Infection of a person with worms is medically known as helminthiasis.Several hundred species of parasites are known to cause this disease.Some of them do not cause significant harm, others cause inconvenience, but there are also worms that pose a danger to human life.
Helminths enter the body in the form of eggs, which are covered with a protective shell and can withstand harsh conditions.Worms are very prolific and lay thousands of eggs every day, increasing the chance of infection.From the carrier of the parasites, the eggs come out together with the feces.Under favorable conditions, the shell is shed and the egg quickly develops into a full-fledged parasite.Worms feed on human food or tissues, multiply quickly and damage the body with toxins from the products of their vital activity, causing poisoning.
Causes of worms in humans
The disease can be related to lifestyle, diet or the presence of pets.You can become infected in different ways:
- swimming in ponds used to water livestock;
- Failure to comply with personal hygiene rules;
- weak heat treatment of meat and meat dishes;
- eating unwashed vegetables and fruits;
- raw, unprocessed fish;
- contacts with infected animals (cats, dogs, cows);
- Living with people who carry helminths;
- Raw water consumption in rural areas.
Important to know: Worms lay thousands or even hundreds of thousands of eggs every day, so each infected person or animal poses a major threat as a source of infection.
Children are most often exposed to infection because they hardly follow hygiene rules and are constantly in contact with each other and transmit parasites.Pinworms and roundworms, which occur in almost every child, are particularly easily transmitted.They cause a lot of inconvenience and negatively affect the child's well-being.
Symptoms and signs of worms
The presence of worms in a person can be determined quite easily, even without medical examinations.The main habitat for them is the intestines, where they feed on human food and are often excreted along with feces.In addition, itching in the anus is observed as the worms excrete their waste products, thereby irritating the rectal mucosa.Pinworms, for example, crawl out of the anus at night, so redness and allergic symptoms are often observed in the area, which causes a desire to scratch this place.
There are types of helminths that affect the liver and even the brain.For example, when the liver fluke (beef tapeworm) enters the human body, it “travels” through the body in the bloodstream until it stops in the liver or brain.There it begins to develop and eats the surrounding tissue.In humans, illnesses occur, and contact with the brain even causes psychological disorders and ultimately death.The parasite is transmitted through farm animals (cows, sheep).
Another dangerous parasite is Echinococcus.These worms are parasites of dogs or wolves and are transmitted from them to humans through contact.Helminths attack the liver and lungs.In this case, headaches, dry cough and loss of appetite are observed.In addition, this type is difficult to diagnose and can be confused with a tumor during examinations.Echinococci are dangerous to health and can cause serious illness in the body and even death.
The main symptoms of helminth infection:
- Headache;
- nausea;
- vomit;
- weight loss;
- itching in the anus;
- flatulence and flatulence;
- diarrhea and other digestive disorders;
- inflammation of the lymph nodes;
- increased body temperature;
- abdominal pain;
- cough for no reason;
- Skin allergies.
Worms appear some time after infection.Symptoms are initially absent or barely noticeable because the amount of toxins released by parasites does not cause serious problems.Then, as it develops and multiplies, the symptoms increase and become more pronounced.General health deteriorates sharply, so measures should be taken to detect and destroy them.
Treatment of helminthic infestations
You need to know that parasites don't go away on their own.At the same time, the state of health is constantly deteriorating due to intoxication with toxins.This weakens the body and immune system, making a person susceptible to inflammatory infections and other diseases.
Killing worms is called deworming.The process involves the use of drugs to kill parasites and drugs to reduce the allergic reaction.Each type of parasite is sensitive to certain substances.Therefore, in order to get rid of worms, it is necessary to determine their type.In this case, only a doctor will help, who, after conducting tests and other studies, will make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment.
In the most serious cases, doctors prescribe surgery to remove the worms.
Interesting:The beef tapeworm sometimes reaches a length of 10 meters in humans.It consists of small units that can develop into an independent organism.Therefore, it can only be removed surgically, and when the body is torn into pieces, they continue to develop and grow.
Prevention
Helminths enter the body in the form of microscopic eggs.To prevent this from happening, some recommendations must be followed:
- Observe the rules of personal hygiene (wash hands before eating, after contact with animals, after using the toilet, etc.);
- Wash vegetables and fruits with clean running water, preferably boiled water;
- Fry meat and fish thoroughly;
- If you have pets, have them regularly checked for helminths by a veterinarian.
- Get tested for intestinal parasites once a year.
Advice: Do not swim in waters near which livestock graze.In this case, there is a risk of infection with beef tapeworm, which is very dangerous.
Worms pose a great threat to human health and interfere with normal life activities.It is important to detect them as quickly as possible and eliminate them through treatment, as it is easier to get rid of them in the early stages.In addition to the risk to your health, there is a 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.In addition, it is important to take preventive measures to avoid infections.It is better to prevent the appearance of worms in the body in advance than to get rid of them later.