Such a phenomenon as worms, unfortunately, is quite common, and not only in children, but also in adults, as well as animals. There are situations when clinical tests do not detect the presence of these parasites in the body, but they are still there. In this case, people should know by what signs the disease can be recognized. The topic of our conversation today: helminthiasis, the symptoms of this disease in humans and animals, as well as ways to deal with it.
Frequent signs of disease in the mature generation
The disease that these insidious parasites cause can masquerade as various ailments. Symptoms of helminthiasis in adults can be very diverse. But the most common signs are:
- Constipation. Helminthiasis, the symptoms of which are expressed in the obstruction of the stool, is explained simply. Parasites, due to their large size, are able to close the intestinal passages of an adult, resulting indifficult bowel movements.
- Diarrhea. Worms can produce a substance that causes frequent watery bowel movements.
- Bloating and gas.
- Irritability. Parasite feces very often affect the human nervous system. People become easily excitable, impatient, depression appears.
- Bad dream. Helminths at night often crawl out of the human body through the anus, as a result of which the person feels a terrible itch, from which he wakes up.
Infrequent signs of illness in adults
- Pain in joints and muscles. Helminths can "travel" throughout the body. And if muscles begin to hurt in an adult, then you should not blame the frantic pace of work. Since the cause of weakness may not be an overload at all, but the presence of parasites in fragile tissues.
- Allergy. Worms, while in the human body, secrete harmful substances, which, in turn, can provoke the release of special cells called eosinophils by the body. And these structural units of living matter cause tissue inflammation, which leads to the development of various unpleasant reactions.
- Problem skin can also be a clear sign of the presence of such an ailment as helminthiasis. Symptoms in this case are expressed as follows: acne, pimples, urticaria, papillomas, breaking nails, hair, cracked heels. If there are at least 2 of the above symptoms, you should immediately find out the possible cause andfurther treatment.
- Anemia. There are worms that attach to the walls of the intestine and suck out a large amount of blood from it, resulting in a sharp decrease in hemoglobin.
- Undermining immunity. Parasites can even break the body's resistance, and a person often begins to get sick with viral diseases.
- Inflammation of the respiratory tract. It happens like this: helminths clog the respiratory ducts, and it becomes difficult for a person to breathe, he develops a cough and a fever, and asthma may even develop.
- Tumours. Worms sometimes poison the body so much that the immune system cannot do anything about it. And, as a result, sometimes tumors (up to malignant ones) appear on various organs.
As you can see, the symptoms of helminthiasis in adults are multifaceted, and sometimes it is difficult to determine the source of origin of a particular pathology. And if you do not seek medical help in time, the consequences can be dire.
Everything is clear with adults. And how does helminthiasis manifest itself in babies? The symptoms in children are similar to those in adults. Let's talk about this in more detail later.
Clear signs of parasites in children
In the little inhabitants of our planet, the most common types of worms are roundworms and pinworms, which provoke the occurrence of a disease called helminthiasis. Symptoms in children in this case are as follows:
- Restless sleep. Babies start spinning, crying at night.
- Children creakteeth in a dream.
- Karapuz often scratches the anus area.
- Child becomes irritable and frail.
- Baby may complain of abdominal pain.
- Alternating between constipation and diarrhea.
- The child is losing weight dramatically.
- A child's appetite is disturbed - sometimes it disappears altogether, sometimes it increases sharply.
Infrequent signs of helminthiasis in children
The following symptoms of enterobiasis (infection of the body with ascaris and pinworms) in children are less common, but still they occur:
- Baby may feel sick and even vomit.
- Profuse and frequent salivation.
- The appearance of bad breath.
- The baby suddenly has a frequent causeless cough.
- Change in basal body temperature.
- Baby may complain of dizziness.
- Skin looks unhe althy, often too pale.
- Child often suffers from colds and viral diseases.
If any symptoms are present in your crumbs, then you should immediately seek help from the hospital.
How do I diagnose myself?
Despite the fact that helminthiasis has different symptoms, it is sometimes very difficult to understand whether it is really enterobiasis in a child. Perhaps the tummy hurts for another reason, maybe the crumbs have problems with the stomach or other organs. Therefore, parents must first conduct the experiment themselves (of course, if the baby feels fine). If they havedoubts creep in about whether their child has pinworms or roundworms, they should invite the baby to lie on his back. Mom bends the child's legs at the knees, while the baby needs to be asked to relax. Then massage your tummy with warm hands. If the child has worms, then the baby will feel discomfort.
Preparations against pinworms and ascaris for children and adults
Most often, doctors prescribe the following drugs for the treatment of helminthiasis:
- pirantel tablets - they are prescribed for both children and pregnant women;
- Vermox medication - this drug paralyzes the nervous system of worms, causing them to stop moving and die;
- tablets "Vormil", "Nemoso" - are used to treat both adults and children.
Therapy with these drugs is usually carried out in courses with a two-week break, so that you can finally get rid of parasites in case of re-infection. What dose is required to be taken by a particular patient, only the doctor determines. That is, self-medication is unacceptable, only competent therapy will bring results.
Prevention
The effectiveness of the treatment of helminthiasis is significantly increased when hygiene procedures are performed to prevent re-infection. These activities include:
- washing hands after street, toilet, contact with animals;
- washing the area around the anus twice a day;
- wearing pure cotton underwear;
- regular cutting of nails in children;
- carrying out dailywet cleaning in the apartment;
- eating only thoroughly washed fruits and vegetables.
Parasites in pets
The symptoms of helminthiasis in humans are all defined, now is the time to find out what are the signs of this disease in our pets. After all, animals living with us in the same apartment can also become infected with worms. Most often this comes from feeding a pet with raw meat, fish, so it is important to identify and cure helminthiasis in cats in time. The symptoms of this disease in our pets are obvious and are expressed as follows:
- at the beginning, the animal's appetite sharply increases, but against its background, the cat does not gain weight, but, on the contrary, loses it;
- pet's coat loses luster and general condition deteriorates;
- cat has indigestion;
- white worms appear in animal feces;
- cat miscarriages, goes into premature labor.
Treatment of helminthiasis in animals
Before you treat your pet, you need to take it to the veterinarian. Only he will select the right drugs that will help kill certain types of worms. The following medications are most commonly used to treat helminthiasis in cats:
- special sugar cubes - they are given to the animal along with food;
- tablets for worms "Pratel", "Envair", "Drontal", etc.;
- Prazicide suspension;
- special drops at the withers.
Today you learned about such an unpleasant disease as helminthiasis, the symptoms and treatment of this disease. We found out that there can be a lot of signs of the presence of worms in people, and therefore you need to carefully monitor your body. Well, in order not to get re-infected with these parasites, you need to undergo adequate treatment and follow the rules of personal hygiene.
