Parasites in the human body: photos, signs and symptoms, types, treatment

Parasites in biology are those organisms that carry out their vital activity at the expense of another organism of different biological species.

Such vital activity of the parasite does not bring any benefit to the host organism and, at best, the interaction does not lead to the development of negative effects.

In the worst case, the parasite causes the death of the host organism. In this case, either the parasite escapes into the external environment, or joint death.

Human parasitic diseases have been known practically since the primitive era of human existence. This fact was established in the process of observing the behavior of immediate human ancestors - apes. Parasites that inhabit wool monkeys detect and remove from each other. This process has a very important character of social interaction.

Human intolerance to acne and skin holes also dates back to the early days of human existence. Some insect parasites in the tropics can lay larvae in the skin. This leads to a reflexive urge to squeeze them out of the skin.

Ancient scientists described various helminths that affected the eyes, skin and gastrointestinal tract. In 18. -19. Over the centuries, with the development and introduction of microscopy into medical practice, scientists have determined the causes and ways of transmitting parasites that can cause certain diseases in humans.

• The beginning of the 20th century and the discovery of antiparasitic agents enabled humanity to deal with most parasitic diseases.

Thus, humanity has coexisted very closely with various parasites almost throughout its history. However, modern medical science allows for a quick and fairly accurate diagnosis of the entire spectrum of parasites, giving physicians the ability to treat such diseases in the shortest possible time and with minimal risks to patients.

A GP will help you identify parasites in the human body, symptoms and treatment. Sometimes specialists in infectious diseases of specialization - parasitologists - can be involved for that.

What are parasitic diseases?

Parasitic diseases are nosologies that occur after the introduction (invasion) of biological agents into the body. The latter refer to a group of human parasites. The symptomatology of such diseases is extremely diverse and depends on the agent that has penetrated and performs its life activity in the body.

According to the way parasites affect the human body, they are usually divided into the following groups:

1. Exoparasites that affect human skin and hair.
2. Toxic effect of parasite waste products on the body.
3. The parasite damages the lining of the gastrointestinal tract and lungs.
4. Creation of cysts and cysts in human organs. Increasing the size of such cysts and cysts leads to specific symptoms of organ compression.
5. Interruption of the normal passage of food through the gastrointestinal tract. This can lead to intestinal invasion (more common in children) or the development of intestinal obstruction.
6. Parasites living in humans can cause sensitization and the appearance of non-specific allergic reactions.
7. Microparasites can disrupt blood cell function, causing fever and intoxication.
8. The impact of certain types of parasites on the body not only leads to serious symptoms, but can also lead to organ failure or death.

This diversity of the negative effects of parasites that occur in the body is due to the different biological species that enter human organs. However, such biodiversity of parasites living in the human body has allowed doctors to recognize specific signs of parasitic diseases.

Parasites living in the human body

The main ways of human parasite infection depend on the life cycle of the biological organism, which is the cause of the parasitic disease.

Doctors identify ways for the parasite to enter a person, such as:

• Contact path.It is characteristic of exoparasitic insects, as well as some helminths that live mainly in water, whose larvae penetrate under human skin. In this way, you can be infected by a sick person, and through contaminated linen, bedding, personal or public hygiene items, etc.
• Fecal-oral routeinfections. It occurs when cysts of pathogens enter food after contact with infected feces, mostly from animals. Autoinvasion can also be noticed - self-infection of a person due to non-observance of personal hygiene, etc.
• Contamination.The pathogen enters the bloodstream when infected insects break down.
• Transmissible infection.The parasite enters the bloodstream when it is bitten by an insect that transmits the disease. Most often, this route of transmission is characteristic of the simplest parasites, for example, malaria.
• Sexually transmitted infections.It is typical for sexually transmitted diseases caused by parasites, as well as for some helminths that can affect a person's urinary and genital tract.

Protozoa, helminths (round and flatworms), insects, as well as some species of fungi, are attributed to the causative agents of parasitic diseases.

The appearance of people with these species depends on the geographical and climatic zone. Therefore, each country's drug keeps its own records and a list of parasites that are specific to it.

The biological organisms that enter the human body have been studied in detail by both medical biologists and doctors, which has enabled a clear classification of all biological species that can cause parasitic diseases:

• The simplest organisms (amoebiasis, balantidiasis, babeosis, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, malaria, giardiasis, trypanosomiasis, toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis).
Helminth. Sometimes the term worms is used (ascariasis, dicroceliosis, diphyllobothriasis, dranculosis, clonorchiasis, opisthorchiasis, strongyloidiasis, teniasis, fascioliasis, schistosomiasis, enterobiasis, echinococcosis).
• Exoparasites (lice (pubic, head, clothing), demodectic mange, fleas, bed bugs, scabies).

Signs of parasites in the human body

Unfortunately, there are no exact signs of parasites or symptoms in the human body that would indicate this or that type of parasitic infection. This leads to the fact that specific tests are needed for an accurate diagnosis, for example, helminthiasis.

On the other hand, almost all exoinfections are diagnosed quite simply - based on the clinical picture and the presence of a certain type of insect on the skin.

In general, all symptoms of parasitic diseases can be grouped into the following groups:

1. Itching and discomfort on the skin caused by external parasites of hair and skin (fleas, lice and others). Acne-like skin rashes and itching are often associated with a condition like demodicosis (a special type of mite).
2. Pain in different parts of the body caused by the introduction of parasites into the skin and muscles (some types of worms that live in water).
3. Pain in the eyes, blurred vision.
4. Lung pain, expectoration of phlegm (this situation may be typical for the migration of ascaris larvae in the lungs, as well as for echinococcal cysts in the lungs and so on).
5. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea are very common symptoms of most helminths that parasitize the digestive tract.
6. Jaundice, liver and biliary tract disorders, liver failure. These symptoms occur in helminths affecting the liver and biliary tract, as well as in malaria at the height of the disease.
7. Stomach pain.
8. Intestinal obstruction due to closure of the intestinal lumen by a large number of roundworms or large representatives of flatworms.

All these symptoms of the presence of parasites in the human body, in the absence of data on other pathologies, should encourage the physician to consider human parasitic disease and serve as a basis for diagnostic and laboratory studies.

Diagnosis of parasites in humans

Depending on the type of parasite that has attacked the human body, one or another study is conducted. If we are talking about external exoparasites, which are mainly insects, then the diagnosis of the disease is usually limited to a general examination, as well as insect microscopy.

A general examination usually provides an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment or remediation of the scalp or skin. In the case of demodicosis or scabies, the diagnosis can be easily established based on the site of the rash and the presence of itching.

Scrapings taken for microscopy in this case confirm the diagnosis of intradermal parasites.

For gastrointestinal parasites, the main screening study (a diagnostic procedure that allows a rapid and relatively informative assessment of data on the presence or absence of disease in a large number of people) is fecal analysis.

• With a special microscopic examination of the feces, the laboratory assistant evaluates the presence of worm eggs, dead helminths, cyst capsules and so on.

With the morphology of helminth eggs, you can almost accurately determine the type of worm that parasitizes in the body. Sometimes segments of tapeworms are determined macroscopically in the feces. They are then examined under a microscope to determine the appearance of a flatworm that parasitizes in the gastrointestinal tract.

In some cases, for example, when the diagnosis of parasites in the body is impossible by fecal analysis or is not informative, immunological studies are used. They allow you to assess the presence of antibodies to a specific type of helminth. Unfortunately, due to the special immune relationship between the human immune system and the parasite, the level of antibodies in some cases may not reflect the real picture of the disease.

In the case of malaria, a thick drop of blood is examined to detect plasmodium malaria. Also, the general picture of the blood, the level of leukocytes, as well as all biochemical parameters of the blood, especially the liver, are assessed.

The presence of elevated levels of eosinophils in the blood is a common sign not only of allergic diseases, but also of helminthic invasions. This is the first "bell".

Sometimes helminths in the gastrointestinal tract are a diagnostic finding during contrast radiographs, cystoscopy, FGDS, colonoscopy.

How to get rid of parasites in the human body?

Treatment of parasitic infections should be carried out only by a doctor, subject to certain rules.

Self-medication and traditional medicine in such cases do not lead to improvement, and can sometimes be fatal.

It is also important to provide preventive treatment for all family members and contacts.

Human exoparasites that parasitize on hairy parts of the body are destroyed by special disinfectants. Usually, a single treatment followed by hygienic washing is enough to kill exoparasites.

When it comes to skin types of parasites (scabies, demodicosis), use special fats that contain insecticides against such organisms.

Anthelmintics are used against roundworms and flatworms, which act in the main lumen of the gastrointestinal tract, especially on helminths. Depending on the biological type of helminth, different treatment regimens are used (from one tablet to a series of therapies).

Such drugs should be used strictly under the supervision of a physician in order to identify the negative effects and side effects of drugs in a timely manner.

No other method of treatment, detoxification programs and so on can lead to the complete death of the parasite in the body and as a result to the healing of the person.