According to the World Health Organization, about 90% of the world's population is infected with one type of parasite or another. Around 250 species of worms (helminthiases) alone can live in the human body, but there are also protozoa (amoebas, lamblia and others), arthropods, insect larvae and many other parasites.
Most often, residents of large cities become infected with banal worms, roundworms and tapeworms, which are dangerous to health and very unpleasant parasites, but only residents of tropical countries and tourists vacationing in the south usually come across truly terrible creatures that parasitize the human body. America, Africa or Australia.
Every day every person is faced with a large number of parasites; You can become infected with worms by eating or drinking food or drinking water containing eggs or larvae of parasites, less often through close contact with a parasite carrier (animal or human). Infection occurs through household objects or insect bites.
The most common parasitoses
- Roundworms– Representatives of this type of worms are diagnosed in 100 million people in the world every year. An adult roundworm is a roundworm up to 40 cm long that can live for years in the human intestine, feeding on its red blood cells and poisoning the human body with waste products. Female roundworms can lay up to 200, 000 eggs per day, which are released along with feces and infect the soil. Ascaris larvae can migrate through the body and infect internal organs, blood vessels and even the human brain.
- Pinworms- small roundworms that live in the large intestine. Infection with pinworms is common in childhood; The parasites enter the human body if personal hygiene rules are not followed (not washing your hands after using the toilet, going for a walk and before eating, not changing your underwear on time, licking your fingers, etc. ). soon). These roundworms do not cause as severe intoxication as other worms, but can lead to the development of diseases such as enterocolitis, vulvovaginitis, salpingitis, cystitis and others. During the breeding season, adult worms leave the lower parts of the large intestine and lay eggs in the perianal folds, causing severe itching in the child, which is the main symptom of worm infection.
- Beef and pork tapewormare large tapeworms whose length can reach up to 10 m. Despite this impressive size, tapeworms are not considered the largest or longest parasites. The longest worm in the world, the broadband worm, can reach a length of 25 m. Infection with parasites occurs when eating poorly cooked meat or through contact and household contact. In addition to causing intoxication and exhaustion of the host's body, tapeworms can also cause bile duct obstruction or intestinal obstruction. No less dangerous are the larvae of worms that penetrate the internal organs, brain and even eyeballs.
- Giardia- Protozoa or protozoan parasites that live in the small intestine of humans. Infection with protozoa is possible through consumption of food or water contaminated with cysts. Diagnosing Giardia infection is quite difficult because there are no specific symptoms of the disease. A sick person constantly feels unwell, often gets sick, or is diagnosed with symptoms of various diseases of the internal organs.
Which parasites are considered the most dangerous?
Representatives of the following species are considered the most terrible and dangerous parasites in the world: filaria, schistosomes, guinea worms, cysticerci, toxoplasma, loa loa and some other less common parasites.
Filaria
Filariae are round and long worms, their length is about 45 cm; you can become infected with filarial larvae through the bite of blood-sucking insects; Mosquitoes usually carry the larvae, and more rarely other insects. Filariae penetrate the lymphatic vessels and block them. As a result of an infection, a person's lower limbs swell so much that they lose the ability to move independently.
The "elephant disease" is widespread in hot countries and affects both locals and tourists, although the latter occurs in a more serious form. This disease is considered particularly dangerous due to the difficulty of diagnosis and treatment - the disease only becomes noticeable when it becomes chronicand a cure is hardly possible.
schistosomes
Schistosomes are a special type of worm that lives in human blood vessels. Tiny flatworms up to 2 mm long enter the human body when swimming or drinking water contaminated with parasite cercariae.
Schistosomiasis is predominantly a tropical disease that is transmitted by swimming in open water. In the human body, schistosomes can cause serious damage to the liver, bladder or intestines.
Guinea worm
Guinea worm or dracunculiasis is another serious parasitic disease that can be transmitted through drinking dirty water in tropical countries. Roundworms, penetrating the human intestine, literally gnaw through it, and then penetrate the lymphatic vessels and subcutaneous fatty tissue, where they can grow up to 80 cm long.
Where the parasites live, deep abscesses form in which one or more large worms are located. Such a parasitosis can only be cured surgically.
Loa Loa
Loa Loa or "eye worm" is a round helminth that parasitizes the subcutaneous fatty tissue. A person becomes infected through the bite of a blood-sucking insect, which is the intermediate host of the parasite.
Once in the human body, Loa Loa begins to migrate throughout the body, including entering the eyeballs, brain, or nervous tissue.
Mustache Vandellia
Unlike other parasites, it belongs to freshwater fish and lives in the rivers of the Amazon. A fairly large fish - up to 15 cm long, due to its transparency and eel-like shape - is almost invisible in the water and quietly swims towards its victims. The bearded vandelly can swim into the human urethra, attach itself to the wall of a blood vessel and suck out the blood, literally eating its owner from the inside. You can only get rid of such a parasite through serious surgery.
Anyone can become infected with parasites; Hundreds of thousands of dangerous parasites lurk for each of us: in water, in the soil, on tree leaves, in public transport, seafood, on fresh vegetables and fruits. Therefore, it is so important to comply with all hygiene and hygiene rules and teach children the rules of personal hygiene as early as possible.
Most parasites enter the human body completely unnoticed; The first symptoms of the disease do not appear until a few weeks or months after the infection. Symptoms of parasitosis can be different: from mild malaise and headache to a sharp deterioration in the condition, fever and hemoptysis.
Only constant monitoring of your health, regular medical examinations and extreme caution when traveling to tropical countries can help you avoid infection with the worst parasites or at least diagnose such an infection in a timely manner.