
There are different ways to infect people with parasites.Statistics say that a common cause of human death is the presence of parasites in the body and infectious diseases.
Scientists have found fungi, bacteria and even algae in blood plasma.The most common are intestinal helminths.
Parasites can live inside a person for a long time.In 60% of cases, chronic and oncological diseases are caused by their life activity.With prolonged exposure to microorganisms, internal organs and the entire immune system suffer.
Methods of infection by parasites
The methods of infection by parasites are different.Parasites are microorganisms that live at the expense of another organism and are biologically and ecologically related to it.Parasites can feed on fluids, tissues and food that a person consumes, remaining in the body temporarily or permanently.
You can become infected with helminths in the following ways:
- Through dirty hands.
- In contact with the ground.
- For insect bites.
- If you eat a piece of undercooked meat or fish.
- If you don't wash your fruits and vegetables before eating.
- If you have illiterate contact with animals.
- After contact with a sick person with helminths.
Worm eggs can be found in soil, water, dirty fruits and vegetables, as well as in meat or fish that have not undergone sufficient heat treatment.
In some cases, infection can occur due to an insect bite, but it is extremely rare, since helminth eggs mainly enter the body with food.Dirty hands can also become a source of infection with helminthiasis.
You can also get infected from a sick person who is a carrier of the worms.The tapeworm crawls through the anus and lays its eggs in the anus.They, on the other hand, can stay in the underwear, ending up in a person's hands.Larvae can lodge in the toilet, front door handle and other objects.If the rules of personal hygiene are not respected, they penetrate into the body of other family members.If helminths are found in one of the family members, all family members should undergo treatment.
Waterborne infection occurs through consumption of unboiled water or while swimming.
What types of helminths are there?
The most common group of intestinal worms includes nematodes.These include hookworms, roundworms, hookworms, heartworms and trichinella.
The second large group includes protozoan or unicellular parasites.These are amoebae, lamblia, neospores, cryptosporidium, etc.
Entamoeba histolytica infection can occur through drinking contaminated water.In this case, loose stools appear, severe abdominal pain and vomiting appear.Sometimes in severe cases such manifestations cause complications in the liver.People often confuse amoebic dysentery infection with a viral infection.
Millions of single-celled parasites can exist and develop in the walls of the stomach, which prevent the proper absorption of nutrients needed by the body.
The characteristic signs of giardiasis
Symptoms of parasite infection are as follows:
- Accumulation of gases in the stomach.
- Loose stools with undigested food particles.
- Chills.
- Increased sweating.
- Frequent abdominal pain.
- Loose stools.
In the absence of treatment for parasites, over time, a person will begin to lose weight and often get sick due to the weakening of the immune system.Of course, it is not advisable to be guided only by symptoms to identify parasites.It is necessary to perform a series of stool and blood tests to detect helminths.Treatment mainly depends on the degree of infection.In folk medicine there are many recipes for the treatment of helminthiasis;in difficult cases it is better to turn to medication.
Classification of helminths
Worms are divided into flat and round.
Flat views:
- Trematodes, these include schistosomes, opisthorchis, etc.
- Cestoda - echinococcus, pig tape, alveococcus.
Roundworms or nematodes:
- Penworm.
- Ascaris.
- Trichinella.
- Breast worm.
The most common types of helminths are:
Schistosomes
This type of worm is of different sexes;in appearance it resembles a needle with a length of 0.4 to 2.6 cm.Females are considered large and can produce up to 300 larvae per day.
The route of transmission is mainly through swimming in contaminated water.Infection occurs through human mucous membranes and through accidental ingestion of contaminated water during bathing.Once in the body, the larva within a day turns into an adult, capable of producing hundreds of similar organisms.
The schistosome reaches sexual maturity after entering the human venous system through the bloodstream.Individual eggs can be in the intestines, urine and mucous membranes.After defecation, the schistosome begins its journey in the same way.
This parasite can stay in the human body for decades, causing irreparable damage to the patient.It is not the schistosomes themselves that are dangerous, but their eggs.They accumulate in the internal organs and with their thorns cause damage, damaging the tissues, which often causes various ulcers.
There are symptoms by which a person can determine the presence of schistosomes in the body:
- poor appetite;
- anemia;
- enlargement of the liver and changes in the spleen;
- poor intestinal motility;
- stomach pain;
- diarrhea or constipation;
- sudden weight loss;
- bleeding in the intestines;
- pain during urination;
- allergic reactions;
- general weakness.
Cestodes
Cestodes are tapeworms that can reach gigantic lengths.Thus, the length of an adult is on average 0.5 cm.A female cestode is capable of laying up to 200,000 eggs in a year.
Thanks to special devices on the heads in the form of suction cups, cestodes are firmly attached to the intestinal walls.In this case, the whole body suffers.Such worms are especially dangerous for young children, as their vital activity depletes the body and causes anemia in a short time.
The routes of infection are fecal-oral, that is, dirty hands, fruits and vegetables.The larvae, once in the intestines, spread through the veins throughout the body, penetrating the liver, heart and even the oral cavity.A certain number of larvae die, while the rest are swallowed again.
The main signs of parasite infection:
- nausea and vomiting;
- yellowing of the skin;
- pancreatitis;
- frequent colds;
- the development of bronchitis and pneumonia.
Prevention of parasite infection
Since there are many ways of infection by parasites, it is worth following some rules to protect yourself and family members from the possible ingestion of worm larvae.
- Compliance with the rules of personal hygiene.Frequent hand washing will prevent parasites from entering the human body.Children especially need to be taught this, as they often put their hands and various objects in their mouths.
- Thorough washing of fruits and vegetables with running or boiled water.
- Extermination of flying and crawling insects (flies, cockroaches) in residential areas, as they are carriers of helminth eggs.
Many experts believe that every person, to one degree or another, is a carrier of parasites, so it is necessary to clean the body from time to time.