From the age of six months, the baby begins to actively explore the world around him, the organs of smell, hearing, sight, taste sensitivity are used. During this period, the child shows an increased interest in everything that he meets on his way. It is this time that is most dangerous for his he alth, the risk of infection with worms increases.
And the older the child, the greater the likelihood of infection, as he begins to move a lot and communicate with peers. According to WHO, babies under the age of three are most susceptible to this pathology. Why are helminths so dangerous? Are the symptoms and their causes easy to identify?
Parasitic worms: characteristics and varieties
There are a lot of types of worms that harm a person, more than two hundred, but some of them are extremely rare, only in certain areas. In the CIS countries and Russia, for the most part, roundworms, or nematodes, parasitize. The most common diseases caused by worms include hymenolepiasis (pathogen - pygmy tapeworm) and enterobiasis (pathogen - pinworm).
Transmission in most cases occurs by contact-household way from a sick child to a he althy one while using common items (toys, linen, dishes). Also, the baby can become infected by being in the same room with the patient and inhaling the dust. But with enterobiasis (pinworms), a person can "reward" himself through dirty hands or unwashed products.
Certain groups of worms parasitize in different organs. Cestodes (dwarf, bovine, pork tapeworm) and nematodes (roundworms, hookworms, strongyloids) live in the large intestine. Trematodes are located in the biliary tract and liver. The larvae of the tapeworm with blood flow settle in the vessels, fatty tissue, brain and eye chamber.
Trematodes (flukes) and tapeworms are usually diagnosed in childhood. Symptoms in the acute phase (2-3 weeks) are due to an allergic reaction. After a few months, in the absence of proper treatment, the chronic stage of the disease begins.
Clinical manifestations depend on the number and localization of pathogens, as well as on the characteristics of their nutrition. Worms that are in the organs and tissues of the body, squeeze and injure them, causing intoxication. In addition, parasites completely absorb all the nutrients that come with the blood, thereby disrupting their absorption into the intestinal tract and causing disorders such as hypovitaminosis and anemia.
Even in the chronic phase, helminths continue their harmful effects on humans. Symptoms in adults are almost the same asmanifestations of the disease in children. The immune system weakens, as a result of which resistance to pathogens of bacterial, viral and fungal infections decreases. And some types of worms are capable of forming malignant tumors in places of localization.
Intestinal nematodes in children
More than 90% of helminthic diseases are provoked by nematodes. This group includes roundworms - round parasites with pointed ends up to 15 cm long. They are white and translucent in color, live in the small intestine, making constant movement.
Finding them in feces is quite difficult. To diagnose the disease, it is necessary to donate feces for helminths several times. Without the implementation of therapeutic measures, their life expectancy can be up to 2 years.
Pinworms
These are small (up to 1 cm) curved whitish worms. They live mainly in the large and small intestines. Often they can be observed in the feces of a child. And at night, they crawl out to the surface of the skin to lay their larvae. In girls, worms often enter the genitals, causing infection and severe irritation of the mucous membranes.
This disease is called enterobiasis. It can last up to 3 years, if you do not take therapeutic action. Although the life of pinworms is short, but due to the enormous number of larvae deposited, their numbers are quickly restored.
How do helminths get into a child's body?
Children have symptoms in the presence of single smallindividuals are erased, but if large worms live in the intestines, then the clinical picture is quite pronounced. Ascariasis with massive invasion is complicated by obstructive jaundice, pancreatitis and intestinal obstruction. Enterobiosis is characterized by severe perianal itching, especially during sleep. The route of transmission is airborne.
The eggs of parasites enter the environment along with the feces of sick animals and people. The microscopic size of the larvae is very resistant to external influences, therefore, they can remain viable for a long period of time in soil, food, skin or clothing. Once in the oral cavity of a child, they undergo partial destruction by the acidic environment of the stomach. Penetrating into the intestines, they immediately become active and begin to multiply.
Especially susceptible to worms are babies and children under the age of six. In babies, the protective barrier of the gastrointestinal tract is still poorly developed. Based on this, parents should carefully monitor the hygiene of their child so that dangerous helminths do not enter his body. Symptoms include fatigue, weakness, lack of appetite, and pale skin.
Main manifestations
Often at a doctor's appointment, a mother reports that she found small worms or immobile pinworms in the child's feces. In this situation, the doctor should immediately prescribe an analysis for helminths and scrapings in order to accurately diagnose the disease and treat it. Indirect manifestations in a baby also often warn parents about helminthic invasion. These include the following: frequentnausea, excessive salivation, abnormal increase or decrease in appetite, stool disorders for no apparent reason (diarrhea, constipation), dizziness. Also circles under the eyes, pallor, headache, cramping pain in the navel, fatigue - all this indicates an infection. Often, parasites lead to allergic reactions, and then the child develops dermatitis, rashes, diathesis.
Other signs of helminths
In girls, all this is accompanied by inflammatory processes of the external genitalia. Children have unreasonable nervous excitability, whims, gnashing of teeth, poor sleep, accompanied by screams and tantrums. Constant itching in the anus gives the baby discomfort.
Symptoms of helminth infection sometimes include terminal hematuria (blood droplets at the end of urination), frequent urination, and pain. There may be bloating, colic, bloody stools. Cysticercosis, alveococcosis and echinococcosis often do not make themselves felt for a very long time, but after some time a person has suppuration or rupture of cysts in which parasites are located, which leads to peritonitis, anaphylactic shock and other serious consequences.
Helminths in children (the symptoms in a third of babies are similar) are often characterized by the described phenomena. Some of them have no complaints. Worms slowly poison the child's body. Advice to parents: Get yourself a routine check-up every year to help prevent illness if you get infected early.
Diagnosis
Diagnosing feces is difficult, due to the fact that roundworms or pinworm eggs do not appear there every day. For the reliability of the results, the analysis for helminths should be taken within three days in a row. A complete blood count also helps detect parasites.
Our circulatory system reacts acutely to helminthiases. This is manifested by the following indicators: increased direct bilirubin, the number of eosinophils, alkaline phosphatase, AST, ALT, thymol test. In addition, the diagnosis is based on serological methods (ELISA, RNHA, RIF).
A biochemical blood test for helminths is mandatory. Samples of urine, sputum, bile, perianal and rectal mucus, and feces are also examined. Enterobiasis is determined by the detection of larvae in the material, which is taken from the perianal folds using adhesive tape, a swab or a spatula.
Parasites living in the duodenum, biliary tract, pancreas and liver can be recognized in bile and duodenal contents. To clarify their habitat, additional methods are used: computed tomography, endoscopy with endobiopsy, ultrasound.
If you observe similar manifestations in children (signs of perineal irritation, chronic intoxication), do not waste time and immediately go to the medical center. Sometimes a similar clinical picture manifests itself in other pathological conditions. Only after a complete examination, the doctor will prescribe an effectivetherapy.
Treatment methods
Modern pharmaceuticals offer a lot of medicinal synthetic drugs that help fight this disease. Highly effective means quickly destroy helminths in humans. Symptoms will disappear after a full course of therapy. Depending on the variety of parasites, medications are prescribed. Narrow-spectrum drugs include three groups of drugs: anti-cestodoses, anti-trematodes and anti-nematodes.
Anti-nematode drugs
The following drugs have a detrimental effect on roundworms: Levamisole, Mebendazole, Karbendacim, Pirantel. Tablets from helminths cause paralysis of worms and contribute to their rapid removal.
Cesticide drugs
These include Praziquantel and Niclosamide. These drugs paralyze flat parasites.
Anti-trematodose drugs
Medications "Perchloertylen" and "Chloxin" are prescribed against flukes. These drugs have a toxic effect on the metabolism of worms and are well absorbed when taken.
If your baby is diagnosed with this, the rest of the family should also be treated to avoid re-infection. In addition, it is necessary to do a general cleaning with chlorine-containing products and carefully iron the linen so that all helminths are exterminated. Symptoms of helminthic invasion do not appear immediately, so be careful and prudent.
Preventive measures
Basicprevention of infection with all types of worms is the formation of a he althy lifestyle from early childhood (daily hygiene, thorough washing of vegetables and fruits). Teach your baby after the street to immediately wash their hands with antibacterial soap, use only their own towel, washcloth. Keep your child away from outdoor animals that are likely to be infested with worms.
Make the house wet cleaning more often, do not let the baby play with shoes. Wash all toys in soapy water. When walking, watch carefully so that the child does not put various objects into his mouth. Never eat dirty foods and raw meat. Drink only pre-filtered and boiled water as it can carry parasites.
Compliance with elementary rules will protect your baby from infection. Prevention of helminthiasis is also carried out by using drugs twice a year - in autumn and spring. For these purposes, medications "Albendazole" or "Pirantel" are used. The scheme is indicated in the instructions, usually children over two years old are given 10 ml of suspension once a day for three days.
Nutrition during illness
If you could not avoid infection, then the main thing is not to despair and follow all the doctor's recommendations. Dairy and sweet foods should be excluded from the diet. Offer your child more fresh juices, vegetables and fruits. Iron bedding daily. With proper treatment, the disease will recede.
Traditional medicine can also help to exterminate helminths in humans (symptoms are described above). For example, it has long been known that worms cannot stand the aroma of garlic, wormwood, tansy, onion and pumpkin. From the available components, you can prepare the drug yourself and use it together with traditional remedies for greater effectiveness.
Onion infusion helps well. The onion is cut into small slices and poured with a glass of warm water. Such a decoction is infused all night, and in the morning it is drunk before breakfast. Eating a handful of pumpkin seeds on an empty stomach and sing along with a mild laxative is an excellent remedy for parasites.
