Despite the fact that progress does not stand still, everything in the world is being modernized and renewed, people have not learned how to defeat helminths. They did not decrease even after new and effective pharmaceuticals.
Each of the 250 parasites known to mankind negatively affects human health in its own way, causing various diseases with symptoms characteristic only of them.
Classification
To make it at least a little easier to deal with these parasites, people have come to grips with their study. There are several types of worms with similar characteristics and external data.
The first type includes roundworms. The second combines flatworms, which include tapeworms and flukes.
Worms are:
- Contact;
- Biohelminthic;
- Geohelminthic.
Such a classification depends on the methods of their introduction into the body and places of distribution.
Biohelminths
These are bovine and pork tapeworms, echtnococci, cestodes and trematodes. To fully pass their life cycle, these parasites need to change several hosts. They can infect insects, molluscs, crustaceans, fish and humans, which eventually become carriers of helminths.
Geohelminths
These parasites include:
- Ascaris;
- Vlasoglava;
- Hookworms;
- Necators;
Such parasites do not need an intermediate host for normal development.
Contact
This group includes pinworms, from which people get sick with enterobiasis, and dwarf tapeworms, which are the cause of hymenolepiasis.
How can you get infected with worms?
- Biohelminths end up in a person due to the ingestion of insufficiently processed pork and beef meat.
- In lightly salted or raw fish, a wide tapeworm or opisthorchis can lurk, since river waters and waters of lakes are rich in parasite larvae living in them. Often, vacationers make fatal mistakes when drinking, washing dishes or vegetables with such water.
- Geohelminths, or rather their larvae, are in the soil for some time, getting there along with the feces of infected people and animals. The new owner is not long in coming. There are many people who do not wash their hands while outdoors or after working on the land.
- Helminthiasis can join a perfectly healthy person after contact with an infected person, if there are a lot of dust particles with parasite eggs in the air, through dishes and household items.
Where do worms settle in humans?
Most adult worms often settle in the colon. Pinworms and whipworms also find shelter there. In the liver, clonorchis, oporchis, fasciola are often observed. They all belong to trematodes.
They cause irreparable damage to the biliary tract and liver, forming echinococcal cysts, from which worms disperse after rupture.
Common worms
The most common worms in humans are:
- Ascaris (cause ascariasis);
- Wide tapeworm (causes diphyllobothriasis);
- Pinworms (enterobiasis).
People suffering from the proximity of these parasites have hypovitaminosis, anemia and other disorders in the body.
- Ascariasis can occur in a person after eating dirty vegetables and fruits.
- Diphyllobothriasis gets sick from poorly cooked fish and caviar.
- Enterobiasis occurs after contact with infected people.
The development of worms in the acute stage lasts 15-65 days, the course of chronic worm infestation continues 35-65 days after the acute stage. From the presence of helminths in the organs, they are squeezed and mechanically damaged, both organs and nearby tissues.
The transition of helminthic invasion into a chronic form is fraught with a decrease in immunity, this leads to fungal, viral and bacterial diseases. Often, helminthic invasion becomes the cause of cancer.
Signs of worms in an adult
Symptoms in general depend on which worm has invaded the body. For each helminthic invasion, there are certain signs.
Ascariasis
Ascaris infection is characterized by the following symptoms:
- Skin rashes;
- Nausea accompanied by abdominal pain;
- Decreased appetite
- Increased rates of eosonophils.
Prolonged stay in the body of ascaris can lead to peritonitis, appendicitis and intestinal obstruction.
Diphyllobothriasis
This helminthic invasion is often accompanied by the following symptoms:
- Nausea;
- Stool problems;
- Isolation of parasitic fragments;
- Stomach ache;
- A sharp loss in body weight.
Subsequently, people develop severe anemia due to lack of protein, iron and vitamin B.
Enterobiasis
This disease is accompanied by:
- Itching in the anus, which can often result in dermatitis;
- Abdominal pain of unknown origin;
If we consider the general symptoms of helminthic invasion, then it manifests itself in the following:
- There are, for no apparent reason, incomprehensible, itchy rashes;
- Places of localization of parasites swell;
- There is a cough without signs of a cold, with attacks of suffocation;
- Fever worries;
- Regional lymph nodes are enlarged;
- Weakness, fatigue is observed;
- Serious diseases occur - allergic myocarditis, meningoencephalitis, pneumonia, hepatitis;
- Lymph nodes are affected;
- There is blood in the urine;
- Stool is disturbed, bloating and blood impurities in the feces are observed.
Treatment of worms in adults
It is necessary to treat worms in humans strictly under the supervision and control of the attending physician. This applies to both children and adults. The slightest deviation from the dosage of the medication can lead to serious consequences.
There are certain medications for each type of parasite:
- Preparations containing Mebendazole can neutralize and destroy trichocephalosis and enterobiasis.
- Medicines containing Levomizole fight against hookworm, roundworm, nekator, toxoplasma, roundworm.
Folk remedies
It is possible to cure and neutralize worms in adults using traditional methods. The most effective are pumpkin seeds. There is nothing complicated in the recipe.
You need to take the following ingredients:
- 100 g peeled pumpkin seeds;
- 100 g of water;
- 2 tbsp. l honey;
All this must be thoroughly mixed and pounded into porridge. This mixture is consumed on an empty stomach at 1 tbsp. spoon every hour. After it, you need to make a cleansing enema with the addition of garlic and take a laxative.
In no case should you self-medicate. Your doctor will tell you how to effectively treat worms. He will also prescribe the correct dosage, the necessary diet, maintenance drugs after the expulsion of parasites. There is no need to panic and get hysterical. Better to get together and defeat this evil as soon as possible.
Prophylaxis
In order to try to bypass the helminthic invasion, much is not required. It is enough to adhere to some tips and recommendations of parasitologists:
- Lead a healthy lifestyle.
- Use only clean water, individual household items.
- Monitor the health of your pets, while taking measures to prevent their helminthic infestation.
- Eat exclusively pure food.
- Perform thorough heat treatment of meat and fish.
- Take medication for worms in order to prevent worms, especially if there are four-legged pets at home.
- Try to use lightly salted fish and its caviar as little as possible, and it is better to exclude them from the diet altogether.