Not everyone knows which parasites are most common in the human body.Parasites are living organisms that live in the human body and live at the expense of the host.Some of them are very dangerous.For example, trichinosis, alveococcosis, and cysticercosis can lead to dangerous complications, including death.
Varieties
Parasites are found in adults and children.Almost every person encounters them at least once during their life.The group of parasites includes helminths (roundworms, tapeworms, flukes), protozoa, fungi, mites, and lice.The protozoa that live in the human body include the following single-celled organisms:
- amoeba;
- balantidia;
- Giardia;
- blastocysts;
- cryptosporidium;
- leishmania;
- trypanosomes;
- Trichomonas;
- toxoplasma;
- malarial plasmodia.
This is not the entire list of protozoa.At home you can become infected with helminths.They are divided into nematodes (roundworms), trematodes (flukes) and cestodes (tapeworms).Trematodes are represented by flukes, schistosomes, pulmonary flukes, and fasciola.Human parasites include roundworms.
Roundworms include pinworms, roundworms, trichinella, and hookworms.Tapeworms often settle in the body.These parasites are distinguished by the fact that they can live in organs for decades.Cestodes include bovine, dwarf and pork tapeworms, broad tapeworm, alveococcus, and echinococcus.These parasitic worms cause diseases such as taeniasis, teniarinchiasis, hymenolepiasis, diphyllobothriasis, echinococcosis, alveococcosis of the liver, brain and lungs.
Protozoa
Protozoan parasites of humans are very widespread.Most of them cannot be seen with the naked eye.The most frequently detected diseases are giardiasis, malaria, amebiasis, cryptosporidiosis and balantidiasis.Every year, more than 500 million people around the world develop symptoms of giardiasis.
Among such patients, children under 14 years of age predominate.Giardia are small parasites that live in the intestines and liver.The prevalence of giardiasis among adults reaches 5%.In children this figure exceeds 30%.Giardia can live for a long time in the form of spores (cysts).
A sick person is a source of infection.These parasites appear in the patient’s body when they consume infected water or food.Infection through soil and household items (dishes, toys) is possible.The mechanism of infection is fecal-oral.Children who attend kindergartens and schools get sick more often.
Against the background of giardiasis, dysbacteriosis and enteritis (duodenitis) develop.Symptoms of the presence of parasites in the body include stool instability, frequent bowel movements, pain near the navel or in the right hypochondrium, weight loss, fatigue, drowsiness, bruxism (involuntary contractions of the masticatory muscles).The skin is often affected.
Parasites such as malarial plasmodia are often found inside humans.They cause malaria.These protozoa attack blood cells (red blood cells), causing severe anemia and hemolysis.This disease is more common in regions with hot climates.The carriers are mosquitoes.A person becomes infected when bitten by infected insects.
Signs of malaria parasites include fever, chills, heavy sweats, nausea, muscle pain, headaches, redness of the skin, thirst, enlarged liver and spleen, and seizures.Intestinal parasites include cryptosporidium.A person becomes infected through water and food (milk).Contact with infected animals is dangerous.Cryptosporidiosis is manifested by diarrhea, cramping pain in the upper abdomen, nausea, vomiting, thirst, and dry skin.
Helminths
According to WHO, 50% of the population will suffer from 1 of 3 infections during their lifetime: trichuriasis, enterobiasis or hookworm.A person becomes infected with parasitic worms by contact or fecal-oral mechanism.The following risk factors for the development of helminthiases are identified:
- drinking unboiled water;
- failure to comply with personal hygiene rules;
- contact with the patient;
- contact with wild and domestic animals;
- staying in children's groups;
- swimming in polluted waters;
- consumption of insufficiently thermally processed fish, meat, sushi, planed meat, shellfish;
- constant contact with the ground;
- walking barefoot on the ground (for tropical countries).
Children most often develop enterobiasis and ascariasis.The causative agent of enterobiasis is the pinworm.This is a small, up to 1 cm parasite from the group of roundworms that lives in the small and large intestines.Enterobiasis, together with hymenolepiasis, belongs to contact helminthiases.This means that infection is possible through direct bodily contact with the patient (his hands).
Children who do not wash their hands before eating, bite their nails and put toys in their mouth are more likely to get sick.Adult parasites emerge from the intestines at night and lay eggs on the skin of the perianal area.They cause itching, and when scratched, the eggs end up on the child's hands and then into the mouth.
Enterobiasis is manifested by anal itching, scratching of the skin, irritability, sleep disturbance, bruxism, urinary incontinence, pain in the iliac region, and changes in stool.
Ascariasis is more dangerous.About 1 billion people are infected with it.Roundworms are long, round, thin worms that live in the small intestine.Massive invasion by them is dangerous for the development of intestinal obstruction.Signs of parasites in the body are not always clearly expressed.Ascariasis manifests itself as eczema, asthenic syndrome, cough (during the migration phase), sweating, fever (in the acute stage), nausea, vomiting, bloating, delayed development of the child, stool disorders such as diarrhea or constipation.If there are such complaints, parasite control should be carried out.
Treatment
To get rid of parasites in the human body, you need to see a doctor and undergo an examination.Not everyone knows how to determine the presence of parasites in the body.The examination includes a stool test for helminth eggs and Giardia cysts, a blood test, scraping for enterobiasis, ELISA or PCR, ultrasound, tomography, muscle biopsy (for trichinosis), and allergy tests.The epidemiological history is of great importance.
You can find out whether there are parasites in the body even in the absence of symptoms of the disease.Cleansing the body of parasites is carried out with medications prescribed by a specialist.
Folk remedies (watermelon and pumpkin seeds, onion infusion) will also help get rid of parasites.The drugs are selected by the doctor depending on the underlying disease.To get rid of parasites, conservative therapy is not always enough.
Surgical treatment is often required (for echinococcosis and alveococcosis).Cleansing the body can also be carried out for preventive purposes.It is better to treat the patient with broad-spectrum drugs that are effective against several diseases.
Don't forget about parasites such as lice, mites and fungi.It is necessary to treat not only sick people, but also contact people.Clearing parasites does not protect against re-infection.It is necessary to prevent the development of the disease.Prevention of parasitic diseases includes regular hand washing after using the toilet, contact with the ground, riding on public transport, walking and before eating, boiling water, proper heat treatment of meat and fish, limiting contact with animals, deworming pets, avoiding barbecue, stroganina, sushi and rolls.Thus, protecting yourself from parasites is quite difficult, but possible.