Information that 80–90% of people are infected with worms, many people come up with the idea that you need to drink anthelmintic drugs for a preventive purpose.
The human body parasitizes different types of worms, special tests have been developed for their identification.Each diagnostic procedure has a certain percentage of reliability and differs in the features of the conduct.
Blood tests for parasites
The vital activity of parasites in the body causes malaise of unclear etiology.It can be skin rashes, flatulence, heartburn, nausea, weakness, anemia, joint pain.To clarify the diagnosis, special tests for parasites should be done.
How to check for parasites in the human body
Classification of parasites in their appearance:
For representatives of some professions (for personnel of catering enterprises, children's institutions), analysis for eggs of worms is required in the design of sanitary books.Children pass the same analysis upon admission to kindergartens and a nursery or in a sports section.
- A classic study on worms living in the gastrointestinal tract is an analysis of feces and a scraping of the mucosa from the rectum.
- But there are several options for more effective blood tests for parasites, as intended and according to the method.
Reasons for the delivery of analysis for parasites
When infected with individual parasites, a person may not feel any symptoms.But over time, the number of helminths increases, and the infection begins to manifest itself.It is necessary to take tests for parasites if there are such symptoms:
- abdominal pain of different localization, which can occur spontaneously or on palpation;
- itching in the anus that appears at night;
- joint and muscle pain;
- reduced appetite and nausea;
- increased appetite with abundant salivation;
- intestinal dysbiosis;
- constipation or diarrhea;
- change in the color of feces;
- increased fatigue;
- dizziness;
- the pallor of the skin;
- insomnia or sleep disturbances;
- irritability;
- dermatitis;
- urine incontinence;
- In women, abundant discharge from the vagina, violations of the menstrual cycle.
The nature of the symptoms depends on the type of parasites.Itching and burning in the anal region cause pinworms.Askarides provoke severe allergic reactions, as well as cramping abdominal pain.Lambia, echinococci and bicondumure affect the liver.They are often the cause of the obstruction of the biliary tract and cholestasis (stagnation of bile), inflammation of the gall bladder.Light feces with drops of fat are one of the main signs of the pathology of the liver and pancreas.The symptom of parasitic effect on the liver and gall bladder is pain in the right hypochondrium.
If several of the listed symptoms appear, it is necessary to go to the hospital in order to identify parasites in the body in time.It is necessary to take regular preventive tests for parasites for children, people who live or work with animals.If raw, jerky, slightly salted meat, lard or fish are regularly consumed for food, the risk of infection is very high.In this case, it is also necessary to regularly be checked to identify parasites.
What tests for parasites exist
There are different reasons that cause the need to take an analysis for helminths.
On this parameter, 3 types of tests are distinguished:
- Preventive - necessary for the timely detection of helminthiasis even in the absence of characteristic symptoms.They are carried out on a person’s personal initiative or in a medical examination.It is recommended to take such an analysis every year, especially for children.
- Barrier - are prescribed to minimize the risk of the spread of helminthiasis among the population.This is a mandatory analysis that children pass before entering a kindergarten or school, food industry workers, service areas, medical staff to get a medical book.Barrier analysis is provided once a year.
- As prescribed by a doctor, this type of analysis for helminths is prescribed by a doctor in the presence of symptoms characteristic of helminthiasis: nausea, stomach disorders, itching in the anus, weight loss, abdominal pain, increased fatigue, dizziness.With a single negative result, the analysis must be taken again to make sure of its reliability.
Depending on the situation and symptoms, one or more types of tests are prescribed.Let us consider in detail the features of each.
With a sharp loss of weight, you should think about the need to conduct analyzes for parasites
Calais analysis for worm eggs
Analysis of feces for parasites, in another way, it is called a coprogram-a method that provides for the study of fecal masses under a microscope in order to identify parasite eggs, their larvae or fragments of sexually mature worms.This analysis makes it possible to identify many varieties of worms, but it is especially effective for worms that parasitize in the intestines.Suitable for the diagnosis of enterobiosis, ascariasis, ankylostomosis, trichocephalosis and other types of infection.
To conduct an analysis, you need to take a special sterile jar.It is issued in a clinic, laboratories or purchased in a pharmacy.
Then everything is simple:
- It is necessary to fill in 1/3 with feces with feces.This must be done before 11.00 hours.Make sure that third -party impurities, for example, blood, drops of other secretions do not fall into the jar, as this will negatively display the reliability of the result.
- The lid of the filled capacity must be tightly closed.It is signed, and then packed in a disposable package.
- It is best if the material can be transferred for analysis 30–45 minutes after the collection.It is permissible to store it in the refrigerator, but no longer than 8 hours.After this period, the material becomes unsuitable for analysis.
You can find out the results the day after the analysis.But in some laboratories it is done up to 6 days.
The effectiveness of this method is 30–35%, since helminths do not lay eggs every night.
Scraping (smear)
Scraping is the most common analysis for enterobiosis, which allows you to identify the presence of pinworms that parasitize in the intestines and laid a large number of eggs in the area around the anus, as well as in the perineum area every night.
Since children are especially often suffered from enterobiosis, a child who visits a kindergarten, a school, needs to take a scraping regularly twice a year.Adults also need to do an analysis when the first signs of parasites appear: itching in the anus, poor sleep, worsening appetite, weight loss, irritability.
Analysis procedure:
- The scraping is taken by a special spatula, which is available in the pharmacy, or with an ordinary cotton wool, previously moistened in a saline or warm water.They removes a smear from the area around the anus, as well as the perineum.Another way is to attach a sticky tape (tape) to the area around the anus.Gently removed, it must be glued to the surface of clean and dry glass.
- The procedure must be carried out in the morning, immediately after waking up.Before that, you can not go to the toilet and wash.You can take a smear in a clinic or at home.
- A stick or a spatula, on the surface of which there is a biomass for research, is packed in a sterile dry jar, package.The packaging should be sealed.
- It is necessary to deliver the material to the laboratory for research on the day of taking a smear, it is better immediately.If necessary, for a maximum of 5 hours, it can be stored in the refrigerator.
You can find out the results the next day.
If the results of the first analysis were negative, but the symptoms typical of enterobiosis are preserved, the procedure must be passed again the next day or every other day.Maximum effectiveness guarantees 3-4 negative result of analyzes performed in a row.
Blood test
A blood test shows the presence of parasites, because as a result of their life, they affect the internal organs, the mucous membranes, release a large number of toxins.This provokes changes in the composition of the blood.When helminths appear, the immune system begins to produce antibodies (immunoglobulin).They can be identified as a result of the study.
The main thing is that a competent decoding of the results is carried out, which can only be done by an experienced specialist.
A blood test for parasites determines all their varieties - ascaride, lamblia, flat worms, two -water, trichinella, trematodes.Most of them parasitize in the internal organs: in the liver, lungs, ducts, and not in the intestines, therefore, using other tests, it will not work to identify these types of parasites.
Analysis delivery procedure:
- To do the analysis, venous blood is needed.It is enough to take 3-5 ml of material from the elbow vein.The procedure is carried out on an empty stomach, preferably in the morning.
- Specialists study the selected blood in the laboratory for specific antibodies, which allow you to determine the stage of helminthiasis.
- Deciphering the results of the analysis.
Before donating blood, the patient must pass the preparation stage.It begins a week before the diagnosis and involves a complete refusal to use antibiotics and other drugs, the composition of which can negatively affect the accuracy of the result.A day before the analysis, it is worth excluding fatty products, sweets, carbonated drinks and always alcohol from the diet.
The determination of helminthic invasion is also carried out using a general blood test.It is quite informative, allows you to identify different types of worms, but most effective in relation to pinworms, as well as ascaris.
When deciphering general analysis, the following indicators are taken into account:
- hemoglobin - with worms damage, it is reduced;
- Leukocytes - when infected with helminths, their concentration is increased.
For analysis, blood is taken from a vein.Before the procedure, it is important not to eat 8, but better than 12 hours.It is permissible to drink only water.5-7 days before manipulation, it is necessary to stop taking antibiotics.
ELISA, Analysis for Antibodies and Immunoglobulina
This analysis is based on the immune response of the body, the level of its protective reaction to the invasion of parasites.
- Using the results of ELISA, you can determine the presence of helminths in the body and their type.The accuracy of the study is much higher than the analysis of feces.
- The method is based on the calculation of antibodies in the body to one or another type of parasites, the determination of their connection with foreign antigens (immune response) and the enzyme reaction of the body.
- Anti-antigens antibodies indicate an infection.
- A blood test by ELISA has accuracy, according to different experts, from 60% to 90% even at the low level of invasion.
- The advantage of the method, in addition to a high level of accuracy, is that an immuno -function analysis can be monitored by the dynamics of the disease over time.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR analysis)
The PCR method is one of the most modern and accurate for the diagnosis of blood for the presence of parasites in the body.It consists in detecting traces of DNA and RNA, belonging to parasitic life forms.
- The essence of the polymerase reaction is blood treatment in such a way as to copy and propagate DNA, RNA of foreign organisms to a concentration that allows them to determine.
Serological blood test
At the same time, the analysis is used as a source of information of blood serum.
- Immunogenic antibodies of parasites are investigated.
- The analysis allows you to identify a large number of parasitic forms, but does not allow you to determine the stage of invasion.
- Like the IFA method, serological analysis is indirect for diagnosis.
- If the values of the OPD are high, it is advisable to additionally pass the fecal analysis.
How and where to take tests for parasites
It is necessary to take tests for parasites when the symptoms typical of helminthic invasion appear: digestive problems, asthenia, weight loss, dermatological diseases.It is also necessary to undergo diagnostics for helminths in situations where a person suffers from a chronic disease for many years, but treatment does not give the expected result.In many cases, it turns out that the disease is provoked not by physiological problems, but by a consequence of the parasitization of worms.
Before passing the procedure, you need to get a direction from a gastroenterologist, infectious disease specialist, proctologist, therapist, surgeon, dermatologist, and pediatrician.With this direction, a person goes to the laboratory.After the study of biomaterials, he receives a form of results, which indicates whether helminths are detected in the body.
If the results of the analysis confirmed the presence of worms, it is important to immediately consult a qualified doctor.It can be an infectious disease specialist or therapist.When helminthiasis is diagnosed in a child, a pediatrician will help.
To take tests that identify parasites need at least once a year.To undergo diagnostics, it is important to choose a good laboratory, whose specialists guarantee the maximum accuracy of the results.