For a parasitologist, parasites in the human body are standard work. For an ordinary patient, helminthic invasion is a terrible pathology. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that a person tends to increase the scale of the problem without knowing the enemy from sight. Basic knowledge of the types of parasites that can live in the human body will help overcome fear. And knowing the problem, you can already competently build methods for solving the problem or principles of protection from it. In the material below, we will analyze which worms parasitize in the human body.
Types of worms in the human body
It’s worth knowing that not all real-life worms can live in the human body. For many, the natural habitat is animal organisms, water or just soil. Below is a list of the most common parasites in the human body with concomitant clinical manifestations.
Pinworm
This is the most common parasite that enters the human body. Moreover, even humanoid primates can suffer from enterobiasis. Most often, pinworm is localized in the body of preschool children. Children 1 to 10 years old are sick.
Pinworm infection occurs when a healthy person comes in contact with an infected person (shakes hands, touches dirty laundry, towels, etc. ) in a state of unwashed hands. Further, with food pinworm eggs enter the human body.
Important: insects (flies, cockroaches) can also lay helminth eggs.
An adult female crawls out of the anus at night and lays eggs in the folds of the anus skin, causing severe itching. Also, the patient may periodically feel pain in the lower abdomen if the intensity of the helminthic invasion is already high. It is these symptoms of parasite infection that indicate pinworms in the body. They can be confused with general fatigue and allergic skin reactions.
Giardia
Protozoa from the genus Bicevic. Localization of such parasites in the human body occurs more often in the small intestine. However, protozoa can reach the liver and gallbladder through the bloodstream. Parasites enter a person through dirty hands, unwashed vegetables / fruits or drinking dirty water.
The symptoms of the lamblia parasite are:
- Pain in right hypochondrium;
- Stool disorders;
- Excessive gas production;
- Nausea; Neuroses;
- Allergic manifestations on the skin.
Askaris
Roundworms in people who most often live in the small intestine. But at the same time, with the flow of blood, they can easily migrate to any organ. It is often localized in the heart, lungs, liver, and even the brain.
Helminth infestation infection occurs with dirty hands on which parasite eggs from vegetables, fruits, soil, etc. could remain. In this case, the symptoms of the parasite vary depending on the stage of the disease. Thus, during larval migration, the following symptoms of the parasite are observed in the body:
- Increased body temperature (38 degrees);
- Nocturnal dry cough with difficulty breathing;
- Swollen lymph nodes.
Further placement of the worm in the human body causes the following symptoms:
- Stool disorder (constipation and diarrhea);
- Nervous disorders;
- pneumonia;
- Heart failure;
- Nausea;
- Vomiting;
- Frequent headaches;
- Stomach pain.
Histological amoeba
An amoeba is a protozoan parasite. It affects the human body with dirty hands, the use of dirty food (vegetables, fruits, herbs), and even anal intercourse. Flies can also carry amoebiasis. The amoeba provokes the formation of ulcers on the walls of the colon and further damage to other organs and systems. In this case, the signs of parasites in the body will be as follows:
- Stool with blood and mucus;
- Abdominal pain;
- Anemia;
- General weakness and fatigue;
- Creation of abscesses in those organs in which the parasite can be localized.
Toxocara
A roundworm that causes a helminthic invasion called toxocariasis. In this case, the parasite can be localized in the intestines, eyes and brain. Carriers of toxocara are canines (dogs, wolves, foxes, etc. ). Infection occurs either by contact with a sick animal, or by indirect contact with its feces. Infection with parasites of this species entails different symptoms, depending on the organ in which the worm larva has settled. Thus, in intestinal toxocariasis the symptoms will be as follows:
- Nausea and vomiting;
- Diarrhea and constipation;
- Abdominal pain.
In ocular toxocariasis, the patient has the following signs of parasite infection:
- Reduced vision;
- Purulent discharge from the affected eye;
- Boiling on the eyelids;
- Eye redness;
- Retinal detachment.
If toxocara is deposited in the brain, then the patient has the following signs of the presence of parasites in the body:
- Headache;
- Dizziness and fainting;
- Increased intracranial pressure;
- Nervousness and hallucinations;
- Decreased vision and concentration.
In this case, the clinical picture is often confused with brain oncology.
- In cardiac toxocariasis, the patient will experience heart failure, such as tachycardia, arrhythmia, valve failure, and heart pain.
- If the respiratory system is affected by toxocara, there will be signs of pneumonia or bronchitis, as well as frequent shortness of breath.
- If the worm settles under the skin, the patient will feel itching, movement and redness at the site of the helminth.
Wide Ribbon
This helminth lives in the small intestine of its biological host. There it comes through the mouth along with contaminated food (fish, fish roe) or water. The signs of worms in the body of this species are as follows:
- Abdominal pain;
- Nausea;
- Persistent anemia that cannot be corrected by iron supplementation;
- In the advanced stage of the pathology, the patient develops intestinal obstruction due to a large accumulation of parasites in it.
Pork tapeworm
This helminth lives in the body of cattle (rabbits, pigs), as well as in the body of dogs and even camels. It enters the human body together with contaminated meat that has been subjected to insufficient heat treatment. If an adult worm is found in the patient's body, the diagnosis is "teniasis". If the helminth is detected in the larval stage, then the diagnosis is "cysticercosis".
Important: a patient with teniasis is dangerous both for himself (introduction of parasite larvae into the brain, eyes, skeleton) and for others.
The list of parasite symptoms in the human body looks like this:
- Sudden drop in appetite;
- Severe headaches;
- Abdominal pain;
- Unconsciousness;
- Decreased vision (with ocular tenia).
Important: treatment of swine tapeworm is carried out only in a hospital under the supervision of a specialist.
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Beef tapeworm (tapeworm)
A parasite that lives in the human body as a single individual. He comes there infected with cow meat. The list of signs of parasites in the human body looks like this:
- Unsatisfactory appetite and lack of weight gain;
- Unstable chair;
- Abdominal pain;
- Severe allergic manifestations;
- Nausea.
Important: The parasite itself comes out when it uses certain anthelmintic drugs. Moreover, its maximum length can be about 12 meters.
Nekator and pupa
These round parasites enter the human body routinely through dirty hands and food or through soil in contact with it. The symptoms of the presence of such parasites in the human body look like this:
- Rash on the body in the form of papules and vesicles (pimples with purulent contents);
- Strong dry cough with difficulty breathing;
- Abdominal pain;
- Persistent anemia;
- Diarrhea;
- Nausea;
- Critical loss of appetite.
Alveokoki
This parasite belongs to the group of cestodes. At the same time, it is worth knowing that helminths are extremely dangerous to humans because they first create a primary inflammatory focus in the liver and then its metastases spread to other organs. Human infection occurs by ingesting helminth oncospheres into the human mouth. This most often happens during the cutting of animal carcasses, during hunting, when herbs and berries collected in the forest and insufficiently processed for food are used, as well as direct contact with pets infected with the invasion. In this case, only a specialist should assess the symptoms and treatment tactics. The clinical picture of helminthic invasion looks like this:
- Nausea and specific belching;
- Pain in right hypochondrium;
- Allergy;
- Severe itchy skin;
- Suppuration of the site where the parasite is localized and the abscess bursts.
Important: The localization of such an invasion is often found in the lungs or brain. Parasites are solved only immediately.
Ehinokok
Canids and cats are carriers of echinococcus. In this case, the person who is the parasite is only the middle host. The danger of echinococcus for humans lies in the fact that helminths seriously affect a person's organs and systems, causing them to form cysts. Echinococcus most often infects people who work with animals and slaughter meat. That is, the parasite can enter the human body when cutting the carcass of an animal, when it eats contaminated meat or water. Here it is worth knowing that signs of the presence of parasites in an adult may not appear for a long time. When the phase of absence of symptoms is over, the following clinical picture appears:
- Heavy hives;
- Itchy skin;
- Soreness at the site of the parasite larva;
- Fever and fever (susceptible to cyst suppuration).
Gnatostoma
This type of helminth enters the human body with contaminated poultry, fish or frog meat. You can also become infected with dirty water containing worm larvae. The presence of such worms in the human body is manifested by the following symptoms:
- Strong dry cough;
- Pain in the area of the parasite larva site;
- Strong swelling;
- Severe itchy skin;
- Increased body temperature.
Important: after a week, all symptoms disappear on their own, but appear regularly for many years. The great danger is damage to the eyes and brain by worms. This can be fatal.
Schistosoma
Flow worm. It is dangerous because it can penetrate the human body even through intact skin. The infection occurs in dirty water (more often in Africa), when washing clothes in dirty water or when watering the soil. In the acute phase of the invasion, the following first signs appear:
- Excessively high body temperature (up to 39 degrees and above);
- Creation of papules on the body;
- Severe itchy skin.
In the chronic stage, the disease manifests itself in the form of symptoms of prostatitis, colitis, colpitis, ascites, renal hydronephrosis, etc. Schistosomiasis can be detected by urine analysis.
Trichinella
A round parasite that parasitizes on the muscles of the human body in the larval stage and migrates to the small intestine when it reaches maturity. Trichinella is deadly to humans. You can become infected with this invasion when you eat poorly fried / cooked meat from wild and domestic animals infected with worms. If the reader does not know how to determine the presence of such a parasite in the body, then the clinical picture of the pathology looks like this:
- Vomiting and severe diarrhea;
- Abdominal pain;
- Loss of appetite;
- Muscle pain;
- Skin rashes;
- Swollen eyelids;
- The temperature rises to 40 degrees.
Important: Trichinosis is the only helminthic invasion in the human body that is also treated with corticosteroid drugs.
By learning which parasites can live in the human body and how the infection occurs, as well as what the symptoms of helminthic infection are, you can insure yourself and your loved ones from infection. And if you suspect an infection with one or another type of parasite, seek specialized help in time.