Despite the fact that progress does not stop, everything in the world is modernizing and renewing itself, people have not learned how to overcome helminths. They did not decrease even after new effective pharmaceuticals.
Every 250 parasite known to mankind in its own way negatively affects the health of people, causing various diseases with symptoms of their own.
Classification
To at least make the fight against these parasites a little easier, people looked into their study. There are several types of worms with similar characteristics and external data.
The first type includes roundworms. The second combines tapeworms, which include tapeworms and fluke.
The worms are:
- Contact;
- Biohelmintic;
- Soil-transmitted helminthic.
This classification depends on the methods of their introduction into the body and the places of distribution.
Biohelminths
These are bovine and porcine tapeworms, echtnococci, cestodes and trematodes. To fully pass their life cycle, these parasites need to change several hosts. They can infect insects, molluscs, crustaceans, fish and humans, which eventually become carriers of helminths.
Soil-transmitted helminths
These parasites include:
- Ascaris;
- Vlasoglava;
- Hookworms;
- Necateurs;
Such parasites do not need an intermediate host for normal development.
Contact
This group includes pinworms, which people get sick with enterobiasis, and dwarf tapeworms, which are the cause of hymenolepiasis.
How can you get infected with worms?
- Biohelminths are found in a person due to the ingestion of underprocessed pork and beef.
- In lightly salted or raw fish, a large tapeworm or opisthorchis can hide, because the waters of rivers and the waters of lakes are rich in parasitic larvae that live there. Often vacationers make fatal mistakes when drinking, washing dishes or vegetables with such water.
- Soil-transmitted helminths, or rather their larvae, have been in the soil for some time, being there with the feces of infected people and animals. The new owner is not long in coming. There are many people who do not wash their hands outside or after working the land.
- Helminthiasis can reach a perfectly healthy person after contact with an infected person, if there are a lot of dust particles with parasite eggs in the air, through dishes and household items.
Where do worms settle in humans?
Most adult worms often settle in the colon. Pinworms and whipworms also find refuge there. In the liver, clonorchis, oporchis, fascioles are often observed. They all belong to the trematodes.
They cause irreparable damage to the bile ducts and liver, forming echinococcal cysts, from which the worms disperse after rupture.
Common worms
The most common worms in humans are:
- Ascaris (causes ascariasis);
- Large tapeworm (causes diphyllobothriasis);
- Pinworms (enterobiasis).
People suffering from the proximity of these parasites suffer from hypovitaminosis, anemia and other disorders of the organism.
- Ascariasis can occur in a person after eating dirty vegetables and fruits.
- Diphyllobothriasis gets sick from undercooked fish and caviar.
- Enterobiosis occurs after contact with infected people.
Development of worms in the acute stage lasts 15-65 days, the course of chronic worm infestation continues 35-65 days after the acute stage. Due to the presence of helminths in the organs, they are compressed and mechanically damaged, both organs and neighboring tissues.
The transition from helminthic invasion to a chronic form is fraught with a decrease in immunity, which leads to fungal, viral and bacterial diseases. Often times, helminthic invasion becomes the cause of cancer.
Signs of worms in an adult
Symptoms usually depend on the worm that has invaded the body. For every helminthic invasion, there are certain signs.
Ascariasis
Ascaris infection is characterized by the following symptoms:
- Rashes;
- Nausea accompanied by abdominal pain;
- Decreased appetite
- Increased levels of eosonophils.
Prolonged stay in the body of roundworms can lead to peritonitis, appendicitis, and intestinal obstruction.
Diphyllobothriasis
This helminthic invasion is often accompanied by the following symptoms:
- Nausea;
- Stool problems;
- Isolation of parasitic fragments;
- Stomach ache;
- A strong loss of body weight.
Subsequently, people develop severe anemia due to a lack of protein, iron, and vitamin B.
Enterobiasis
This disease is accompanied by:
- Itching in the anus, which can often lead to dermatitis;
- Abdominal pain of unknown origin;
If we consider the general symptoms of helminthic invasion, it manifests itself in the following ways:
- There are, for no apparent reason, incomprehensible itchy rashes;
- The places of localization of the parasites swell;
- There is a cough without signs of a cold, with attacks of choking;
- fever worries;
- Regional lymph nodes are enlarged;
- Weakness, fatigue is observed;
- Serious diseases occur - allergic myocarditis, meningoencephalitis, pneumonia, hepatitis;
- Lymph nodes are affected;
- There is blood in the urine;
- The stool is disturbed, bloating and blood impurities in the stool are observed.
Treatment of worms in adults
It is necessary to treat worms in humans strictly under the supervision and control of the attending physician. This applies to both children and adults. The slightest deviation from the dosage of the drug can lead to serious consequences.
There are certain drugs for each type of parasite:
- Preparations containing mebendazole can neutralize and destroy trichocephalosis and enterobiasis.
- Medicines containing Levomizole fight against hookworms, roundworms, nekator, toxoplasm, roundworms.
Folk remedies
It is possible to cure and neutralize worms in adults using traditional methods. The most effective are pumpkin seeds. There is nothing complicated in the recipe.
You need to take the following ingredients:
- 100 g of peeled pumpkin seeds;
- 100 g of water;
- 2 tbsp. l honey;
All this must be thoroughly mixed and reduced to a mush. This mixture is consumed on an empty stomach at a rate of 1 tbsp. spoon every hour. After that, you need to do a cleansing enema with the addition of garlic and take a laxative.
Under no circumstances should you self-medicate. Your doctor will tell you how to treat worms effectively. He will also prescribe the correct dosage, the necessary diet, maintenance drugs after the parasites have been expelled. There is no need to panic and become hysterical. Better to regroup and defeat this evil as soon as possible.
Prophylaxis
In order to try to bypass the helminthic invasion, little is needed. It is enough to follow some advice and recommendations of parasitologists:
- Lead a healthy lifestyle.
- Use only clean water, individual household items.
- Monitor the health of your pets while taking steps to prevent their helminthic infestation.
- Eat only pure foods.
- Carry out a complete heat treatment of meat and fish.
- Take worm medication to prevent worms, especially if there are four-legged animals in the house.
- Try to use as rarely as possible lightly salted fish and its caviar, and it is better to completely exclude them from the diet.