Helminth infection is possible even in our civilized society. These parasites quietly enter the body and poison it with the products of their vital activity. Helminth secretions are toxic and cause a variety of diseases - from urticaria to serious health problems. There is also death.
Common symptoms of worm infection
Helminths live not only in the human intestines, some types of parasites also affect other organs, and can even be found in skeletal muscle. Therefore, the course of each helminthiasis has its own characteristic features, but there are still common symptoms:
- reduction of work capacity;
- rapid fatigue;
- dehje;
- weakness;
- drowsiness;
- lack of appetite;
- weight loss
- joint pain;
- constipation;
- intestinal disorders;
- intolerance to any kind of food.
Sadly, so many people are infected with the parasite, and some do not even know it. Eggs or cysts can be swallowed along with seemingly clean food. Often, worms settle on a child's body, coming into contact with poorly washed fruits and vegetables, through dirty hands, from cats, dogs, etc. The problem is that there is often no suspicion that someone else lives inside us, as there are types of parasites that do not show up for a long time. Therefore, it is worth learning more about worms, what types exist and what symptoms of infection they cause.
round worms in humans
In the human body, needle worms, roundworms, whipworms and trichinella (rarely) can live.
Roundworms are roundworms with a finger-shaped body, 15-40 cm long and 4-6 mm wide. This helminth lives in the small intestine, although there are times when roundworms crawl into the bile ducts and block them. Inside a person, females mate with males and lay eggs, which are excreted in the feces.
A person is not infected with roundworms that live in animals.
Further, the eggs should be baked in the ground. If they enter the human body with unwashed fruits or vegetables, the larvae are excreted in the intestines, penetrate quickly into the blood vessels, and with the flow of blood reach the lungs. There, the larvae mature and migrate to the intestine through the trachea and oral cavity. And there are already growing new individuals and everything repeats itself. Roundworms live up to 14 months.
With ascariasis, appetite is reduced, there is nausea, diarrhea, intestinal pain and allergic manifestations. Sleep is also disturbed, irritability appears. When you migrate from the lungs, there may be a cough. With the accumulation of ascaris and the formation of a ball of them, intestinal obstruction can develop.
Worms are small white worms 3-12 mm long. Red worms 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 sucking dust. Female worms lay their eggs in the anus, causing intense itching. The eggs of the worms are so small that they can be found even indoors in the raised dust.
You can become infected through clothes, hygiene items, products, handshakes, etc. Further, breast worms undergo the same migration as roundworms. Adult individuals live in a person for a short time, only 1-2 months, and with proper hygiene, they can be disposed of in a short time. In addition to itching, there are: insomnia, lack of consciousness, irritability, allergic rash.
Whipworms are slender worms that live in the colon and reach a length of 30-35 mm. You can be infected with parasites in the same way as roundworms. Whipworms cling to intestinal walls and suck blood. The toxins released by them cause headaches, poor sleep, dizziness and nausea. The lifespan of helminths is 5 years.
Trichinella are small worms, they are only up to 4 mm long. A person becomes infected with raw pork, which contains larvae. Adults live in the intestines, mate and lay eggs, after which they die. Trichinella larvae are excreted, penetrate from the intestine into muscle tissue, where they form a capsule and can stay for years.
Helminthiasis causes the following disorders in the body:
- swelling of the face;
- swelling of the eyelids;
- swelling in the legs and hands;
- skin rash;
- muscle pain;
- fever, chills;
- headache;
- insomnia or, conversely, drowsiness;
- decreased mobility of the knee and elbow joints;
- gastrointestinal disturbances are observed.
Trichinosis is partially cured because if adult worms can be destroyed with medication, then the larvae in the skeletal muscle cannot be killed.
Tapeworms in humans
The bull bar can 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 for salt. In the body, salt develops from the larva, which lives in the intestine, climbing the wall to be held. A person loses weight, loses appetite, dizziness, insomnia, nausea and often vomiting.
The pig strip is smaller, reaching only 2 m. Infection occurs after eating poorly processed pork. The symptoms are the same as with the bull bar.
A wide strip has a length of 6 m to 15 m. The source of infection is raw freshwater fish. Helminthiasis is manifested by weakness, nausea, vomiting, saliva, abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea. There are always painful bright red spots and even cracks on the tongue.
The pigment strip has a length of 3-5 cm. They become infected with this helminth through contaminated door handles, toilet seats, if they have worm eggs on them. Children get sick more often. Helminthiasis causes decreased appetite, nausea and abdominal pain, and sometimes diarrhea. In rare cases, children may have seizures similar to epileptic seizures.
Echinococcus is one of the most dangerous helminths. Infection occurs in dogs and cats - carriers of adult parasites. In the human body the larvae hatch from eggs, which with the circulation of the blood are transferred to various organs, most often in the liver and there form echinococcal cysts. In some cases, they even reach the size of a newborn baby's head. Cysts are removed only with surgery.
Flukes to people
Flux parasitizes the bile ducts and the gallbladder itself. The size of 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 is manifested by high fever (up to 40 degrees), pain in the joints and muscles, disorders in the gastrointestinal tract and in rare cases jaundice appears. Then the acute symptoms disappear, paroxysmal pain appears in the pancreas. There may be complications.
Fasciola is dangerous to health. The worms are up to 3-7 cm long, also settle in the gallbladder and biliary tract. A person becomes infected by boiling water or eating aquatic plants. There is weakness, fever, headache and abdominal pain, urticaria.
As a conclusion regarding human helminths
Some types of worms live in the human body for years, as they can hardly manifest in any way. Often, the symptoms of helminthiasis are similar to gastrointestinal diseases, so a misdiagnosis is made unless special tests are done to detect helminths. But any parasite must be eradicated urgently, as they not only remove beneficial substances from the body, but also release toxins dangerous to health.