There is a risk of worm infestation without even leaving your home. Various types of helminths can be found on household items, banknotes, dishes, food, in drinking water.
Parasites enter the human body in a convenient way: they can enter through the digestive system with food, water, dirty hands or insect bites.
Furthermore, helminths affect certain internal organs, use the resources of the human body, cause mechanical damage and actively reproduce. Their vital processes are accompanied by unpleasant and often dangerous symptoms and damage to various organs.
How to recognize intestinal worms
Intestinal helminthiases unite a group of diseases caused by worms of different species. Ascariasis (roundworm), enterobiasis (pinworms), ankylosis (hookworm) can be detected most often. These parasites live in the lumen of the human intestine, feed on its contents, and their presence can be suspected of a number of characteristic symptoms:
- Dramatic weight loss without changing diet and physical activity. Intestinal helminths use the nutrients of the human body as a source of energy for growth and reproduction, and their anchoring devices in the intestine (pumps, hooks) injure its walls and interfere with the absorption of residual trace elements.
- Pain in the stomach, navel, itching in the rectum occurs due to the movement of worms, mechanical damage they cause, as well as the release of larvae or adults from the body into the external environment.
- Various digestive disorders: diarrhea or constipation, bloating, presence of mucus, foam or blood in the faeces, nausea, vomiting. In some cases, adult parasites can be found in the stool.
- The human body can react to the appearance of parasites with allergic reactions, the appearance of intoxication, which are caused by waste products of helminths. This is more often manifested by itchy skin, redness of certain areas, rash (vesicles, blisters of various sizes).
The diagnosis of intestinal helminthiasis includes fecal examination, clinical and biochemical blood tests (eosinophilia, leukocytosis) and, if necessary, ultrasound data on the body.
Signs of parasites in the liver
The human liver accumulates a large amount of nutrients, and there is intense blood circulation, which is suitable for parasites. Common hepatic helminthiasis: fascioliasis, opisthorchiasis, dichroceliosis, caused by worms from the group of liver flukes.
You can recognize them by certain features:
- Sharp pains in the right hypochondrium are caused by mechanical effects of helminths. Thus, echinococcus creates cysts in the tissues of organs, causing the development of inflammatory processes or even necrosis.
- Adult worms (roundworms) can block the bile ducts, making the outflow of bile difficult, the digestive process in the body difficult, and the patient has signs of jaundice. The visible mucous membranes of a person take on a yellow tinge, and with the development of pathology the skin also becomes colored.
- Non-specific symptoms of parasites will be worsening of the general condition of the body, weight loss, nausea, lethargy.
To clarify the diagnosis, they donate blood for analysis. Leukocytosis, eosinophilia are detected, and biochemical tests will indicate an increase in the activity of liver enzymes (ALT, AST). During the ultrasound, liver damage will be visible in the body: enlargement, inflammation and in some cases parasitic cysts can be found.
Which indicates the presence of lung helminths
Some parasites (worm, toxoplasma, echinococcus, tsenur) can come from the gastrointestinal tract into a person's lungs with blood or lymphoma. They multiply in the alveoli, making it difficult to breathe, and some species (monoecious echinococci) form cysts, damaging the structure of organs.
It can be difficult to determine the presence of parasites in the lungs, because the symptoms are similar to the manifestations of respiratory diseases of viral and non-infectious etiology (bronchitis, ARVI). Cough, shortness of breath, pain in the chest area, fever indicate the need for additional examination of the patient's body.
For the diagnosis of pulmonary helminthiosis, the X-ray method will be the most informative. The images will show lesions in the human body caused by echinococcus (cysts) and bovine tapeworm (fibrous formations), which should then be distinguished from neoplasms, cysts of various etiologies and pneumonia.
Blood parasites
Single-celled worms can be found in the lumen of blood vessels. Babesia, plasmodia (malarial plasmodium), trypanosomes, microfilariae, schistosomes cause dangerous diseases that pose a threat to human life.
By destroying the formed elements, they disrupt the processes of energy metabolism in the body and block the supply of nutrients to organs and tissues.
In most cases, human infection occurs after being bitten by insects or ticks. After some time, the body develops signs of anemia: paleness, followed by cyanosis of the mucous membranes, dizziness, sudden weight loss and deterioration of health. Without timely medical care, blood parasites can pose a serious threat to human life.
Diagnosis includes conducting microscopic examinations of blood, during which you can find single-celled parasites and destroyed erythrocytes, as well as determine the type of worm. Treatment is long-term, carried out inpatiently under the supervision of a qualified physician.
Unusual parasite habitats
Some types of helminths can penetrate the human heart, subcutaneous tissue (heartworms), brain and spinal cord (cysticercus, echinococcus). It is possible to become infected not only in exotic countries, but also by eating known foods that have not been subjected to proper heat treatment, and pets can become carriers. Signs of invasion depend on the degree of damage to a particular organ.
In the brain, worms can form cystic, fibrous formations that cause nerve phenomena.
Headaches of unexplained etiology, trembling (trembling) of the extremities, changes in tactile sensitivity, impaired coordination of movements, sudden deterioration of hearing and vision - signs of invasion depend on the location of worms and their larvae.
Adult parasites can be seen visually under the skin, usually accompanied by itching and tingling sensations, as well as in the eyes, ear canals and other places.
What to do if you notice signs of a worm infestation
Diseases of parasitic etiology are treated under medical supervision after all the necessary examinations and determination of the type of parasite. Prescribe anthelmintic drugs with a narrow or broad spectrum of action, perform restorative and symptomatic therapy, promote the removal of worms from the body. In some cases, surgery is indicated.
The prognosis for most diseases is favorable if treatment is started on time. If you delay a visit to the doctor or start taking medication on your own, the healing process can be delayed, and many types of parasites can damage vital organs or body systems or even lead to death.