Worm infection in humans is medically called helminth disease.Hundreds of species of parasites are known to cause this disease.Some of them do not cause noticeable harm, others cause inconvenience, but there are also worms that are dangerous to human life.
Helminths enter the body in the form of eggs, covered with a protective shell and resistant to harsh conditions.Worms are very prolific and lay thousands of eggs every day, increasing the likelihood of infection.The eggs of the parasite carrier will be released with the feces.When conditions are favorable, the shell peels off and the eggs develop into complete parasites in a short time.Worms feed on food or human tissue, quickly multiply and harm the body with toxins from the products of their vital activity, causing poisoning.
Causes of worms in humans
The disease may be related to lifestyle, diet or the presence of pets.You can get infected in many 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;
- contact with infected animals (cats, dogs, cows);
- living with people carrying helminths;
- Raw water consumption in rural areas.
Important to know: Worms lay thousands, even hundreds of thousands of eggs every day, so any infected person or animal poses a great threat as a source of infection.
Usually, children are susceptible to infections because they rarely follow hygiene rules and often come into contact with each other, transmitting parasites.Pinworms and roundworms can be found in almost any child and are particularly contagious.They cause a lot of inconvenience and affect children's health.
Symptoms and signs of worms
The presence of worms in a person is quite easily determined even without the help of a medical examination.Their main habitat is the intestines, where they feed on human food and are often excreted with feces, and itching in the anus is observed due to the worms excreting their waste products and thus irritating the rectal mucosa.For example, pinworms crawl out of the anus at night, so redness and allergies often appear around it, causing the feeling of scratching in this area.
There are helminths that affect the liver and even the brain.For example, liver flukes (beef tapeworms), when entering the human body, will "move" throughout the body through the bloodstream until stopping in the liver or brain.There it begins to grow, eating the surrounding tissue.A person begins to get sick, and in case of brain exposure, may even develop psychosis and eventually death.Parasites are transmitted through livestock (cows, sheep).
Another dangerous parasite is Echinococcus.These worms live parasitically in dogs or wolves, 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.Furthermore, this type is difficult to diagnose and can be confused with a tumor during examination.Echinococci are dangerous to health and can cause serious disorders in the body, including death.
Main symptoms of helminth infection:
- headache;
- nausea;
- vomiting;
- losing weight;
- itching in the anus;
- bloating and gas;
- diarrhea and other digestive disorders;
- lymphadenitis;
- increased body temperature;
- stomach-ache;
- cough for no reason;
- skin allergies.
Worms appear some time after infection.At first, symptoms are absent or barely noticeable, as the amount of toxic substances secreted by the parasite does not cause serious problems.Then, as it grows and multiplies, the symptoms will increase and become more pronounced.Overall health is seriously reduced, so measures need to be taken to detect and destroy them.
Treatment of helminth infections
You need to know that parasites will not go away on their own.At the same time, health will constantly decline due to poisoning by toxins.This will weaken the body and immune system, making a person more susceptible to infections and other diseases.
Killing worms is called deworming.This process includes using drugs to kill parasites and drugs to reduce allergic reactions.Each type of parasite is sensitive to certain substances, so 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 severe cases, doctors prescribe surgery to remove the worms.
Interesting:Beef tapeworms sometimes reach 10 meters in length in humans.It is composed of small units that can develop as an independent organism.Therefore, it can only be surgically removed. If the body is torn into pieces, they will continue to develop and grow.
prevent
Helminths enter the body in the form of microscopic eggs, so to prevent this it is necessary to follow some recommendations:
- comply with the rules of personal hygiene (wash hands before eating, after contact with animals, after going to the toilet, etc.);
- Wash vegetables and fruits with clean water, preferably boiled water;
- thoroughly fry meat and fish;
- If you have pets, have your veterinarian regularly test them for worms;
- Test for intestinal parasites once a year.
Advice: Do not swim in waters near livestock farming areas.In this case, there is a risk of infection with beef tapeworm, which is very dangerous.
Worms are a major threat to human health and interfere with normal life activities.It is important to identify them as early as possible and remove them with treatment, as it is easier to remove them in the early stages.In addition to the risk to your health, there is also the possibility of infecting your loved ones with parasites, so at the first symptoms you should consult a doctor for diagnosis and prescription of treatment.Additionally, it is important to follow precautions to avoid infection.It is better to prevent the appearance of worms in the body first than to get rid of them later.