Helminthiasis is a common problem in certain populations. In children, pinworms are commonly parasitized, in people who eat fish regularly, dilobites are diagnosed, and trichinosis is common in hunters.
Human worms cause many diseases that appear to be unrelated to helminthiasis, a fact that has now been confirmed by various studies. In particular, there is a theory that helminthiasis is associated with the development of tumor processes.
Also, you should know that if you have worms in your body, it doesn't mean the patient will have symptoms of this infection. Signs of their presence can masquerade as other diseases of the liver, gallbladder, gastrointestinal tract. As a result, a person can use different means for a long time without detecting the infection. And when the right deworming treatment is chosen for the patient, the disease can be cured. So ask yourself some questions: "What should I do if I have worms, how can I check for the presence of parasites, will I infect my loved ones? ", you shouldn't be afraid to contact the doctor and get all the answers, and also find out if you are wormedwhat to do.
For answers to your questions about what worms are, how dangerous this parasite is, and how not to get infected with different types of parasites, read the article below. We'll also discuss general and specific signs of worm infection.
How can you get worms?
Worm eggs can enter the human body in different ways. There are four main routes of infection:
Biological helminthiasis. Worms can be found in raw or unheated meat and fish. Eating lard, grilled meat, dried fish, sushi, etc. will be infected.
Soil worm disease. Mature worm eggs in soil and water enter the human body. In this environment, they find themselves, because human feces, as well as animal feces, get there. Additionally, infestations can also occur when a person comes into contact with animals, such as by constantly removing cat or dog feces, and when food is contaminated with fly eggs.
touch. The most common worm, pinworms, is spread from person to person. In this case, the risk of developing the disease is highest.
When insects bite people, many parasites enter the body.
Trying to find an answer to the question of what causes worms and how they spread, one should take into account that the primary mode of parasite infection is the mouth-feces. That is, a person simply swallows the eggs while eating and drinking. In rarer cases, worms in humans are found after being bitten by an infected insect.
Infection of worms through soil
After contact with mud, sand, etc. , not only wash your hands well, but also clean your nails. It's best for kids to keep their nails short. All vegetables grown in the ground must be washed very carefully and, if possible, blanched with boiling water.
animals and flies
Wikipedia shows that worm eggs can be found in houses and on pets - cats, dogs walking down the street. If children play with these animals, the risk of infection is high. Therefore, if you suspect that worms have started spreading in your cat, you need to take immediate action. Symptoms and treatment of animal infections can be obtained from a veterinarian or by watching corresponding videos on the web. In this way, any kind of bug can appear in the body. So the answer to the question of whether they are transmitted from dogs to people and whether it is possible to get them from dogs is clear: yes, it is possible.
Another vector for worms is the fly. They can initially land on manure, livestock manure, then fly in and land on food. As a result, they transmit worm eggs, and people develop helminthiasis after infection.
How do worms spread from person to person?
How do you get pinworms, can these parasites spread from person to person? The answer to this question is simple: If a female pinworm crawls out of her intestines at night along a baby Pope's rectum, she can lay a large number of eggs—as many as 5, 000—near the anus. As a result, there was severe itching, the baby was itching, and eggs fell on his hands. Also, from the baby's hands, the eggs land on clothing, bedding, and other objects that the child touches. It's clear how the worms spread further: Other children and adults are infected with the eggs, after which the pinworms multiply inside their bodies. That's why it's so important to wash your hands before meals when you get home from a public place.
infection through water
Numerous parasite eggs have been found in open water as well as in well water. That's why people using this water should use special germicidal filters. It is also important to boil the water that people drink and eat the dishes made from it. It is very dangerous to swallow water from a reservoir.
When it comes to what a worm invasion is, it should be taken into account that this is a disease that mainly affects children, as they are susceptible to helminthiasis. In fact, children's protective barriers have not yet developed to the same extent as adults, and their stomachs are less acidic.
In addition, signs of worms are often present in children as they taste everything they have on hand as they master the world. As a result, parents often notice symptoms of worm infestation in children, especially anal itching, loss of appetite, and pediatric coughing during infection. However, it is impossible to make the baby strictly follow the hygiene rules. in the first few years of his life. Therefore, at this time, all family members are at high risk of infection.
Speaking of egg worms - what it is and how to treat this disease, it should be remembered that worms do not reproduce in the human body. The worms in the human body die within a certain period of time. For example, pinworms can live for several weeks, roundworms - about a year. The eggs that the adult worms inhabit will definitely leave the gut—whether it’s when feces or baby poop comes out, or it lands on the skin near the anus, like pinworms do. While the eggs are outside the body, they mature in the external environment, and then they enter the body again and again, where they parasitize.
Since worms do not reproduce in the body, large numbers of worms are only observed if the eggs enter the body through the mouth again when a reinfection occurs.
Therefore, if reinfection does not occur, the pinworms living in the body will die in about 4 weeks. If you follow all the precautions very carefully, you can get rid of the presence of worms without treatment. However, as far as children are concerned, complying with all these rules is a very difficult task.
worm signs
Some of the first symptoms of human worms appear when infected with parasites. You can learn more about the symptoms if you have a worm infection. But some signs of worms in humans can be seen in isolation.
Therefore, the most obvious sign of developing a parasitic infection is a dramatic loss of body weight. In addition, the patient's skin becomes pale - a sign of anemia. In appearance, there are also signs of worm infestation - a person looks tired and his fatigue level may increase.
Worms can cause anal itching if the intestines become infected. However, they can also inhabit other organs - the lungs, liver, bladder, and even arms or legs.
However, all of the symptoms of parasites in humans listed above are only the first general signs of infection that appear when the body is infested with worms and can identify a health problem. There are other more specific symptoms of adult worm infestation. Patients may see them as manifestations of other diseases. At the same time, he could treat the disease long-term, of course, unsuccessfully. This continued until the exact cause of such symptoms - helminthiasis - was identified. More details on this can be found in the corresponding video on the web.
What are the symptoms of worms in adults and children?
Digestive system diseases
If the parasite is confined to the gut, rather than other organs, the main symptom in adults and children is impaired digestion. A person may be plagued by persistent diarrhea or constipation, which periodically manifests as nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, pain in the right rib, near the belly button, bowel disease. Flatulence is often a cause for concern if intestinal parasites are wound up.
All of these signs can be strong or weak, long-term or cyclical. It all depends on the severity of the infection. Some worms produce hormone-like substances that can cause permanent diarrhea under their influence. If large worms become larger (such as tapeworms), they can block the intestines and cause constipation.
general malaise, neurological disease
Worms live and secrete large amounts of toxic substances, whether or not the parasite lives in a person's blood, liver or lungs. The more severe the infection, the more obvious the signs of poisoning in the body, which can adversely affect the nervous system.
As a result, headache, dizziness and nausea occur. Some people mistake these signs for the development of a migraine, so they drink painkillers.
Sometimes when infected with parasites, the temperature rises and the joint pains are disturbing. In addition, helminthiasis can cause vitamin and nutrient deficiencies in the body. This phenomenon, along with the depression of the nervous system, leads to the manifestations of chronic fatigue syndrome. The patient feels tired, he worries about drowsiness, the feeling of physical weakness. If we talk about a kid, he is playful and always nervous. Toddlers have disturbed sleep and they cry or scream at night. School-aged children learn poorly due to inattention and fatigue.
Allergies and skin manifestations
Signs of Worms Worms can cause skin deterioration. The toxins that worms infect the body with negatively affect its general condition and can trigger the manifestation of various reactions on the skin. Eruptions occur due to the release of histamine by mast cells and the accumulation of the liquid portion of blood in the tissues as the epidermis rises.
These same reasons lead to the development of allergic reactions. In particular, itching, erythema, acne, urticaria, as well as dry cough, allergic rhinitis, and bronchial asthma may appear. Also, when infected, nails can fall off, hair can become brittle, and cracks can develop on the heels.
Weakened immunity and infectious diseases
As the worms feed on the body, they secrete toxic waste. Toxic effects, the reduction of vitamins and minerals in the body lead to a significant decrease in immunity of infected persons. As a result, the health of chronic diseases also deteriorates, inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx begin to be disturbed - sinusitis, stomatitis. In women and girls, vulvovaginitis, bacterial vaginosis is possible. There is evidence that the development of inflammation of the appendages is possible with prolonged pinworm infection. In this case, it is very important to detect their presence in time. Parasites in the liver can also cause bad breath, a persistent bad taste.
Another idea is that worms in the human body can cause snoring and nocturnal teeth grinding. However, this relationship has not been proven.
Where do parasites live in the human body?
The types of parasites in the human body depend on their exact location in the body. How to determine the presence of parasites and how to remove them from the body depends on their type.
translucent
These worms mainly inhabit the gut and live in various sectors of it. Hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms, and other tapeworms are found in the small intestine. In the small intestine live dwarf tapeworms, pinworms, and in the large intestine - whipworms. In total, there are about a hundred species of cavity parasites. Pictures and pictures can be found online.
fabric
These types of worms in humans do not live in the gut, but in organs and tissues. There are various parasites that live in the brain (cysticercosis), liver (echinococcosis), lungs (paragonimiasis), muscles, lymphatic vessels (filariasis) and other worms.
What are the bugs in a person, you can find out from the experts.
Roundworms are a species that are both luminal and tissue parasites, because during the first stage of their development, they can pass through the bloodstream and infect any organ. How to get rid of roundworms, the doctor who prescribes treatment for this parasitic infection will tell you.
It is possible to find out what worms look like in humans by looking at images of the corresponding type of parasite. Special documents show what worm eggs look like.
Signs of infection depend on type
How the worms present themselves and how dangerous they are depends on the type of parasite, where they are in the body exactly, and the intensity of the infection. Signs of human intrusion can be detected after a few days. For example, if roundworms appear, the health will deteriorate after 2-3 days. When infected with other types of worms, patients show the first signs after 2-3 weeks. The incubation period for filariasis is 6 to 18 months.
From this point of view, intestinal worms are dangerous, and if there is only one person in the intestine, then it is impossible to understand that a person is infected because there is no sign. Certain symptoms are only disturbing when the worms are very long (roundworms, tapeworms, etc. ) or when a massive infection occurs. Almost all helminthiasis are accompanied by headache, fatigue, dizziness, and irritability.
What are worms, what are they called and what do they look like?
Pinworms (Enterobiasis) - You can identify the presence of this worm by the appearance of the main signs, as well as by the appearance of anal itching, which becomes more intense at night. If there are only a few pinworms in the body, itching may occur for a few days, then pass and reappear a few weeks later. With intense intrusion, itching can be constantly felt.
Ascaris - What are the signs of ascariasis depends on the stage of development of these parasites. When the larvae migrate to the heart, lung and other organs, they appear weak and weak, with sub-heated body temperature, cough, spit, and sometimes pus and blood. If a lung X-ray is taken at this time, a volatile infiltrate is visible and disappears later. An allergic reaction occurred, and blood tests showed a large number of eosinophils. If aggressive, it is likely to develop into bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma attacks. People are often interested in whether they cough when infected? Indeed, it is possible. You may also experience a sore throat. Signs of the second stage are associated with digestive disorders. Roundworms produce substances that neutralize pepsin and trypsin, human digestive enzymes. As a result, the protein is not digested and the patient loses a lot of weight. Ascariasis sometimes has complications - pancreatitis, obstructive jaundice, bowel obstruction, appendicitis.
Ankleosis, Schistosomiasis, Dilobites, Trilobites - With these lesions, anemia and beriberi occur. After all, the toxins secreted by these species of worms can significantly deteriorate the gut flora, triggering dysbiosis.
Opisthorchiasis, fascioliasis, clonorchiasis are liver parasites. Consequences of invasion are jaundice syndrome, hepatomegaly, spleen, pancreatitis, cholecystocholangitis, neurological disorders, digestive disorders.
Trichinosis - The most common symptoms of this lesion are muscle pain, swelling of the eyelids, facial swelling, and fever.
Strongyloidiasis - Causes roundworms with very varied symptoms. There may be signs of indigestion, allergies, biliary dysfunction, etc.
Urogenital schistosomiasis - caused by flatworms, manifesting as a diuretic disorder. At the end of urination, blood is found in the urine. In men, it causes pathological lesions of the prostate gland, pathology of the seminal vesicles. In women, it can cause vaginal bleeding, genital damage and other consequences. Fibrosis may develop in the bladder.
Taeniasis - caused by tapeworms. These are Bovine Tapeworm, Sheep Brain, Echinococcus, Broad Tapeworm, etc. Signs of the disease are severe weight loss, weakness and gastrointestinal dysfunction.
How to determine if worms are present in the human body?
If one is concerned about certain symptoms that indicate an infection, a person will naturally worry about how to know if you have worms. Of course, the presence of infection can only be determined after seeing a doctor and performing all necessary tests. But there are other methods for those interested in how to find out if you have a worm infection. To do this, you need to monitor your health carefully and pay attention to changes happening in your body. After all, the presence of some obvious symptoms can answer the question of how to understand you have worms.
Prevent worm infections
To prevent infection, you need to have a clear understanding of what is the cause of the invasion, what the worm is, and what the worm is. It is important to take all precautions, which can significantly reduce the chance of infection.
- It is necessary to wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, pour boiling water on them.
- It is important to fight flies, cockroaches, mosquitoes - trace their source and eliminate them.
- Cook meat and fish for at least 40-60 minutes.
- You just need to use your own hygiene products - towels, combs (to prevent lice spread), etc.
- It is important to teach your baby before eating and to wash hands with soap and water immediately after each contact with an animal.
- If you have animals large and small in the house, you need to keep giving them money for worm prevention. To find out which ones, you should contact your veterinarian.
- It is important that the youngest children only play with clean toys and that any pacifiers or pacifiers that fall off should be washed immediately.
- Kids should quit bad habits - finger sucking, nail biting, stuffing all kinds of things in their mouths.
- Babies should have clean and short nails.
- To prevent re-infection with pinworms, your baby needs to wear tight underwear at night, which will prevent the spread of parasites and eggs in the bed.
- It is important to iron baby clothes after washing.
- In the morning, you need to change the panties and wash the child thoroughly.