For a parasitologist, parasites in the human body are a standard front of work. For an ordinary patient, helminthic invasion is a terrible pathology. The situation is aggravated by the fact that a person is inclined to increase the scale of the problem without knowing the enemy by sight. To defeat fear will help basic knowledge of the types of parasites that can live in the human body. And knowing the problem, you can already competently build methods of dealing with it or the principles of protection against it. In the material below, we will analyze which worms parasitize in the human body.
Types of worms in the human body
It is worth knowing that not all of the 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. Moreover, even humanoid primates can suffer from enterobiasis. Most often, the pinworm is localized in the body of preschool children. Children from 1 to 10 years old are ill.
Pinworm infection occurs when a healthy person comes into contact with an infected person (shaking hands, touching dirty linen, towels, etc. ) under the condition of unwashed hands. Further, with food, pinworm 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. Also, 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 pinworms in the body. They can be mixed with general fatigue and allergic skin reactions.
Giardia
Protozoa of the flagellate genus. Localization of such parasites in the human body occurs more often 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;
- Stool disorders;
- Excessive gassing;
- Nausea;
- Neuroses;
- Allergic manifestations on the skin.
Ascaris
Roundworms in humans that live most often in the small intestine. But at the same time, with the blood flow, they can easily migrate to any organs. Often localized in the heart, lungs, liver and even in the brain.
Infection with helminthic infestation occurs through dirty hands, on which eggs of the parasite from vegetables, fruits, soil, etc. could remain. In this case, the symptoms of parasites vary depending on the phase of the course of the disease. So, during the migration of the larva, the following symptoms of parasites in the body are noted:
- Increased body temperature (38 degrees);
- Nighttime dry cough with shortness of breath;
- Swollen lymph nodes.
With further location of worms in the human body, the following symptoms are formed:
- Stool disorder (constipation and diarrhea);
- Nervous disorders;
- Pneumonia;
- Heart failure;
- Nausea;
- Vomiting;
- Frequent headaches;
- Stomach pain.
Histological amoeba
Amoeba is a protozoan parasite. It affects the human body through dirty hands, through the use of dirty food (vegetables, fruits, herbs) and even through anal intercourse. Flies can also carry amoebiosis. Amoeba provokes 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;
- Soreness in the abdomen;
- Anemia;
- General weakness and fatigue;
- Formation of abscesses in those organs in which the parasite can be localized.
Toksokara
Round helminth that provokes a helminthic invasion called toxocariasis. In this case, the parasite can be localized in the intestines, in the eyes, in the brain. Toxocar carriers are canines (dogs, wolves, foxes, etc. ). Infection occurs either through contact with a sick animal, or through indirect contact with its feces. Infection with parasites of this type entails a variety of symptoms, depending on the organ in which the worm larva has settled. So, with intestinal toxocariasis, the symptoms will be as follows:
- Nausea and vomiting;
- Diarrhea and constipation;
- Soreness in the abdomen.
With ocular toxocariasis, the patient has the following signs of parasite infestation:
- Decreased vision;
- Purulent discharge from affected eye;
- Formation of boils on the eyelids;
- Redness of the sclera of the eyes;
- Retinal detachment.
If toxocara settles in the brain, then the patient has 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 brain oncology.
- With cardiac toxocariasis, the patient will experience heart failure such as tachycardia, arrhythmia, valve failure, and pain in the heart.
- If the respiratory organs are 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, then the patient will feel itching, movement, and redness will be noted on the skin at the location of the helminth.
Wide ribbon
This helminth lives in the small intestine of its biological host. It gets there through the mouth along with contaminated food (fish, fish roe) or with water. The signs of worms in a body of this kind are as follows:
- Soreness in the abdomen;
- Nausea;
- Persistent anemia that cannot be corrected with iron supplementation;
- At an advanced stage of the pathology, the patient develops intestinal obstruction due to a large accumulation of parasites in it.
Pork tapeworm
This helminth lives in livestock (rabbits, pigs), as well as in dogs and even camels. It enters the human body together with contaminated meat that has undergone insufficient heat treatment. If an adult worm is found in the patient's body, the diagnosis is "teniasis". If the helminth is detected at the larval stage, then the diagnosis is "cysticercosis".
Important: a patient with teniasis is dangerous both for himself (the 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 sharp decrease in appetite;
- Severe headaches;
- Soreness in the abdomen;
- Fainting;
- Decreased vision (with eye teniasis).
Important: treatment for pork tapeworm is carried out 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. It gets there with infected cow meat. The list of signs of the parasite in the human body looks like this:
- Irrepressible appetite and lack of weight gain;
- Unstable chair;
- Soreness in the abdomen;
- Severe allergic manifestations;
- Nausea.
Important: the parasite comes out on its own when using certain anthelmintic drugs. Moreover, its maximum length can be about 12 meters.
The necator and the hookworm
These round parasites enter the human body either routinely through dirty hands and food, or through soil through contact with it. The symptoms of the presence of such parasites in the human body look like this:
- Rash on the body in the form of papules and vesicles (pimples with purulent contents);
- Severe dry cough with shortness of breath;
- Abdominal pain;
- Persistent anemia;
- Diarrhea;
- Nausea;
- Critical loss of appetite.
Alveococcus
This parasite belongs to the cestode group. At the same time, it is worth knowing that helminth is extremely dangerous for humans in that it first forms a primary inflammatory focus in the liver, and then its metastases spread to other organs. Human infection occurs through the ingestion of helminth oncospheres into the human mouth. Most often this happens when cutting animal carcasses, during hunting, when using herbs and berries collected in the forest and insufficiently processed for food, as well as through direct contact with pets infected with the invasion. In this case, only a specialist should assess the symptoms and treatment tactics. The clinical picture of helminthic invasion looks like this:
- Nausea and specific belching;
- Pain in the right hypochondrium;
- Allergy;
- Severe itching of the skin;
- Suppuration of the place where the parasite was localized and the abscess burst.
Important: Localization in such an invasion is often found in the lungs or brain. They only get rid of the parasite quickly.
Echinococcus
Canines and cats are carriers of echinococcus. In this case, a person for the parasite is only an intermediate host. The danger of echinococcus for humans lies in the fact that the helminth seriously affects the organs and systems of a person, provoking the formation of cysts in them. Most often people who work with animals and with butchering meat are infected with echinococcus. That is, the parasite can enter the human body when cutting the carcass of an animal, when eating contaminated meat or water. It is worth knowing here that the signs of the presence of parasites in an adult may not appear for a long time. When the phase of the absence of symptoms ends, the following clinical picture appears:
- Severe hives;
- Itchy skin;
- Soreness at the location of the parasite larva;
- Fever and fever (subject to suppuration of cysts).
Gnatostoma
This type of helminth enters the human body with contaminated poultry, fish or frog meat. You can also get infected with dirty water with worm larvae in it. The presence of such worms in the human body is manifested by the following symptoms:
- Severe dry cough;
- Soreness in the area of the parasite larva's location;
- Severe swelling;
- Severe itching of the skin;
- Increased body temperature.
Important: after a week, all symptoms disappear by themselves, but they reappear with regular frequency for many years. A great danger is damage to the eyes and brain with worms. This can be fatal.
Schistosoma
Flux worm. It is dangerous because it can penetrate the human body even through intact skin. Infection occurs in dirty waters (more often in Africa), when washing clothes in dirty water or when watering the soil with it. In the acute stage of invasion, the following first signs appear:
- Excessively high body temperature (up to 39 degrees and above);
- Formation of papules on the body;
- Severe itching of the skin.
In the chronic stage, the disease manifests itself in the form of symptoms of prostatitis, colitis, colpitis, ascites, renal hydronephrosis, etc. Schistosomiasis can be detected by analyzing urine.
Trichinella
A round parasite that parasitizes the muscles of the human body at the larval stage and migrates into the small intestine upon reaching maturity. Trichinella is deadly to humans. You can become infected with such an infestation by eating poorly fried / cooked meat of 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 looks like this:
- Vomiting and severe diarrhea;
- Soreness in the abdomen;
- Loss of appetite;
- Muscle pain;
- Skin rashes;
- Puffiness of the eyelids;
- The temperature rises to 40 degrees.
Important: Trichinosis is the only helminthic invasion in the human body, in the treatment of which corticosteroid drugs are also used.
Having learned what parasites can live in the human body, and how the infection occurs, as well as what are the symptoms of helminthic invasion, you can insure yourself and loved ones against infection. And if you suspect infection with one or another type of parasite, seek specialized help in time.