Parasitic infestations often go unnoticed. And the first symptoms of worms in humans are not specific, so the sick person does not go to the doctor for a long time. Then the patient may think that he is overworked, suffers from gastritis or poisoning, experiences an exacerbation of allergies or arthritis.
How to suspect the appearance of worms
The signs of helminths in the body depend on the type and location of the parasite. Some symptoms appear soon after infection. Others occur after some time and indicate the migration of worms in the body, an increase in intoxication, a lack of nutrients or vitamins.
The most common signs of worms in adults include:
- Increased body temperature. Fever can be unexpressed - up to 37. 5 ° C, short-term. Episodes of increased temperature coincide with periods of deterioration, accompanied by an increase in various groups of lymph nodes.
- One of the most common signs of helminths is abdominal pain. The sensations of discomfort have a specific localization: in the navel, in the liver or in movement. Pain is accompanied by a violation of the stool, the appearance of impurities in the stool: mucus, blood. More often there are bouts of diarrhea, but with the blockage of the intestinal lumen by parasites, the development of obstruction is also possible.
- Itching in the anus is the first sign and characteristic symptom of pinworms. It occurs at night, forcing a person to scratch their anus.
- Helminths cause allergic skin or respiratory-type reactions due to the circulation of their breakdown products, toxins, in the body. Then a person complains of exacerbation of bronchial asthma, the appearance of dermatitis, eczema.
- When infected with worms, beriberi develops. It manifests itself in the form of deterioration of the condition of hair, nails, characteristic "jam" in the corners of the mouth, dry skin. Lack of iron in the body provokes the development of anemia, pallor of the skin, the appearance of bruises under the eyes.
- Helminths also have a pathogenic effect on the nervous system, as a result of which the patient is disturbed by headaches, irritability, reduced performance, intermittent sleep and emotional instability.
- Worms that migrate through the respiratory system (roundworms) provoke bouts of dry cough in a person. With the movement of parasites in the muscles, the development of intoxication, sufferers complain of pain, aching muscles and joints.
On a note!
The first symptoms of infection can appear within a few days after the penetration of helminths into the body of an adult. Most often they occur after 2-3 weeks from the moment of contact with the parasite, and with migratory worms - after months, years.
The combination of several symptoms does not clearly indicate a specific disease, but it is a reason to worry about your health and see a doctor. If a sick person is engaged in self-diagnosis, looking for information on how to understand that you have worms, they risk wasting time and having life-threatening complications.
What is the danger of parasitic infection
Helminths in the body not only get the necessary nutrients and vitamins from a person. Worms poison the patient with decomposition products, affect the internal organs. Parasitic worms in humans can lead to such serious ailments that require urgent surgery and, in some cases, with the removal of part of the organ:
- acute intestinal obstruction;
- violation of the integrity of the intestine with the development of peritonitis;
- appendicitis;
- blockage of the biliary tract;
- damage to the eyes.
Important!
Among the delayed consequences of the invasion, leading to a deterioration of the condition, death of the patient, are cirrhosis and liver cancer, pneumonia, pleurisy, sclerosis of the lung tissue, myocarditis, meningitis, hearing and vision disorders, episindrome .
How does worm infestation occur?
To solve the problem of helminth prevention, it is necessary to have information on the provenance of the parasites. The most common mechanisms of infection are: food, domestic contact, percutaneous, transmissible (associated with bloodsucking insects).
Here are the most typical situations in which worms appear in the body:
- The use of vegetables, fruits, berries or vegetables contaminated with eggs of the parasite.
- Eat undercooked meat, fish with helminth larvae. Feeding game that did not pass veterinary control. Thus Trichinella can also withstand prolonged stewing of meat and preserve its vitality.
- Violation of hygiene rules: formal attitude to hand washing when returning from the street, contact with pets or street animals.
- Bathe in basins containing worm larvae.
- Contact with soil containing parasite larvae during garden work.
- Work in conditions where there is an increased risk of helminth infection: in the groups of children, food, animal husbandry, poultry farming.
Where are worms found in the human body
There are many medical myths about where worms live in the human body. Not all of them are based on parasitological data. Some helminths occupy various sections of the intestine and multiply in it. Humans can be the main hosts of the parasite. The so-called human worms go through the stage of sexual reproduction in the body, so they come out with feces. In the case of animal helminths, a person is an intermediate host, within which only an asexual (parthenogenetic) phase is possible. Parasites spread to internal organs, causing them damage. So worms in the human body can be detected:
- under the skin;
- in the liver;
- in the bladder;
- In the eyes;
- in the muscles;
- in the lungs and heart;
- in the brain.
If we consider the descriptions of the helminth's life cycle in the form of photos with explanations, we can trace its migration through the body and guess what the main symptoms of the disease will be.
Diagnosis of worms
The appearance of abdominal pain, fever, rash, cough with sputum, inflammatory and allergic changes in the blood picture are the basis for a person's control for parasites. Infectionists recommend laboratory tests to detect the helminth or the immune response to its presence in the body.
The following methods help identify worms in a person:
- analysis of feces for eggs of the parasite;
- scraping or smearing for enterobiasis;
- immunological tests to detect antibodies to helminth;
- PCR analysis for DNA fragments of worms;
- worm detection in duodenal contents, tissue biopsy samples.
These methods will help to find out the type of parasite and choose an effective drug. If the internal organs are damaged, the following will help diagnose helminth:
- chest x-ray;
- Ultrasound of the liver, heart, pancreas;
- cystoscopy;
- MRI of the brain.
If necessary, the infectious disease specialist will refer a neurologist, an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist, a urologist for consultations.
On a note!
You should not try to recognize helminths on your own, resort to "single computer diagnosis" outside the medical institution. This will lead to a waste of time, a deterioration in health.
Treatment of worms in humans
If a disease is detected, the infectious disease specialist will provide comprehensive recommendations on disease treatment, regimen and diet. If necessary, the doctor will suggest hospitalization. There is no single "magic" drug for worms, the symptoms and treatment of helminths in an adult can vary.
It is necessary to know the basic principles of antiparasite therapy:
- To combat worms, drugs are used. The choice of treatment regimen (dosage, duration of the course, frequency of administration) depends on the type of helminth, the state of the sick person's body.
- In severe cases of illness, care is provided in a hospital setting.
- You should not independently reduce the dosage, reduce the duration of treatment with tablets or suspension from worms.
- Some drugs require a diet, the refusal to drink alcohol.
- There are no "magic" remedies that allow you to quickly get rid of any helminths in 1 day. For the treatment of some worms in humans, short courses are actually used, but it is impossible to destroy all parasites in the body with a compress, tincture or ointment.
- Herbal preparations are used in sick people who, for health reasons, are contraindicated in medicines in the form of tablets or suspensions.
- As adjuvant therapy, antiallergic drugs, hepatoprotectors, enterosorbents, immunomodulators are prescribed. By themselves, they do not help remove worms from a person, but improve a person's general well-being, removing the unpleasant symptoms of the disease and the side effects of treatment.
Important!
Folk remedies are used only as an auxiliary method of therapy. Independent use of alternative medicine is fraught with deterioration.
Pharmacy funds
Treatment with drugs from the group of anthelmintic drugs helps to destroy, expel parasites from the body. Pharmaceutical medicines have several points of application:
- stop the absorption of nutrients by parasites;
- disrupt the metabolism of worms;
- cause paralysis of the musculature of helminths.
On a note!
With the correct use and prevention of helminthiasis in the future, remedies against worms really help to permanently rid a person of parasites that have settled in the intestines and internal organs. But if the patient neglects the elementary rules of hygiene, reinfection with parasites is possible.
Additionally, an infectious disease specialist can prescribe herbal remedies that help poison and drive away worms in humans. The doctor will recommend some herbs, based on information about the state of the body and the type of parasites. To cure the patient, apply: pumpkin seeds, tansy grass and centaury.
Folk remedies for worms
Many patients reject traditional methods of therapy, hoping for the help of traditional medicine. Infectionists warn that attempts to get rid of worms at home with questionable solutions, infusions can lead to increased intoxication, allergic reactions. If you waste time, the disease will progress, a fatal outcome is possible.
To drive out helminths from the body, the following home remedies are widely used:
- onion decoction;
- pomegranate bark;
- enemas and ingestion of pumpkin seeds;
- unsweetened vegetable and berry juices;
- garlic with milk;
- soda enemas;
- wormwood tincture.
Treatment Reviews
Before starting a course of therapy, patients consider various options for dealing with parasites, trying to figure out how to properly poison helminths. In their reviews, people who have had a helminth invasion describe traditional drug therapy as a fairly effective method. It is extremely rare to get rid of helminths with folk remedies.
- "I began to worry about itching in the anus. He turned to the therapist, received guidance on scraping. It was very unfortunate that pinworms were found in the scrapings. I read how dangerous helminths are and decided not to poison myself with l On the advice of the doctor, he drank an anthelmintic drug - 1 tablet 1 time per week. The course lasted 2 weeks, I immediately felt relief, the itching disappeared. I believe it was not such a terrible infection, but the drug worked "perfectly well".
- "I got worms after eating fish at a party. Diarrhea soon started. I lost weight, my skin became dry and itchy. I studied in detail information on how to treat parasites and how to restore the body afterwards. , I started taking an anthelmintic drug on my own. I was embarrassed to go to the doctor. The drug did not help. I tried to fight worms by folk methods: I cleaned the liver with bitterness, drank milk with garlic and did a enema. But it didn't get any better. I had to go to an infectious disease specialist, I am being treated with an anthelmintic drug of the benzimidazole class. While I was "maturing" to go to the doctor, I lost 4 kilograms, I became pale, nervous ".
Prevention
Knowing what worms look like in the body, anyone can protect themselves and loved ones from infections. Prevention includes:
- Wash hands with soap after contact with animals, go home.
- Regular deworming for pets.
- Timely change of bed linen.
- Regular wet cleaning, ventilation, carpet cleaning and upholstered furniture.
- Eating meat that has passed veterinary control.
- Complete heat treatment of meat and fish.
- Refusal to eat raw meat, fish, offal.
Helminth infection requires immediate treatment. You should pay attention to symptoms such as: diarrhea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, rash, cough, fever and immediately consult a specialist. After treatment, precautions should be taken to prevent reinfection.