Helminthiasis: symptoms and treatment in adults, prevention of infection

Helminths are the general name for a large group of parasites that can inhabit the human body.

Depending on the type and species, they can enter the host's body in different ways, causing a wide variety of symptoms.

Types of helminths and symptoms

So far, science knows about 200 species of parasites that choose human organs as their habitat, but this figure is steadily growing. The types of helminths differ based on the climatic conditions of the country and the social level, because, as you know, for the most part, parasites are transmitted by contact and everyday life, through dishes and food.

Parasites are classified mainly by their type, secrete tapeworms, roundworms and flukes.

List of the most common types

Name	Type and method of infection	What disease provokes	Where do the larvae live?	What organs it affects
Ascaris	Roundworms, oral-fecal transmission.	Ascariasis	The larvae successfully survive on hands, in the ground, on vegetables and fruits, and are carried by flies.	- intestines; - liver; - pancreas.
Pinworms	Roundworms, transmitted by the oral route (for example, by biting nails).	Enterobiasis	The larvae live on hands, clothes, dishes.	Small intestine
Vlasoglav	Roundworms, oral-fecal transmission.	Trichocephalosis	The larvae live on the body of insects (flies, cockroaches), dirty hands, unwashed products, in the ground.	Small intestine
Toksokara	Roundworms, oral-fecal transmission.	Toxocariasis	The larvae live on the body of insects (flies, cockroaches), in the ground, on unwashed products.	- muscles; - a heart; - liver; - lungs; - brain.
Cat fluke	Sucker, transmitted by the oral route.	Opisthorchiasis	The larvae live in the body of the fish.	- liver; - gallbladder; - pancreas.
Bovine tapeworm	Flatworm, transmitted by the oral route.	Teniarinhoz	The eggs of the parasite live in the body of cows (muscles).	Small intestine
Pork tapeworm	Flatworm, transmitted by the oral route.	Teniosis	Eggs live in pigs' bodies (muscles).	Small intestine
Echinococcus	Flatworm, transmitted by the oral route.	Echinococcosis	Eggs live on the body of domestic animals and in the ground.	- liver; - lungs.

Based on where the larvae got into the human body, they are divided into 3 types:

• biohelminths - animals are transmitters;
• geohelminths - transmitted through the earth;
• contagious - transmitted from an infected person.

The presence of helminths is often very difficult to suspect. They can parasitize for years in their host, poisoning it with toxins and literally feeding on its organs. Symptoms depend on the number of helminths, the type of organ that they hit, the duration of their stay, the body's defenses.

Parasite infestation can be in two stages: acute and chronic. Acute gives its manifestations at least 2 days later, maximum 2 weeks after the introduction of nematodes. The chronic form lasts more than one month, or even a year, and only then makes itself felt.

Symptoms of acute helminthiasis:

• the appearance of a rash on the skin;
• aching muscle pain;
• enlarged lymph nodes;
• temperature increase;
• enlargement of the liver and spleen;
• increased nervous excitability.

Not all symptoms will necessarily be present, sometimes they are completely invisible.

In addition to the fact that parasites directly affect any organ, they generally cause significant damage to the body since absorb all vitamins and minerals necessary for a person, cause anemia, disrupt the microflora in the intestine, undermine the immune system.

Pinworms

A type of roundworm that is extremely common in children, but adults are also susceptible to them. The parasites themselves are small, reach a maximum length of 20 mm, and develop in just 2 weeks.

Pinworm larvae often penetrate into the human body from surrounding objects, food untreated with water, often there is constant self-infection.

Characteristic pinworm symptom - itching sensations in the anus at night.

It is during this period of time that the female moves along the rectum to the folds of the anus, where the most suitable environment for laying eggs. At the moment of her movement, unpleasant sensations are felt. A person begins to comb the anus and at this moment can bring the larvae under his nails. This is how self-infection occurs, and if he does not wash his hands, then the larvae will get on the surrounding objects and other family members will become infected.

The harm caused by pinworms:

• the intestinal walls become inflamed due to enzymes produced by the worms, subsequently small hemorrhages may form there;
• the intestinal microflora begins to change, more and more harmful bacteria multiply, while the beneficial ones die;
• digestion is impaired, since the absorption of the intestinal walls slows down;
• for female representatives, parasites are dangerous because they can cause various diseases of the genital organs, for example, vulvovaginitis.

Roundworm

Roundworms that can be up to 45 cm long. Basically, roundworms go through the following life cycle: their eggs penetrate together with human excrement into the ground, where after 14-16 days larvae are formed, ready for life in the body of a new carrier. Under unfavorable conditions, they retain their viability in the ground for up to 12 years, since they are even resistant to freezing.

When the larva orally enters the host, it does not immediately remain in the intestine. Initially, it migrates with the bloodstream, producing toxins. In this case, the liver, lungs, blood vessels are affected.

After such a cycle, it finally enters the intestines, where it grows and begins its active reproduction. In these worms, males are distinguished, which are slightly shorter, and females, which are longer. The female is capable of laying up to 200 thousand eggs in one day. An adult lives for about a year, but due to the fact that parasites multiply exponentially, their number not only does not decrease, but constantly increases.

Symptoms of the presence of ascaris in the body:

• loss of appetite;
• nausea, vomiting;
• diarrhea;
• stomach ache;
• fatigue;
• irritability;
• weight loss;
• increased salivation.

The harm that roundworms do:

• inflammation and injury to the intestinal walls;
• negative impact on the work of the pancreas;
• the likelihood of intestinal obstruction (when many roundworms curl up into balls, blocking the intestinal lumen).

Vlasoglav

A kind of round worm, which has an unusual structure of its body, for which it received such a name. The front part of it looks like a long thin hair, where only the esophagus is located, the rest of the body is wider, all other organs are located there. The parasite is 3 to 5 cm in size and lives in the small intestine and feeds on blood and fluid from surrounding tissues.

Symptoms of the presence of the parasite:

• loss of appetite;
• anemia;
• soreness in the abdomen;
• diarrhea followed by constipation.

Vlasoglav is dangerous because it can provoke appendicitis.

Toksokara

The roundworm is similar to the roundworm. The length is usually no more than 30 cm. The intermediate owner is often a dog, in whose stomach parasites multiply. The female lays up to 100 thousand eggs per day. Toxocara enters the soil along with the animal's feces, where it can live for years without being destroyed.

It gets into the human body from the ground, for example, it sticks to shoes, children often become infected by playing in the sand (therefore, babies 1-4 years old are mainly susceptible to toxocariasis). Often the infection comes from one's own pet dogs.

Symptoms of toxocariasis:

• lack of appetite;
• allergic skin rashes;
• enlargement of the liver and lymph nodes;
• abdominal pain;
• dizziness;
• convulsions;
• irritability;
• excruciating cough, accompanied by choking;
• a feeling of pain and a foreign object in the eyes.

Toxocariasis is especially dangerous because it can completely deprive a person of sight. The fact is that the eyeball is a favorite habitat for these parasites.

Bovine tapeworm

Parasites from the category of tapeworms, which are also called cestodes. The peculiarity of the bovine tapeworm is that it is hermaphrodite and reproduces on its own. Its body consists of a small head with suction cups, with which it is attached to the intestinal wall, and more than 1000 segments, which are called segments. It is these segments, having reached a certain stage when eggs ripen in them, detach and migrate. The chain length can be up to 8 meters.

Mature segments can come out of the anus and settle on the surface of objects, the bed, and the human body. Their ripening time is usually about 80 days.

A person most often becomes infected with a parasite by eating insufficiently thermally processed meat of cows, bulls, and buffaloes. Visually, the larvae can even be seen in the meat fibers, but few people pay attention to this.

The main symptoms of bovine tapeworm damage:

• depletion of the body;
• weight loss;
• decreased immunity;
• diarrhea;
• skin rashes.

Pork tapeworm

A type of tapeworm that lives in the body of pigs, dogs, rabbits and camels. Having passed a certain stage of its life cycle there, it can enter the human body. Basically, these parasites are infected by eating undercooked or uncooked pig meat.

The structure of the pork tapeworm is similar to the structure of the bovine. It also has a suction cup head, but it also has additional hooks. The rest of the body also consists of segments, however, they cannot independently get out through the anus and only passively go out with feces.

The symptoms of the presence of pork tapeworm are similar to those of the presence of bovine tapeworm. The person suffers from abdominal pain, indigestion, rashes and exhaustion.

Echinococcus

A type of tapeworm for which a person is an intermediate carrier. Its main development takes place in the body of domestic animals: dogs, cats. The larvae come out with their feces and settle on the wool. Dried dog feces are also dangerous, since the embryos of parasites are carried over long distances by a gust of wind and settle on human clothing and household items.

The parasite itself is small, only 4 mm, its body consists of 4 segments-segments, there are hooks and suckers on the head.

Parasites enter humans through the mouth mainly in the following ways:

• when the man stroked the dog and did not wash his hands;
• when eating unwashed fruits vegetables from the garden;
• when they drink raw water from open sources (streams, rivers, wells).

The harm caused by echinococcus is significant. Unlike other parasites, they exist in human organs only in the form of larvae. The bottom line is that with the bloodstream they are carried throughout the body, more often deposited in the liver, lungs, and sometimes in the bones and brain. Having chosen their final habitat, they form a bubble around themselves filled with liquid.

Over time, a cyst forms from the bubble, which destroys the tissues around it, modifying the organ. Over time, tissue necrosis occurs. Such capsule cysts are detected more often by chance, during diagnostic examinations: ultrasound, MRI, when the patient complains of pain in the organs (mainly in the liver).

Since parasites often live in the liver, the symptoms of echinococcosis are similar to the symptoms of hepatitis, cirrhosis, and biliary tract disease.

Symptoms:

• severe soreness in the area of ​​\ u200b \ u200bthe location of the organ;
• belching, heartburn;
• a feeling of bitterness in the mouth;
• yellowed skin.

Cat fluke

A flatworm that changes several hosts until it reaches the human body. The parasite is 6 to 16 mm long and looks like a flat leaf.

As a rule, parasites live in water bodies, where they are swallowed by mollusks - their first carriers, which are then swallowed by fish, after which humans (or predatory animals) become their last host.

First, the fluke penetrates the duodenum, then the parasite moves into the gallbladder, liver, ducts. About 5 months, the larva grows, turning into an adult worm, then the parasite begins to lay off numerous offspring. Fluke is a hermaphrodite trematode.

Fluke infection symptoms:

• allergic skin rash, itching, Quincke's edema;
• irritability, nervousness;
• violation of bowel movements (diarrhea);
• nausea, vomiting;
• bloating;
• loss of appetite;
• pain from the right hypochondrium;
• enlargement of the liver, gallbladder.

All these manifestations are related to the acute phase. After a few months, the sensations subside, and the disease becomes chronic.

The harm caused by the parasite:

• trauma to the ducts;
• overlapping of passages and channels;
• the formation of foci of inflammation, abscess in the affected organs;
• the development of cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus.

Diagnostics

Identification of helminths presents some difficulty, since, firstly, symptoms of their presence do not always appear, and secondly, the analyzes are often unreliable and uninformative.

The main method for detecting parasites is the study of biomaterial. Tests of blood, urine, feces, bile, sputum are taken. Cysts or adult parasites are detected.

In addition, the body's immunological response to the toxins produced by helminths is being studied.

Ultrasound and MRI are also used, with the help of which pathological changes in organs are detected.

Treatment

Treatment for helminths depends on their type. Drug therapy is very effective and 2-3 courses are enough to completely get rid of them.

Since parasites cause significant damage to the body, after treatment, rehabilitation therapy is required, aimed at the accumulation of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, normalization of microflora, elimination of foci inflammation.

In advanced cases, if the activity of parasites leads to bleeding, fistulas, tissue necrosis, overlap of various channels and passages, urgent surgical intervention is required. A person may be surprised how many helminths can live in his body, there are often cases when surgeons removed tapeworms up to 8 meters long or multiple clusters of roundworms.

Among the drugs that are used for conservative treatment, the following groups are distinguished:

• antihistamines - to reduce puffiness, reduce skin rashes, redness, itching ("Zirtek", "Suprastin", "Tavegil");
  

  "Suprastin"

• choleretic drugs ("Holagol");
  

  "Holagol"

• enzymes (Mezim, Creon, Pancreatin);
  

  "Pancreatin"

• antibiotics;
• medicines to protect the liver ("Rezalut", "Essentiale Forte N");
  

  "Essentiale Forte N"

• specific remedies for the elimination of each separate type of helminths.

Special drugs:

1. For roundworms - "Nemocid", "Helmintox", "Pirantel". The drugs cause spasm of the muscles of the parasites, as a result of which they cannot adhere, feed and die.
   

   Pirantel

2. From tape use "Praziquantel". The drug causes paralysis of the muscles and metabolic disorders in parasites, which is why they die.
   

   Praziquantel

3. For flukes use "Chloxil", "Cesol", "Biltricid". The components of the preparations increase the permeability of the cell membrane of the parasite, disrupt the process of utilization of nutrients and cause muscle paralysis.
   

   "Cesol"

Important! During pregnancy and lactation, treatment for helminths is unacceptable, since the means used are too aggressive.

For the recovery period after the removal of parasites, it is recommended to take complexes of vitamins, probiotics and prebiotics, drugs that help the liver to purify itself.

Traditional methods, despite all their safety and harmlessness to the body, are completely ineffective, since they cannot neutralize helminths or at least slow down their development. Therefore, using homemade recipes is impractical.

Prophylaxis

To avoid infection with parasites, you must follow the simplest rules:

• wash hands thoroughly, especially after contact with animals and the ground;
• thermally process meat and fish;
• wash and pour boiling water over fruits and vegetables.

It is necessary to undergo diagnostics for helminths once a year and, if necessary, eliminate them at an early stage.

On average, every 3 people are sick with parasites, the statistics are depressing and suggest that even careful hygiene does not always save. However, the main thing is to detect helminths in time so that they do not have time to cause significant damage to the body.

Video - Treatment of helminths at home