Helminth infection is also possible in our civil society. These parasites silently sneak into the body and poison it with the products of their vital activity. Helminth secretions are toxic and cause various ailments, from hives to serious health problems. There are also deaths.
Common symptoms of worm infestation
Helminths not only live in the human intestine, some types of parasites also affect other organs, they can also be found in skeletal muscles. Therefore, the course of each helminthiasis has its own characteristics, but there are still common symptoms:
- decrease in working capacity;
- fast fatigue;
- intoxication;
- weakness;
- drowsiness;
- lack of appetite;
- weight loss
- joint pain;
- constipation;
- intestinal disorder;
- intolerance to any type of food.
Unfortunately, so many people are infected with parasites, some don't even know it. Eggs or cysts can be ingested along with seemingly clean food. Often the worms settle in the child's body, getting along well with poorly washed fruits and vegetables, through dirty hands, from cats, dogs, etc. The trouble is that often there is not even a suspicion that someone else is living inside of us, as there are types of parasites that have not manifested themselves for a long time. Therefore, it is worth learning more about worms, what types there are and what symptoms of infection they cause.
round worms in humans
In the human body, pinworms, roundworms, whipworms and trichinella (less often) can live.
Nematodes are nematodes with a spindle-shaped body, with a length of 15-40 cm and a width of 4-6 mm. This helminth lives in the small intestine, although there are cases when nematodes crawl into the bile ducts and clog them. Inside a person, females mate with males and lay eggs, which come out with feces.
A person is not infected with nematodes that live in animals.
In addition, the eggs must mature in the soil. If they enter the human body with unwashed fruits or vegetables, the larvae are excreted in the intestine, quickly penetrate the blood vessels and reach the lungs with the bloodstream. There, the larvae mature and migrate to the intestine via the trachea and oral cavity. And there, new individuals are already being bred and everything repeats itself. Nematodes live up to 14 months.
With ascariasis, appetite decreases, there is nausea, diarrhea, pain in the intestines and allergic manifestations. Sleep is also disturbed, irritability appears. When migrating from the lungs, there may be a cough. With the accumulation of roundworms and the formation of a ball on their part, intestinal obstruction can develop.
Pinworms are small whitish worms 3-12 mm long. Pinworms live in the small and large intestines. It is very easy to get infected with these helminths, just don't wash your hands or you can even swallow helminth eggs by inhaling the powder. Female pinworms lay eggs in the anus, causing intense itching. Pinworm eggs are so small that they can even be found inside in the raised dust.
You can get infected through bedding, hygiene items, products, a handshake, etc. In addition, pinworms undergo the same migration as nematodes. 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, distraction, irritability, allergic rash.
Whipworms are thin worms that live in the large intestine and reach a length of 30-35 mm. You can get infected with parasites in the same way as roundworms. Whipworms attach to the walls of the intestine and suck blood. The toxins released by them cause headaches, poor sleep, dizziness and nausea. The life span of helminths is 5 years.
Trichinella are small worms, they are only up to 4 mm long. A person becomes infected through raw pork, which contains larvae. Adults live in the intestine, 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 remain for years.
Helminthiasis causes the following ailments in the body:
- swelling of the face;
- swelling of the eyelids;
- swelling in the legs and hands;
- rash;
- muscular pain;
- fever, temperature;
- headache;
- insomnia or, conversely, drowsiness;
- reduced mobility of the knee and elbow joints;
- gastrointestinal disturbances are observed.
Trichinosis is partially cured, because if the adult worms can be destroyed with drugs, the larvae in the skeletal muscles cannot be killed.
Tapeworms in humans
Bull tapeworm 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 ground beef for salt. In the body, saltpetre develops from the larva, which lives in the intestine, attaching itself to the wall to resist. A person loses weight, loses appetite, dizziness, insomnia, nausea, and often vomits.
Pork tapeworm is smaller, only reaches 2 m Infection occurs after eating poorly processed pork. Symptoms are the same as for bull tapeworms.
A large tapeworm is 6m to 15m in length. The source of infection is raw freshwater fish. Helminthiasis occurs with weakness, nausea, vomiting, salivation, abdominal pain, constipation, or diarrhea. There are always bright red painful spots and even cracks on the tongue.
The pygmy tapeworm is 3-5 cm long and they get infected with this helminth through contaminated doorknobs, 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 seizures.
Echinococcus is one of the most dangerous helminths. Infection occurs from dogs and cats - adult parasite carriers. In the human body, the larvae hatch from eggs, which are transferred with the bloodstream to different organs, most often to the liver, and there they form echinococcal cysts. In some cases they even reach the size of a newborn's head. The cysts are only removed surgically.
Flukes in humans
The parasitic fluke in the bile ducts and in the gallbladder itself. The size of the helminths is small - 4-13 mm. The parasite enters the body through the use of lightly salted or undercooked (fried) fish. First, this helminthiasis is manifested by a high temperature (up to 40 degrees), pain in the joints and muscles, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, and in rare cases, jaundice develops. Then the acute symptoms subside, there are paroxysmal pains in the pancreas. There could be complications.
Fasciola is dangerous to health. The worms are up to 3-7 cm long, they also settle in the gallbladder and biliary tract. A person becomes infected through unboiled water or by eating aquatic plants. There is weakness, fever, pain in the head and abdomen, hives.
In conclusion about human helminths
Some types of worms live in the human body for years, as they can hardly manifest themselves in any way. Often the symptoms of helminthiases are similar to gastrointestinal diseases, so a misdiagnosis is made if special tests are not carried out to detect helminths. But all parasites must be eliminated urgently, as they not only eliminate useful substances from the body, but also release toxins that are dangerous to health.