According to the WHO, every year every second person on the planet is infected with helminths. Many people think that parasitic worms are not very harmful to health. However, not everything is so simple: helminths can infect important internal organs: heart, lungs, brain.
Helminths - who are they?
Helminths are parasitic worms that can select a person's body, animals, plants as a host. There are three classes of helminths in total:
- tapeworms.This class includes about 3. 5 thousand species of helminths. The length of parasitic worms varies from a few mm to 10-15 meters;
- aberrationThe parasites got their name because of the presence of suckers, with the help of which they get nutrients. The human body can infect about 4 dozen species of curves. As a rule, the length of the worms does not exceed 5 cm;
- round worms.This class of helminths has more than 24 thousand species. Round worms are tail-shaped. Usually their length is not more than 0, 5 meters.
You can be infected with helminths in different ways. However, most often parasitic infestation occurs for the following reasons:
- Poor hand hygiene.
- Vegetables, unwashed fruits; Roasted or uncooked meat, fish - the use of such products increases the risk of parasitic infection many times over.
- Keeping food open outside the refrigerator. Insects are capable of transferring helminth eggs to foods that are stored without packaging.
- Contact with pets.
The main symptoms of the presence of parasites in the body:
- nausea, vomiting, diarrhea;
- weight loss;
- allergic rash;
- bounce;
- itching in the anus;
- gnashing of teeth in a dream.
Which helminths are most common in Russia? Consider the most common types of parasitic worms and the diseases they cause.
Tapeworms
The body of the strip consists of members, the total number of which varies from 3 to 5000. The main element of fixing the helminth is the head, the additional ones are suction cups, hooks.
The most common causes of worms are:
- difilobothriaza;
- teniarinosis;
- teniaza.
Difilobothriaza
The causative agent of the disease is a broad band that affects the human intestine. The development of worm eggs occurs in freshwater. The diagram of the tape that enters the human body is as follows:
- Worm eggs are swallowed by crustaceans living in the reservoir.
- Infected crustaceans are eaten by fish.
- A person becomes infected with a parasite by eating fish that has undergone insufficient heat treatment.
The symptomatology of the disease develops 1. 5 months after infection. The main sign of pathology is the presence of white fragments of helminth in the feces.
Sticking to the intestinal mucosa, the strips absorb a large amount of vitamin B12. For this reason, people with difilobotriasis often develop anemia. In addition, the tape can cause an enlargement of the liver, spleen, intestinal obstruction.
Teniarinhoz
The causative agent of the disease is the bovine tapeworm, which mainly lives in the human small intestine. During its development cycle, the helminth replaces two hosts: the mediator is cattle, the main one being man. Bovine tapeworm can live in the body for 20 years, multiplying and causing harm to health.
Typically, people develop teniarinosis after eating roasted or roasted beef.
The disease often proceeds without pronounced symptoms and is discovered accidentally when a person sees elements of helminth in his feces. In some people, in addition to the main signs of helminth infection, pain syndrome can occur on the right side of the anterior abdominal wall.
Helminths for adults are able to penetrate the appendix, pancreatic duct, biliary tract, provoking acute inflammatory processes in them. With multiple parasitic infections, intestinal obstruction can develop.
Tenioza
The causative agent of the disease is swine flu, which initially affects the human small intestine. Human infection occurs through the consumption of raw or improperly cooked pork.
The parasite can penetrate various organs and tissues, causing pain in the abdomen, back, limbs. Pathology is most favorable when the worm is localized in the subcutaneous fat and skeletal muscle tissue. When worms penetrate the eye muscles, they cause a decrease in visual acuity, lacrimation, and photophobia. Loss of pig brain chain can be fatal.
Progeny
Flukes are leaf-shaped and have a high ability to reproduce at different periods of the life cycle. Reproduction of worms is possible not only sexually by fertilization, but also without it. In addition to suckers, worms have many hooks and spines, due to which they reliably attach to the mucosa of organs.
Common pathologies caused by currents:
- fascioliasis;
- opisthorhiaza;
- paragonimiaza.
Fascioliaza
Fascioliasis occurs when the liver or gallbladder is damaged by hepatic fat. Basically, the infection occurs when you eat vegetables, for which water from open tanks was used.
In addition to the standard signs of parasitic infection, a person may experience asthma attacks, which are accompanied by shortness of breath, redness of the face, dilated pupils, and tachycardia. If an adult has caused bile duct blockage, then obstructive jaundice develops. Signs of pathology:
- cramping pain in the right hypochondrium;
- yellowing of the skin;
- ethe;
- colorless stools.
Opisthorkiaza
The causative agent of the disease is a wild animal. The name of the parasite is due to the fact that, in addition to humans, it often infects cats and other mammals that eat fish.
As a rule, cat meat affects the liver and pancreas, causing inflammation in the organs. The symptoms are varied and depend on the number of parasites. The patient may experience:
- symptoms of intoxication;
- ethe;
- koshere;
- itchy skin;
- pain in muscles, joints, right hypochondrium.
In some cases, helminths cause an increase in lymph nodes, the development of jaundice. The chronic form of the pathology often leads to hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver.
Paragonimiaza
The culprit of the disease is a pulmonary stroke, which enters the human body with infected crustaceans.
First, the parasite enters the human intestine, then the abdominal cavity. The last point of his journey is the lung tissue. In addition, the worm is able to penetrate the brain and affect the central nervous system.
Specific signs of parasitic invasion of the lungs:
- chest pain;
- cough with phlegm, which may contain pus and blood;
- ethe.
In some cases, helminths cause impairment of lung ventilation function and gas exchange during respiration.
Round worms
Due to their structure, roundworms (nematodes) are able to survive even in extreme conditions. Their body is covered with a three-layer musculoskeletal sac, which reliably protects parasites from external influences.
Common diseases caused by nematodes:
- ascariasis;
- enterobiaza;
- trikinoza.
Askariaza
The development of the disease provokes ascaris, which is initially fixed in the small intestine. The average length of an adult is 40 cm. The parasite larvae can enter the human digestive system with unwashed vegetables and fruits, contaminated water. Also, poorly washed hands before eating are often the cause of ascariasis.
During the penetration of the larvae into the human body, a subfebrile fever, allergic rash and a cough with the release of pure saliva can be observed. Signs of the intestinal stage of ascariasis (diarrhea, abdominal pain) are observed only in the presence of some parasites. As a rule, living in the intestines of a worm is asymptomatic.
Complications with multiple parasitic infections:
- bile duct blockage;
- purulent inflammatory processes in the gallbladder, liver;
- inflammation of the appendix;
- intestinal obstruction.
Enterobiasis
The provocateurs of the disease are worm worms - small worms up to 1 cm long. Helminths penetrate the human digestive system in the same way as roundworms.
Currently, enterobiasis is the most common parasitic pathology in the world. Basically, the disease is diagnosed in children under 10 years of age.
Symptoms, as in previous cases, develop only with multiple parasitic infections. Children often have diarrhea, mucus in the stool, difficult and painful digestion, itching in the anus and nausea. With a severe course of the disease, limb cramps can occur. In addition, peg worms are able to penetrate the genitals, causing acute inflammation in them.
trichinosis
This disease provokes Trichinella - one of the smallest parasitic worms. The length of the parasite rarely exceeds 4 mm. In the larval stage, worms can infect skeletal muscles. The exception is the myocardium - the muscular tissue of the heart. Adults parasitize the small intestine.
As a rule, human infection occurs when you eat semi-cooked pork. At the same time, for the development of the disease, it is enough to consume only 30 g of meat affected by parasites.
The pathology is manifested by the standard symptoms of parasitic invasion. In an advanced stage, swelling of the eyelids, face, arms and legs, pain in the lower back, masticatory muscles may appear. Possible complications are complete or partial loss of mobility, paralysis of the airways.
How to avoid helminth infection?
To reduce the risk of parasitic worm infection, it is important to follow these guidelines:
- Wash your hands well before eating, after visiting public places.
- Observe the correct technology for cooking meat, fish. Heat treatment of meat and fish products should take at least 20 minutes.
- Do not eat dried or dried fish.
- Perform deworming of pets.
- Get tested regularly, even if you have no pathological signs. The most common diagnostic methods are macroscopic and microscopic examination of the stool. The first method allows you to detect adults, the second - the eggs and larvae of worms.