Human infection with helminths is medically called helminthiasis.Hundreds of parasites are known to cause this disease.Some of them cause no visible harm, others are an inconvenience, but there are also worms that pose a threat to human life.
The worms enter the body in the form of eggs, which are covered with a protective shell that allows them to withstand harsh conditions.Worms are highly prolific and lay thousands of eggs per day, increasing the likelihood of infection.The eggs are excreted in the feces from parasite carriers.When exposed to favorable conditions, the eggshells fall off and the eggs develop into mature parasites within a short period of time.Worms feed on human food or tissues, multiply rapidly, and use toxins in the products of their life activities to harm the human body, leading to poisoning.
Causes of worms in human body
The disease may be related to lifestyle, diet, or the presence of pets.You can become infected in different ways:
- Swim in a pond used to water livestock;
- Failure to observe personal hygiene rules;
- Mild heat treatment of meat and meat dishes;
- eating unwashed vegetables and fruits;
- Unprocessed raw fish;
- contact with infected animals (cats, dogs, cattle);
- Living with someone who has worms;
- Raw water consumption in rural areas.
important to know: Worms lay thousands or even hundreds of thousands of eggs every day, so any infected person or animal poses a huge threat as a source of infection.
Most commonly, children are susceptible to infection because they rarely adhere to hygiene rules and are often in contact with each other, spreading the parasite.Pinworms and roundworms are found in almost every child and are particularly easy to spread.They can cause a lot of inconvenience to children and affect their health.
Symptoms and signs of worms
It is easy to determine the presence of worms in a person's body even without the help of medical tests.Their main habitat is the intestines, where they feed on human food and are often excreted with the feces, and anal itching occurs due to irritation of the rectal mucosa due to waste excreted by the worms.For example, pinworms crawl out of the anus at night, so redness and allergy symptoms often appear around the anus, causing people to want to scratch the area.
Some types of worms can affect the liver and even the brain.For example, after a liver fluke (cattle tapeworm) enters the body, it "travels" through the body in the blood until it stops in the liver or brain.There it begins to develop, engulfing surrounding tissue.A person becomes sick and, in the case of exposure to the brain, may even develop mental disorders and eventually die.The parasite is transmitted through livestock (cattle, sheep).
Another dangerous parasite is the Echinococcus tapeworm.These worms live in dogs or wolves and are transmitted from them to humans through contact.The worms attack the liver and lungs.In this case, headache, dry cough, and loss of appetite may occur.Additionally, this type is difficult to diagnose and may be mistaken for a tumor during examination.Echinococcus tapeworms are harmful to health and can cause serious illness in the body, including death.
Main symptoms of parasitic infection:
- Headache;
- nausea;
- Vomit;
- lose weight;
- Itching of the anus;
- bloating and gas;
- Diarrhea and other digestive disorders;
- Inflammation of lymph nodes;
- Increased body temperature;
- stomach ache;
- Coughing for no apparent reason;
- Skin allergies.
Worms manifest themselves some time after infection.At first, symptoms are non-existent or barely noticeable because the amount of toxic substances released by the parasite does not cause serious problems.Then, as it develops and multiplies, symptoms intensify and become more noticeable.Overall health deteriorates dramatically, so steps should be taken to detect and eliminate them.
Treatment of helminth infection
You need to know that parasites will not go away on their own.At the same time, health continues to deteriorate due to toxin poisoning.This weakens the body and immune system, making a person susceptible to inflammatory infections and other illnesses.
Killing insects is called deworming.The process involves the use of medications to kill parasites and medications to reduce allergic reactions.Each parasite is sensitive to certain substances, so to get rid of the worms, its type must be determined.In this case, only a doctor will help, and after conducting tests and other studies, the doctor will make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment.
In the most severe cases, doctors may perform surgery to remove the worms.
The interesting thing is:Bovine tapeworms can sometimes reach 10 meters in length in humans.It consists of small units that can develop into independent organisms.Therefore, they can only be removed surgically, but they will continue to grow if the body is torn into pieces.
prevention
Worms enter the body in the form of tiny eggs, so to prevent this it is necessary to follow some recommendations:
- Observe the rules of personal hygiene (washing hands before meals, after contact with animals, after using the toilet, etc.);
- Use clean running water, preferably boiling water, to wash vegetables and fruits;
- Fry meat and fish thoroughly;
- If you have pets, have them checked regularly by a veterinarian for parasites;
- Get tested for intestinal parasites annually.
advice: Do not swim in bodies of water where livestock are grazing.In this case, there is a risk of infection with the bovine tapeworm, which is very dangerous.
Worms pose a great threat to human health and interfere with normal life activities.It is important to identify them as soon as possible and eliminate them with treatment, as they are easier to eliminate in the early stages.In addition to the risk to your health, there is the possibility of infecting your loved ones with parasites, therefore, at the first symptoms, it is recommended to consult a doctor, who will make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment.Additionally, it is important to take precautions to avoid infection.It is better to prevent the appearance of worms in the body in advance than to eliminate them afterwards.