Parasitic infestations often go unnoticed. And the first symptoms of worms in humans are non-specific, so the sick person does not go to the doctor for a long time. So the patient may think that he is overworked, suffers from gastritis or poisoning, is experiencing an exacerbation of allergies or arthritis.
How to suspect the appearance of worms
Signs of helminths in the body depend on the type and localization 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:
- Increase in body temperature. Fever can be unexpressed - up to 37. 5 ° C, short-term. Episodes of temperature rise coincide with periods of deterioration, accompanied by an increase in various groups of lymph nodes.
- One of the most common signs of the presence of helminths is abdominal pain. Discomfort sensations have one specific localization - in the navel, liver, or move. Pain is accompanied by a violation of the stool, the appearance of impurities in the feces - mucus, blood. More often there are bouts of diarrhea, but with 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 the anus.
- Helminths cause allergic reactions of the skin or respiratory type as a result of the circulation of their decay products, toxins, in the body. So a person complains of an exacerbation of bronchial asthma, the appearance of dermatitis, eczema.
- When infected with worms, beriberi develops. It manifests itself in the form of a deterioration in the condition of hair, nails, characteristic "jam" in the corners of the mouth, dry skin. The lack of iron in the body causes 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, impaired performance, intermittent sleep, and emotional instability.
- Worms migrating through the respiratory system (roundworms) cause a person to have bouts of dry hacking cough. With the movement of parasites in the muscles, the development of intoxication, sick people complain of pain, aching muscles and joints.
On a note!
The first symptoms of infection may appear within a few days after the penetration of helminths into the body of an adult. More 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 different symptoms does not clearly indicate a specific disease, but 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, he risks losing time and getting life-threatening complications.
What is the danger of parasite infection
Helminths in the body not only take the necessary nutrients and vitamins from a person. Worms poison the patient with decay products, affect 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;
- eye damage.
Important!
Among the delayed consequences of invasion, leading to a deterioration in the condition, death of the patient, are cirrhosis and liver cancer, pneumonia, pleurisy, sclerosis of the lung tissue, myocarditis, meningitis, hearing and vision impairment, and episyndrome.
How does worm infestation occur?
To solve the issue of helminth prevention, it is necessary to have information about where the parasites come from. The most common infection mechanisms include: alimentary, contact-household, percutaneous, transmissible (associated with blood-sucking insects).
Here are the most typical situations in which worms appear in the body:
- The use of vegetables, fruits, berries or greens contaminated with eggs of the parasite.
- Eating poorly cooked meat, fish with helminth larvae. Feeding game that has not passed veterinary control. So Trichinella withstand even long-term stewing of meat and retain their viability.
- Violation of hygiene rules: formal attitude to washing hands after returning from the street, contact with pets or street animals.
- Bathing in reservoirs containing worm larvae.
- Contact with soil containing parasite larvae while working in the garden.
- Work in conditions where there is an increased risk of infection with helminths: in children's groups, 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, then go 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 the internal organs, causing damage to them. So worms in the human body can be detected:
- under the skin;
- in the liver;
- in the bladder;
- In eyes;
- in the muscles;
- in lungs and heart;
- in the brain.
If we consider the descriptions of the life cycle of the helminth in the form of a photo with explanations, we can track its migration through the body and guess what the main symptoms of the disease will look like.
Diagnosis of worms
The appearance of abdominal pain, fever, skin rashes, cough with sputum, inflammatory and allergic changes in the blood picture are the basis for checking a person for parasites. Infectionists recommend laboratory tests to detect the helminth or the immune response to its presence in the body.
The following methods help to identify worms in a person:
- analysis of feces for eggs of the parasite;
- scraping or smear for enterobiasis;
- immunological tests to detect antibodies to the helminth;
- PCR analyzes for worm DNA fragments;
- detection of the worm in the duodenal contents, tissue biopsy specimens.
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 to diagnose the 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, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, urologist for consultations.
On a note!
You should not try to recognize helminths on your own, resort to "unique computer diagnostics" outside the medical institution. This will lead to loss of time, deterioration of health.
Treatment of worms in humans
If a disease is detected, the infectious disease specialist will give full recommendations on the treatment of the disease, regimen, and diet. If necessary, the doctor will suggest hospitalization in the hospital. There is no single "magic" drug for worms, the symptoms and treatment of helminths in an adult may vary.
You need to know the basic principles of parasite therapy:
- To combat worms, medications 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 body of the sick person.
- In severe cases of illness, assistance 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, 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 indeed used, but it is impossible to destroy all the parasites in the body with one tablet, 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.
- Antiallergic drugs, hepatoprotectors, enterosorbents, immunomodulators are prescribed as adjuvant therapy. By themselves, they do not help to remove worms from a person, but improve the general well-being of a person, removing unpleasant symptoms of the disease and 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 different points of application:
- disrupt the absorption of nutrients by parasites;
- disrupt the metabolism of worms;
- cause paralysis of the musculature of helminths.
On a note!
With proper use and prevention of helminthiasis in the future, worm remedies 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, re-infection with parasites is possible.
Also, an infectious disease specialist can prescribe herbal remedies that help to poison and drive away worms in humans. The doctor will recommend certain 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 refuse 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 miss the time, the disease will progress, a fatal outcome is possible.
To drive helminths out of the body, the following home remedies are widely used:
- onion decoction;
- pomegranate bark;
- enemas and ingestion of pumpkin seeds;
- juices from vegetables and sour berries without sugar;
- garlic with milk;
- soda enemas;
- tincture of wormwood.
Treatment Reviews
Before starting a course of therapy, patients consider various options for dealing with parasites, trying to understand how to poison helminths correctly. In their reviews, people who have had helminthic 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. Has addressed to the therapist, has received a direction on scraping. It was very unpleasant that pinworms were found in the scraping. I read how dangerous helminths are, and decided not to poison myself with self-medication. On the advice of the doctor, she drank an anthelmintic drug - 1 tablet 1 time per week. The course took 2 weeks, I immediately felt relief, the itching went away. I believe that it was not such a terrible infection, but the drug worked "perfectly well. "
- "I got worms after eating fish at a party. Soon the diarrhea started. I lost weight, my skin became dry and itchy. I studied in detail the information on how to treat parasites and how to restore the body later, I began to take an anthelmintic drug myself. I was embarrassed to go to the doctor. The drug didn't help. I tried to fight worms with folk methods: I did liver cleansing with bitterness, drank milk with garlic and put an enema. But it didn't get any better. I had to turn to an infectious disease specialist, I am being treated with an anthelmintic drug from the benzimidazole class. While I was "ripening" for going to the doctor, I lost 4 kilograms, became pale, nervous. "
Prevention
Knowing how worms appear in the body, anyone can protect themselves and their loved ones from infection. Prevention includes:
- Washing hands with soap after contact with animals, returning home.
- Regular deworming for pets.
- Timely change of bed linen.
- Regular wet cleaning, airing, cleaning of carpets and upholstered furniture.
- Eating meat that has passed veterinary control.
- Thorough heat treatment of meat and fish.
- Refusal to eat raw meat, fish, offal.
Infection with helminths requires immediate treatment. You should pay attention to symptoms such as: diarrhea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, skin rash, cough, fever and immediately consult a specialist. After treatment, precautions should be taken to prevent re-infection.