Infection with helminths is possible even in our civil society. These parasites enter the body unnoticed and poison the products of their vital activities. The secretion of helminths is poisonous and causes various diseases - from hives to serious health problems. There are also deaths.
General symptoms of worm infestation
Helminths live only in the human intestine, some types of parasites infect other organs, and can even be found in skeletal muscle. Therefore, each helminthiasis has its own set of symptoms, but still has common symptoms:
- performance decreased;
- rapid fatigue;
- drunkenness;
- weakness;
- drowsiness;
- anorexia;
- weight loss;
- joint pain;
- constipation;
- intestinal disorder;
- Intolerance to all kinds of food.
Unfortunately, many people are infected with parasites, some do not know about it. Eggs or cysts can be swallowed with food that looks clean. Worms often communicate with children through dirty hands, cats and dogs, and poorly washed fruits and vegetables. The fact is that often there is no doubt that someone else lives inside us, because there are species of parasites that do not manifest themselves for a long time. Therefore, it is worth knowing better what types of worms are and what causes the symptoms of the infection.
Human roundworms
Pinworms, roundworms, whipworms and Trichinella (less common) can live in the human body.
Roundworms are roundworms with a trunk length of 15-40 cm and a width of 4-6 mm. This helminth lives in the small intestine, although there are cases when roundworms crawl into the bile ducts and close them. In humans, females mate with males and lay eggs with feces.
A human is not infected with roundworms that live in animals.
After that, the eggs must grow in the soil. When they enter the human body with unwashed fruits or vegetables, the larvae are expelled from the intestines, penetrate the blood vessels rapidly, and reach the lungs through the bloodstream. There, the larvae mature and migrate from the trachea and oral cavity to the intestines. And there are already new individuals growing up and everything is repeated. Roundworms live up to 14 months.
With ascariasis, appetite decreases, nausea, diarrhea, intestinal pain, allergic reactions occur. Sleep is also disturbed, nervousness is visible. There may be a cough when migrating from the lungs. With the accumulation of Ascaris and the formation of a ball by them, intestinal obstruction can develop.
Pinworms are small, whitish worms 3-12 mm long. Pinworms live in the small and large intestines. These helminths are very easy to infect, you just don't wash your hands or you can even swallow helminth eggs by inhaling the dust. Female pinworms lay eggs in the anus, which also causes severe itching. Pinworm eggs are so small that they can be found inside the raised dust.
Linen, hygiene products, food, hand washing, etc. can be infected. In addition, pinworms undergo the same migration as roundworms. Adults live in humans for a short time, only 1-2 months, and can be disposed of in a short time with proper hygiene. Itching is accompanied by: insomnia, unconsciousness, irritability, allergic rash.
Vlasoglavs are thin worms that live in the large intestine and reach a length of 30-35 mm. You can infect parasites in the same way as roundworms. Vlasoglavs adhere to the intestinal wall and absorb blood. Its toxins cause headaches, poor sleep, dizziness and nausea. The lifespan of helminths is 5 years.
Trichinella are small worms, only 4 mm long. A person is infected with raw pork with larvae. Adults live in the intestines, mate and lay eggs, and then die. Trichinella larvae are excreted, penetrate into the muscle tissue from the intestines, where they form a capsule and can remain for years.
Helminthiasis causes the following diseases in the body:
- swollen face;
- eyelid edema;
- swelling of the feet and hands;
- skin rash;
- muscle pain;
- fever, temperature;
- headache;
- insomnia or vice versa;
- decreased mobility of the knee and elbow joints;
- gastrointestinal diseases are observed.
Trichinosis is partially cured because if the adult worms can be killed with drugs, the larvae in the skeletal muscles cannot be killed.
Tapeworms in humans
- Beef ribboncan be up to 10 m long. Infection occurs when eating poorly cooked beef with helminth larvae. Housewives can be infected by tasting raw minced salt. In the body, a tapeworm develops that attaches itself to the wall to catch the larvae that live in the gut. A person loses weight, loses appetite, dizziness, insomnia, nausea and frequent vomiting appear.
- Pig tapewormis smaller, reaching only 2 m. The infection occurs after eating poorly processed pork. The symptoms of the disease are the same as in cattle tapeworm.
- Wide ribbon wormis 6 m to 15 m long. The source of infection is raw freshwater fish. Helminthiasis manifests itself with weakness, nausea, vomiting, congestion, abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea. There are always bright red painful spots and even cracks on the tongue.
- Dwarf tapewormis 3-5 cm long, if there are worm eggs, they are infected with this helminth through contaminated door handles and toilet seats. Children get sick more often. Helminthiasis causes loss of appetite, nausea and abdominal pain, and sometimes diarrhea. In rare cases, children may have seizures similar to epileptic seizures.
- Echinococcusis one of the most dangerous helminths. The infection occurs in dogs and cats, which are carriers of adult parasites. In the human body, larvae emerge from eggs that are transported by bloodstream to various organs, most notably the liver, where they form echinococcal cysts. In some cases, they even reach the size of a newborn baby's head. Cysts are removed only by surgery.
Human health
- Flukeparasitizes in the bile ducts and gallbladder itself. The size of helminths is small - 4-13 mm. The parasite enters the body through the use of lightly salted or undercooked (fried) fish. First, this helminthiasis manifests itself with high temperature (up to 40 degrees), pain in the joints and muscles, gastrointestinal disorders, rarely develops jaundice. Then the acute symptoms subside, there is paroxysmal pain in the pancreas. There may be complications.
- Fasciolais dangerous to health. The worms are 3-7 cm long and are located in the gallbladder and bile ducts. Humans become infected by eating unboiled water or aquatic plants. Weakness, fever, headache and abdominal pain, urticaria appear.
Conclusion on human helminths
Some worms live in the human body for years because they cannot manifest themselves in any way. The symptoms of helminthiasis are often similar to those of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, so a misdiagnosis is made unless special tests are performed to identify helminths. But you need to get rid of any parasites immediately, because they not only remove useful substances from the body, but also release toxins that are dangerous to health.