Parasitic infestations often go unnoticed. And the first symptoms of worms in humans are non-specific, so sick people do not go to the doctor for a long time. So the patient may think that he is overworked, suffers from gastritis or poisoning, has an exacerbation of allergies or arthritis.
How to suspect the appearance of worms
Signs of helminths in the body depend on the type and localization of the parasite. Some symptoms appear immediately after infection. Others occur after some time and indicate the migration of worms in the body, increased intoxication, lack of nutrients or vitamins.
The most common signs of worms in adults include:
- Increased body temperature. Fever can be unspecified - up to 37. 5 ° C, short-term. Episodes of increased temperature coincide with periods of deterioration, accompanied by an increase in various groups of lymph nodes.
- One of the most common signs of the presence of helminths is abdominal pain. The sensation of discomfort has a specific localization - in the center, heart, or moving. Pain is accompanied by the violation of stool, the appearance of impurities in the stool - mucus, blood. More often there are attacks of diarrhea, but with the blockage of the intestinal lumen by parasites, the development of obstruction is also possible.
- Itching in the anus is the first sign and characteristic symptom of pinworms. It occurs at night, forcing a person to scratch the anus.
- Helminths cause allergic reactions on the skin or respiratory types as a result of the circulation of their decay products, toxins, in the body. So someone complains about the exacerbation of bronchial asthma, the appearance of dermatitis, eczema.
- When infected with worms, beriberi develops. It manifests itself in the form of a deterioration in the condition of hair, nails, characteristic "jam" in the corners of the mouth, dry skin. Lack of iron in the body causes the development of anemia, pale skin, the appearance of bruises under the eyes.
- Helminths also have a pathogenic effect on the nervous system, as a result of which patients are disturbed by headaches, irritability, impaired performance, intermittent sleep, and emotional instability.
- Worms that migrate through the respiratory system (roundworms) cause a person to suffer from dry cough. With the movement of parasites in the muscles, the development of intoxication, the sick person complains of pain, muscle and joint pain.
On the note!
The first symptoms of infection may appear within a few days after the penetration of helminths into the body of an adult. More often it happens after 2-3 weeks from the moment of contact with the parasite, and with migratory worms - after months, years.
A combination of different symptoms does not clearly indicate a specific disease, but is a reason to worry about your health and see a doctor. If a sick person engages in self-diagnosis, looking for information on how to understand that you have worms, he risks losing time and getting life-threatening complications.
What are the dangers of parasitic infections?
Helminths in the body not only take the necessary nutrients and vitamins from a person. Worms poison patients with decay products, affecting internal organs. Parasitic worms in humans can lead to serious diseases that require immediate surgery, and in some cases with the removal of part of the organ:
- acute intestinal obstruction;
- violation of intestinal integrity with the development of peritonitis;
- appendix;
- blockage of bile ducts;
- eye damage.
Important!
Among the delayed consequences of invasion, which lead to deterioration in the condition, death of the patient, are cirrhosis and liver cancer, pneumonia, pleurisy, sclerosis of lung tissue, myocarditis, meningitis, hearing and vision disorders, episyndrome.
How do worm infestations occur?
To solve the issue of helminth prevention, it is necessary to have information about where the parasites come from. The most common mechanisms of infection include: food, household contact, percutaneous, transmissible (associated with blood-sucking insects).
Here are the most typical situations in which worms appear in the body:
- Consumption of vegetables, fruits, berries or vegetables contaminated with parasite eggs.
- Eat poorly cooked meat, fish with helminth larvae. Feeding game that does not pass veterinary control. So Trichinella can withstand a prolonged meat stew and maintain its viability.
- Violation of hygiene rules: formal attitude to wash hands after returning from the street, contact with pets or street animals.
- Bathe in a reservoir containing worm larvae.
- Contact with soil containing parasite larvae while working in the garden.
- Work in conditions where there is an increased risk of infection with helminths: in groups of children, food, livestock, poultry farming.
Where there are worms in the human body
There are many medical myths about where worms live in the human body. Not all are based on parasitological data. Some helminths occupy various parts of the intestine and multiply in them. Humans can be the main host of parasites. The so-called human worm goes through the stage of sexual reproduction in the body, then comes out with feces. In the case of animal helminths, a person is an intermediate host, in which only the asexual (parthenogenetic) phase is possible. Parasites spread to internal organs, causing damage to them. So worms in the human body can be detected:
- under the skin;
- in my heart;
- in the bladder;
- In eyes;
- in the muscles;
- in the lungs and heart;
- in the brain.
If we consider the description of the life cycle of the helminth in the form of a photo with an explanation, we can track its migration through the body and guess what the main symptoms of the disease are.
Diagnosis of worms
The appearance of abdominal pain, fever, skin rash, cough with sputum, inflammatory and allergic changes in the blood picture are the basis for examining a person for parasites. Infection specialists recommend laboratory tests to detect helminths or the immune response to their presence in the body.
The following methods help identify worms in a person:
- stool analysis for parasite eggs;
- scraping or swabbing for enterobiasis;
- immunological tests to detect antibodies to helminths;
- PCR analysis for worm DNA fragments;
- detection of worms in duodenal contents, tissue biopsy specimens.
This method will help to know the type of parasite and choose an effective drug. If internal organs are damaged, the following will help to diagnose helminths:
- chest x-ray;
- Ultrasound of the liver, heart, pancreas;
- cystoscopy;
- Brain MRI.
If necessary, an infectious disease specialist will refer a neurologist, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, urologist for consultation.
On the note!
You should not try to identify helminths yourself, using "unique computer diagnostics" outside of medical institutions. This will cause loss of time, deterioration of health.
Treatment of worms in humans
If a disease is detected, an infectious disease specialist will give full recommendations on disease treatment, regimen and diet. If necessary, the doctor will recommend hospitalization. There is no single "magic" medicine for worms, symptoms and treatment of helminths in adults may vary.
You need to know the basic principles of parasite therapy:
- To combat worms, drugs are used. The choice of treatment regimen (dose, course duration, frequency of administration) depends on the type of helminth, the condition of the sick person's body.
- In case of severe illness, help is provided in a hospital environment.
- You should not independently reduce the dose, reduce the duration of treatment with tablets or suspension from worms.
- Some drugs require diet, refusal to drink alcohol.
- There is no "magic" medicine that allows you to quickly get rid of any helminth in 1 day. For the treatment of some worms in humans, a short course is indeed used, but it is impossible to destroy all the parasites in the body with one tablet, tincture or ointment.
- Herbal preparations are used in sick people who, for health reasons, are contraindicated in medicines in the form of tablets or suspensions.
- Antiallergic drugs, hepatoprotectors, enterosorbents, immunomodulators are prescribed as auxiliary therapy. By themselves, they do not help get rid of worms from a person, but improve the general well-being of a person, eliminate unpleasant symptoms of the disease and side effects of treatment.
Important!
Folk remedies are only used as an additional method of therapy. The independent use of alternative medicine is fraught with degradation.
Pharmacy fund
Treatment with drugs from the group of anthelmintic drugs helps destroy, expel parasites from the body. Pharmaceutical drugs have different points of application:
- interfering with the absorption of nutrients by parasites;
- disrupts the worm's metabolism;
- causing muscle paralysis of helminths.
On the note!
With proper use and prevention of helminthiasis in the future, dewormers really help to permanently rid a person of parasites that have settled in the intestines and internal organs. But if the patient ignores the basic rules of hygiene, re-infection with parasites is possible.
Also, an infectious disease specialist can prescribe herbal remedies that help poison and repel worms in humans. The doctor will recommend certain herbs, based on information about the condition of the body and the type of parasite. To cure the patient, use: pumpkin seeds, tansy grass and centaury.
Folk remedies for worms
Many patients refuse traditional methods of therapy, hoping for help from traditional medicine. Infectious experts warn that attempts to get rid of worms at home with questionable solutions, infusions can lead to increased intoxication, allergic reactions. If you miss the time, the disease will develop, a fatal outcome is possible.
To expel helminths from the body, the following home remedies are widely used:
- onion stew;
- pomegranate skin;
- enema and intake of pumpkin seeds;
- juices from vegetables and sour berries without sugar;
- garlic with milk;
- soda enema;
- tincture of wormwood.
Treatment Reviews
Before starting a course of therapy, the patient considers various options for dealing with parasites, trying to understand how to properly poison helminths. In their reviews, people who have experienced helminthic invasion describe traditional drug therapy as a fairly effective method. It is very rare to get rid of helminths with folk remedies.
- "I began to worry about the itching in the anus. Have been addressed to a therapist, have received instructions about scraping. It is very unpleasant that pinworms are found in scraping. I read how dangerous helminths are, and decided not to poison myself with self-medication. On the doctor's advice, he took an anthelmintic medicine - 1 tablet 1 time a week. The course took 2 weeks, I immediately felt relief, the itching disappeared. I believe that it is not a serious infection, but the medicine works "well. "
- "I got worms after eating fish at a party. Soon diarrhea started. I lost weight, my skin became dry and itchy. I studied in detail information on how to treat parasites and how to recover later, I started taking medicineanthelmintics myself. I was ashamed to go to the doctor. Drugs did not help. I tried to fight worms with folk methods: I did a liver cleanse with bitterness, drank milk with garlic and put an enema. But it did not get better. I had to turn to a specialistinfectious disease, I am being treated with anthelmintic drugs from the benzimidazole class. When I was "ripe" to go to the doctor, I lost 4 kilograms, became pale, nervous. "
Prevention
Knowing how worms appear in the body, anyone can protect themselves and their loved ones from infection. Prevention includes:
- Wash hands with soap after contact with animals, return home.
- Regular deworming for pets.
- Timely change of bed linen.
- Regular wet cleaning, airing, cleaning of carpets and upholstered furniture.
- Eat meat that has passed veterinary control.
- Thorough heat treatment of meat and fish.
- Reluctance to eat raw meat, fish, offal.
Infection with helminths requires immediate treatment. You should pay attention to symptoms such as: diarrhea, stomach pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, skin rash, cough, fever and see a specialist immediately. After treatment, precautions should be taken to prevent reinfection.