Parasitic diseases are common and can occur not only in children, but also in adults.
About 80% of the world's population is infected with parasites. Having penetrated into the human body, they can cause organ damage, system malfunctions, as well as serious diseases.
Therefore, when the first symptoms and suspicions of infection appear, for example, parasites are observed that are excreted with feces, you should immediately undergo an examination and cleanse the body.
Reasons for appearance
The main causes of parasites include:
- poor personal hygiene, namely infrequent handwashing;
- eating dirty fruits and vegetables;
- compromised immunity;
- close contact with infected pets;
- eating undercooked meat or fish:
- drinking untreated tap water or other sources.
You can get infected from a person or animal that already carries parasites.
Symptoms
There are symptoms that directly indicate the disease with enterobiasis. These include the mosta characteristic symptom is itching in the anus. This happens because the female parasite descends to the area at night to lay eggs (often parasite eggs in the feces are not immediately noticeable). Their attachment to the skin occurs with the help of a substance that causes itching and discomfort on the skin.
Itching can last a couple of days, after an unpleasant symptom may disappear for a month, but then it repeats again. This is due to the subsequent reproduction and deposition of larvae.
If the disease was not cured at the initial stage, itching becomes more intense, as the parasites become more numerous and multiply more often.
Persistent itching leads to skin irritation or rashes, and general well-being worsens. Children often scratch the itchy area before sores or eczema appear.
If a child is infected, during sleep, he may begin to grind his teeth. This is not the main symptom of the disease, but more than half of patients infected with parasites grind their teeth in their sleep.
When infected with pinworms, a person feels periodic pain in the abdomen. It can be acute or muffled, last a long time or be short-term. But in any case, it arises and disturbs the patient with its manifestation.
In addition, the patient loses his appetite, resulting in a sharp decrease in weight. There are constipation or diarrhea, flatulence. The chair becomes unstable and can change every day. Parasites are able to provoke nausea and vomiting, which do not depend on techniquesfood.
In children, a sign of the appearance of parasites in the body is beriberi, weakened immunity. This is due to the fact that worms feed on substances and vitamins obtained from food. Less and less useful substances enter the blood, iron deficiency may occur. Reduced resistance to viral diseases.
Some parasite-infected people may experience allergic reactions that have never happened before. Dermatitis occurs, in the worst case, allergic asthma or bronchitis.
Parasites, in addition to weakening the immune system, cause poor he alth. Efficiency decreases, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, fatigue and apathy appear.
Types of parasites
Many do not know what parasites look like in human feces (the photo shows them). Feces can contain several species, most often the patient becomes infected with pinworms or roundworms, which are white worms.
Types of similar worms cannot lay eggs in the intestines, and do it in the anus, leaving with feces.
White roundworms can move around the human body, harming organs and interfering with the normal operation of many systems. They move along with the blood, while injuring the walls of blood vessels. Then they enter the liver and pancreas, causing serious diseases such as pancreatitis and hepatitis. Worms enter the feces from the stomach and intestines, and that is where they can be found.
Ascarids havepinkish tint or yellow, length can reach 40 centimeters, body shape is spindle-shaped. Such feces with parasites (pictured above) can be detected even by a non-specialist.
The habitat of pinworms in the human body is the small and large intestines. In feces, they look like thin white threads, about 1 centimeter long.
Larvae of tapeworms can get into the human body: pork or bovine tapeworm, wide tapeworm and others. Worms of this species penetrate from the meat of fish or animals with improper heat treatment. Their eggs cannot be seen on their own, only with the help of an examination.
Worms are divided into species depending on their habitat in nature:
- Geohelminths are worms that live in the soil, these include roundworms, whipworms, necators, hookworms. They enter the human body with unwashed vegetables and fruits, after walking with dirty hands.
- Biohelminths are worms that mature in the body of mammals. For active reproduction, parasites must enter the body of a person or animal that is warm-blooded. Chainworms, nematodes and echinococci are biohelminths. They enter the human body due to contact with an infected animal, when eating meat that is poorly heat-treated.
- Contact helminths - worms of the smallest group of parasites: pinworm, pygmy tapeworm. It is transmitted to a person through direct contact with an infected person or his personal belongings.
Diagnosis of disease
The most common and fastest way to detect the presence of parasitesare the following analyses:
- pass feces for parasites;
- scraping;
- blood test.
Stool analysis reveals the presence of mature parasites, eggs and larvae in its composition. It will help to detect worms that parasitize in the intestines.
For analysis, it is necessary to hand over the feces in a sterile container to the laboratory, you can buy it at any pharmacy. It is necessary to hand over feces for parasites before 11 o'clock in the afternoon, it is important that the material be examined within an hour after its delivery. As a last resort, feces cannot be stored for more than 8 hours in a cold place, otherwise they become unsuitable for research.
Before passing feces for parasites, you need to stop taking antibiotics and drugs that normalize digestion for a week. The effectiveness of this method is 35-40%; it is necessary to take an analysis several times to fully confirm the presence of parasites or their absence. Between each study, 5 days must pass, since the worms do not lay eggs every day.
Scraping will only reveal pinworms, as they parasitize in the intestines and lay eggs in the anus every night. The sampling of material for analysis is carried out with a wooden spatula, cotton swab or adhesive tape. Before giving up, you can not go to the toilet and wash the anus area.
A blood test is designed to detect roundworms, giardia, flatworms and flukes. Since these worms parasitize in the internal organs, the analysis of feces or scrapings will not be able to detect them.
For analysis, venous blood is taken on an empty stomach. For the right resultneed to prepare. A week before donating blood for analysis, you need to give up antibiotics and other drugs that may affect the reliability of the study. The day before the test, you need to exclude sweet, fatty and fried foods from the diet, stop drinking alcohol and carbonated drinks.
A blood test helps to identify the number and type of parasites in the human body. The uniqueness of the method is that the examination is carried out for each type of worm that parasitizes in the body, since specific antibodies are produced for a specific type of parasites.
Special dyes are introduced into the blood, which stain and make antibodies to parasites glow. For example, if the body is infected with worms, the level of hemoglobin decreases. And if helminths parasitize, the level of leukocytes in the blood rises.
Modern ways to detect parasites
Ultrasound is not a new method of examination of the body, but it is not often used to detect parasites. Diagnostics allows you to identify the presence of parasites in a particular organ. In this way, the lungs, gallbladder, liver and pancreas are examined.
If during the diagnosis an increase in the size of the liver was found, this may indicate the development of hepatitis provoked by worms. With helminthiasis, the pancreas increases. If the parasites have entered the gallbladder, the patency of the ducts is disturbed, which can be seen on the ultrasound machine. The examination should be carried out in combination with other methods, since an enlarged organ can also speak of other diseases.
Applyand a method such as PCR feces for parasites - an analysis based on the identification of DNA and RNA molecules. They are isolated from the patient's biomaterial, most often it is saliva, blood. The material in test tubes is placed in a special apparatus that detects changes in DNA and RNA and detects the pathogen. The analysis will help to find out the type of parasites in the feces (pictured below). Infected organs and disease severity are also identified.
Another effective way to refine feces for enrichment for parasites is the flotation method. This is a method in which feces are enriched in a solution whose density is higher than the density of parasite eggs. The latter rise to the surface of the solution, the resulting film is removed and examined under a microscope. The study reveals roundworms, giardia, tapeworms, ekinococci and other types of parasites.
The analysis is collected in a sterile container. Before delivery, you need to make personal hygiene, do not do enemas and x-ray examinations of the intestine. The analysis cannot be done during the monthly cycle in women.
A few days before the delivery of the material, it is not recommended to take activated charcoal, Enterosgel, suppositories and laxatives.
It is necessary to carry out the prevention of flatulence 2 days before the examination. To do this, you need to stick to a diet and exclude legumes, carbonated drinks, fruits and dairy products from the diet. You should also refrain from eating foods that change the color of feces. These include beets, cherries, cherries, black currants, asparagus and lettuceleaves.
Sampling is done in the morning, the material should not be stored in a cold place for more than 8 hours. The act of defecation must be natural, laxatives are prohibited.
If parasites are detected in the human body by any means, it is urgent to start treatment to get rid of them.
Danger of infection by parasites for humans
Parasites can cause serious harm to the human body:
- inflammatory processes;
- failures in the functioning of organs and systems, stool disorders, decreased nutrients in blood plasma, etc.;
- decreased immune system, increased incidence of influenza, colds, bronchitis, pneumonia;
- waste products of parasites are toxic to the human body, poisoning it;
- Trichomonas in a neglected state can cause a stroke or heart attack.
Medication treatment
For treatment, the doctor prescribes anthelmintic drugs. Children over 3 years old are recommended "Vermox" and "Albendazole", children under 3 years old - "Pirantel".
The latter can also be prescribed to adults, only the dose changes depending on the age and degree of infection of the body. If at least one person in the family is infected, all other members also undergo deworming.
"Vermox" is taken for three days at 100 mg per day. If, after treatment and re-testing, parasites are found, the course is repeated again, until a complete cure.
"Albendazole" is prescribed for adult patients in the amount of 400 mg in one dose after meals. The drug is washed down with plenty of water, if necessary, the medicine can be drunk again, but only after 21 days.
For the complete removal of worms and their larvae, you need to take several courses.
Folk treatments
An additional help for the body will be folk methods, they will help get rid of parasites faster.
Worms cannot tolerate the bitterness contained in foods, for them it is considered poison. Garlic, onion and bitter herb decoctions are effective ways to fight parasites.
It is also recommended to include fresh garlic in the diet as an additive to the first and second courses. A crushed product will help get rid of pinworms - 2 slices should be poured with 500 ml of water, let it brew for 5-6 hours and drink for 3 days. If necessary, you can repeat the course after 9-14 days. It is not recommended to use this method for people suffering from stomach diseases.
Raw pumpkin seeds have an antihelmintic effect. 100 grams of seeds need to be crushed and pour 100 ml of olive or vegetable oil. Drink the mixture 3 hours before meals. The course is 3 days, the procedure is performed in the morning.
A four-day course of taking a decoction of wormwood will help get rid of worms. To do this, 1 tablespoon of herbs is brought to a boil in 0.3 liters of water. The decoction should be cooled and drunk before going to bed and in the morning on an empty stomach. Of course, the taste of the decoctionunpleasant, but the result justifies it.
The most effective tool that strikes at the parasites is the triad. The method of treatment was developed by doctors of medical sciences, the remedy consists of three components: tansy, wormwood, clove powder. It is necessary to mix 100 grams of tansy powder, 30 grams of crushed wormwood and 50 grams of clove powder. The mixture should be stored in a dry, dark place, in a closed glass container.
The course of treatment lasts 1 week. A teaspoon without a slide is a dose of medicine. On the first day, one dose is drunk in the morning before meals, for this, a spoonful of the mixture is poured with half a glass of water. The second day you need to take two doses before meals, in the morning and in the afternoon. On the third day and until the end of the course, you need to take three doses a day, before meals, in the morning, at lunch and at dinner.
People who suffer from stomach problems can use a gentle edible clay remedy. The course of treatment is 30 days. A little clay needs to be stirred in a glass of warm water so that the mixture resembles milk in color. You need to drink liquid in the morning and before going to bed, before eating, drink the whole glass, but without sediment.
A simple and affordable way to get rid of parasites is to take cinnamon and cloves. Treatment continues for 20 days. It is necessary to eat 2 "cloves" of spices, washing them down with water 2 times a day, before meals. Cinnamon is also taken on the tip of a teaspoon. These funds can also be used as a prophylaxis for a month once every six months.
Disease prevention
It is not possible to completely eliminate the risk of infestation, butit is quite possible to reduce it.
To do this, you must follow the basic rules of personal hygiene, wash your hands with soap and water after each "trip" to the restroom, before all meals and after visiting public places.
Dirty hands are one of the main causes of parasite infestation. It is especially important for children to wash them thoroughly after playing in the sandbox.
Eat only thoroughly washed vegetables and fruits, drinking water should be filtered or boiled. Meat and fish should be consumed only in a fried and boiled form, meat with blood is especially dangerous, as parasite larvae can remain there.
If pets live at home, they need to be regularly examined and prevented from parasites. Contact with an infected animal is dangerous to humans. All family members are also recommended to take drugs or folk remedies against parasites for prevention purposes. For example, Vermox, Wormil. They are contraindicated for pregnant and lactating women.
After each use, underwear, towels and bedding should be replaced with clean ones. It is recommended to wash the used linen thoroughly, after drying, iron it on both sides. A hot surface or steam will kill germs and larvae if present.
Prevention of the disease is regular examination for the presence of parasites. Periodically, at least once every six months, you need to take a stool test and scraping.
Conclusion
Following all preventive measures, you can reduce the risk of infectionparasites and keep he althy.
It is also not recommended to ignore the slightest suspicion of infection and consult a doctor in a timely manner to prescribe complex therapy. It must be remembered that parasites adversely affect the general well-being of a person, and often cause irreparable harm to he alth.
Only the right approach to treatment and the implementation of elementary hygiene rules will avoid such a problem or minimize the risk of infection with parasites.
