Additionally, the doctor can send for urine and blood tests, bile and sputum tests. In case of severe infection, ultrasound, biopsy, computed tomography 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 cope with the problem of damage to the human body by parasites. But it is important to make the right diagnosis in order to find the optimal drug. Only then will the treatment be successful.
Depending on the type of parasites, they are prescribed:
- Mebendazole-based drugs are the best option for infection with enterobiasis, trichocephalosis.
- Medicines 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.
- Preparations with Albendazole - have been shown to be effective in cysticercosis and echinococcosis.
- Pills with Praziquantel - will help to cope with cestodosis, schistosomiasis, trimodosis.
Most often, it is possible to cope with helminthiasis by prescribing pills. But in case of re-infection or exacerbations, doctors recommend more serious treatment, which includes injections of ascorbic acid, vitamin B6 or calcium gluconate, as well as drugs for high blood pressure and means to relieve fever.
Prevention measures
It is so easy to get infected with worms. And it takes a lot of time to get rid of parasites. In order not to undergo numerous studies and not poison the body with portions of drugs to remove helminths, it is better to prevent the appearance of a problem.
Moreover, prevention is not difficult:
- Observe the basic rules of personal hygiene - wash your hands after a walk, use individual hygiene items.
- Handle meat and fish properly.
- Wash vegetables and fruits thoroughly before eating.
- Pet owners should treat their pet for worms several times a year. Animals also require timely vaccination.
- With frequent trips to nature, contact with the ground does not hurt once a year to carry out drug prophylaxis of parasites.
- Children are recommended to carry out prophylaxis with medicines twice a year.
Literally each of us was a carrier of worms at least once in a lifetime. Indeed, not a single person is insured against infection, regardless of his status and position. 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.