Parasites in the human bodyappear completely unexpectedly. The reason for this usually becomes direct contact with the source of the infection, for example, with an infected person or object. There are many types of parasites that can settle in the human body: they can be lamblia, pinworms, alveococci, trichinella, schistosomes, etc.
Parasites in the human body
The human body has a rather complex structure, which is susceptible to various diseases and infections, infections, viruses and parasites. Parasites that settle in the human body are microorganisms that lead a parasitic lifestyle, trying to survive by feeding on other organisms, microorganisms, cells, etc.
Parasites living in the human body are microorganisms that lead a parasitic lifestyle, trying to survive by feeding on other organisms, microorganisms, cells, etc.
Parasites that find fertile ground for life and reproduction in the human body, cause very serious, sometimes irreparable damage to its health, destroy the body from the inside, eat it, and sometimes lead to the death of a person, workof individual organs, which also worsens a person's quality of life, depresses and ultimately shortens his life.
There are millions of species of parasitic worms in nature. Of these, there are those that parasitize only one representative of the animal world. But in nature there are also species that can exist in the body of different species of animals. What parasites live in the human body is a question many people ask.
A huge variety of helminth species can live in the human body. Some of them are very rare, while others very often settle indoors and can lead a parasitic lifestyle for up to several decades.
Varieties of parasitism
There are the following types of parasitism: Ectoparasitism - parasites that lead a superficial lifestyle on the human body. This category includes lice, insects, ticks; endoparasitism - parasites that affect a person's internal organs. In turn, they are divided into two large groups of protozoa and helminths.
Types of parasitic protozoa: lamblia, toxoplasma, trichoionada. These types of protozoan parasites are found most often in the human body.
The classification of parasites related to helminths implies their division into three large groups: nematodes; trematodes; cestodes.
Types of parasites in the human body
Pinworms
Pinworms are the best known parasites in the intestine. The disease caused by pinworms is called enterobiasis. Not only people suffer from it, but great apes too. Children are at a greater risk of pinworm infection. According to various sources, the level of their involvement in preschool enterobiasis ranges from 25 to 90%. Pinworms are passed from one person to another. Infection occurs through a handshake, clothing and any object touched by a sick person, provided that after contact the hands have not been washed and the pinworm eggs have entered the mouth (this happens especially during a meal).
Flies and cockroaches can carry the eggs of these nematode worms by sowing their food. Pinworms live in the small intestine, cecum, colon. They mate in the ileum, after which the female crawls out of the anus through the rectum and lays eggs in the anus.
Symptoms of enterobiasis are itching in the anal area, intoxication of the body (allergic reactions, exhaustion, fatigue), anemia, increased level of eosinophils in the blood, insomnia and abdominal pain.
To get rid of enterobiasis, anthelmintic drugs are used. The dosage and course of treatment are selected by the doctor. To avoid re-infection, it is important to keep your hands clean, wash them after visiting any public place, after using the toilet, before eating, etc.
The nails should be cut short, the bed and underwear should be thoroughly disinfected and the apartment should be cleaned every day.
Toksokara
Toxocara is a parasite of the nematode group. The disease caused by toxocara is called "toxocariasis". This invasion in humans can be larval (ocular and visceral), as well as intestinal. The disease is spread all over the world. Toxocara infection occurs when the worm's eggs enter the human digestive tract. This is most commonly seen when eating food or water contaminated with dog feces. Contact with sick animals is no less dangerous.
The natural carriers of Toxocara are cats and dogs, foxes and wolves. Once in the human body, the worm larva migrates through blood vessels and can settle in any organ. Symptoms of the disease will depend on this. Most often, toxocariasis manifests itself in the form of allergic reactions (Quincke's edema, rash, bronchial asthma). During an exacerbation of the disease, the body temperature can rise to 38 degrees, but the symptoms of intoxication of the body are weakly expressed.
Toxocariasis can be suspected from enlarged lymph nodes: the visceral form of toxocariasis is the most common, it occurs with damage to internal organs (intestines, respiratory system, heart valves).
A person may experience pain in the abdomen, in the right hypochondrium, dyspeptic disorders, nausea; if the respiratory system is damaged, a person has shortness of breath, dry cough, attacks of suffocation; if toxocars are deposited on the heart valves, the patient has weakness, blue fingers and nasolabial triangle, shortness of breath; the form of the skin is characterized by itching, a feeling of movement under the skin, inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes; in the neurological form, the parasite causes the development of inflammation of the meninges and of the brain tissues themselves.
It manifests itself with headache, nausea and vomiting, convulsions and other neurological disorders. For the treatment of toxocariasis, anthelmintic drugs are used, as well as pathogenetic and symptomatic therapy.
Human Ascaris
Human roundworms are a nematode that parasites the small intestine. The disease caused by these parasites is called ascariasis. The owner of the nematode and the source of the infection is a sick person. Together with its feces, worm eggs enter the soil, where they mature into larvae. Then this soil is transferred to human food or hands, and if the rules of personal hygiene are not observed and if fruits, vegetables and berries are poorly processed, it is transferred to the digestive tract.
Children and rural residents are more susceptible to infections. Ascariasis manifests itself at different stages of its development in different ways. At the stage of migration of the larvae through the body, an increase in body temperature occurs, a dry cough appears, wheezing in the lungs and an increase in the size of the lymph nodes. Children suffer from ascariasis more severely than adults.
Allergic skin reactions are a characteristic symptom of ascariasis. During parasitism in the intestine, the patient develops dyspeptic disorders, soft stools are replaced by constipation, frequent abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting occur. On the part of the nervous system, hysterical convulsions, insomnia, mental fatigue and headaches are observed.
For the treatment of ascariasis in the stage of larval migration, patients are prescribed some anthelmintic drugs, while they parasitize worms in the intestine, others.
Hookworms and nekator
Hookworm and nekator are two types of nematodes that belong to the Ancylostomatidae family and cause a disease called hookworm. There are two ways to infect the human body with these parasites: fecal-oral (drinking contaminated water, fruits, vegetables) and percutaneous in contact with the soil (penetration occurs through the skin).
Clinical symptoms of hookworm: papular vesicular rash, shortness of breath and cough, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, loose stools, iron deficiency anemia. Treatment is reduced to taking anthelmintic drugs and eliminating anemia with iron preparations.
Wide ribbon
Tapeworm refers to the tapeworm of the order Pseudophyilidea. These parasites live in the small intestine of humans and those mammals that consume fish. Tapeworm infection causes the development of a disease such as diphyllobothriasis.
There are 12 types of tapeworms that can parasitize in the human body, however, the broader tapeworm is the most common. Infection occurs when eating raw, untreated lightly salted fish or caviar, which contains worm eggs. Symptoms of the presence of the parasite in the intestine: nausea, abdominal pain, anemia.
In severe cases, intestinal obstruction develops. To get rid of the parasite, patients are prescribed antiparasitic drugs. After the completion of the therapeutic course, a second study is mandatory for the presence of a worm in the body. If necessary, the use of anthelmintic drugs is repeated.
Bull tapeworm
The bull tapeworm is a tapeworm belonging to the teniid family. In the larval stage, it affects livestock, and in the tapeworm stage it lives in the human body (in its intestines). Tapeworm causes a disease called teniarinhoz, as a rule, a parasite is present in the patient's body. Human infection occurs via food after eating poorly treated meat (beef).
Clinically, the disease manifests itself as nausea, excessive appetite, abdominal pain, unstable stools and urticaria-like allergic reactions. To remove bovine tapeworms from the body, an anthelmintic agent is prescribed. In parallel, the patient must follow a slag-free diet, put cleansing enemas, take laxatives. After using an anthelmintic agent, the worm dies and leaves the human body naturally. Sometimes its length can reach up to 12 m.
Pork tapeworm
The pork tapeworm is a parasitic tapeworm that infects mammals. Intermediate transporters can be pigs, dogs, rabbits, camels, but the final owner is always a man.
If an adult parasite is found in a person's body, then it speaks of a disease such as teniasis. When the parasite is found in the patient's body in the larval stage, the disease is called "cysticercosis".
Pork tapeworm infection occurs when eating unprocessed pork. Sometimes the sources of the cysticercines are seeding hands or water. A patient with teniasis represents an epidemiological danger both to himself (infection by the larvae of the brain, skin, eyes or skeletal muscles) and to others.
Symptoms of teniasis: abdominal pain, loss of appetite, abnormal stools, headache, frequent dizziness, fainting (teniasis of the brain and eyes is extremely dangerous). For the treatment of teniasis, the patient is hospitalized. Under the supervision of doctors, anthelmintic drugs are prescribed to him, after which, after 2 hours, the patient takes a saline laxative, which allows him to get rid of the segments and eggs of the worm. Surgery is required for the treatment of cysticercosis of the eyes and brain.
Echinococcus
Echinococcus is a tapeworm of the order Cyclophyllidae. Adults parasitize in the intestines of cats and dogs and are found in jackals and wolves. For humans, parasite larvae are dangerous, which can cause a serious disease - echinococcosis. Larvae can infect a person's internal organs, forming echinococcal cysts in them. For echinococci, humans act as an intermediate host.
Infection is carried out by contact (when cutting carcasses, when interacting with a sick animal) or food (when eating contaminated food or water). At risk are people who deal with animal husbandry or who have constant contact with animals. Symptoms may not appear for many years.
When the asymptomatic phase ends, pain, skin itching and urticaria appear at the site of the invasion of the larva. In addition, it suffers from the functioning of the organ within which the parasitic echinococcus larvae. During suppuration of the cyst, an increase in body temperature and fever is observed.
A complete cure for echinococcosis is only possible surgically. The cyst is cleaned, taking care not to damage its membrane. If the bladder is very large, it is punctured and the contents aspirated. Before and after the operation, the patient is prescribed antiparasitic drugs. In case of radical removal of the cyst, the prognosis for recovery is favorable.
Alveococcus
Alveococcus is a helminth of the cestode group. The worm cries out a life-threatening disease of alveococcosis, which is characterized by the formation of a primary focus in the liver with the subsequent spread of metastases to other organs. Infection occurs when the parasite's oncospheres enter the mouth.
This can happen when hunting, cutting wild animal carcasses, in contact with pets or when eating unprocessed forest berries and herbs. Symptoms of alveococcosis are reduced to pain in the right hypochondrium, belching, nausea. Often there is itching, allergic reactions. Suppuration of a tumor with a parasite and its breakthrough into the abdominal or pleural cavity is not excluded.
Alveococcal metastases can be found in the brain and lungs. Treatment of the disease is quick, but it should be complemented by taking antiparasitic drugs.
Giardia
Giardia (another name for Giardia) are flagellated parasites belonging to the order Diplomonadid. Giardia causes a disease called "giardiasis" and is parasitic in the small intestine of humans, as well as many other mammals and even birds.
Giardia infection occurs via the fecal-oral route: food, water and home methods. Of utmost importance in terms of transmission of infection is the use of raw water, contaminated food, the use of public items sown with lamblia cysts. The main symptoms of giardiasis are nausea, painful sensations in the abdomen, stool disorders and excessive gas.
In addition, patients suffer from allergic reactions, intoxication and neurotic disorders. Therapy of giardiasis is carried out with the help of antiprotozoal drugs, as well as with the inclusion of enzymes, choleretic agents and enterosorbents in the treatment regimen.
Histological amoeba
Histological amoeba is a parasitic protozoan that causes a disease called amoebiasis. The disease is manifested by the formation of ulcers in the large intestine, followed by damage to other internal organs. Amoeba infection occurs via the fecal-oral route, after mature water or food cysts have entered the human gastrointestinal tract. Possible transmission by contact of parasites through unwashed hands. Flies can be carriers of amoebas.
Another way to spread amoebiasis is through the sexual route (anal intercourse). Symptoms of amoebiasis: copious mucous stools, abdominal pain, blood in the stool, weight loss, anemia. Also, extraintestinal amoebiasis is characterized by the formation of abscesses in those organs that are affected by parasites (lungs, brain, liver, etc. ).
Antiprotozoal drugs are prescribed to treat intestinal ambiasis.
The duration of therapy is determined by the severity of the amoebiasis.
A disease called gnathostomosis is caused by the sexually mature larvae and nematodes Gnathostoma spinigerum. Infection occurs when eating unprocessed fish, frog or bird meat, as well as when drinking unboiled, uncontaminated water. Symptoms of the disease are manifested in cough and pain at the site of penetration of the larva under the skin, local inflammation and an increase in body temperature.
Severe edema and pruritus are typical. As a rule, after a week of the onset of symptoms, they disappear, but recur over the years. Dangerous damage to the eyeball and brain is often fatal. Treatment involves taking anthelmintic drugs and surgery. During the operation, parasites are removed from under the skin.
Trichinella
Trichinella are round parasitic worms that in the larval stage live in the muscles (oculomotor, masticatory, diaphragm muscles) and in adulthood - in the lumen of the small intestine. The disease caused by trichinella is called "trichinosis". It is deadly.
Human infection occurs through the consumption of raw or poorly processed meat from wild and domestic animals. Symptoms include loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. In the future, muscle pains, swelling of the eyelids and rashes will join. Treatment of parasitic infestation is carried out with the help of anthelmintic drugs. At the same time, antihistamines and corticosteroids are prescribed if necessary.
Schistosomes
Schistosomes are worms of the fluke genus. They cause a disease called schistosomiasis. Human infection occurs when bathing, in the process of washing clothes or by watering the soil with water with schistosom larvae.
They are able to penetrate the human body even through intact skin and mucous membranes. Symptoms in the acute stage of the disease are manifested in an increase in temperature to high levels, itching of the skin and the appearance of papules all over the body.
After the disease becomes chronic, the infected person may show signs of colpitis, prostatitis, colitis, ascites, hydronephrosis, etc. To treat the disease, anthelmintic drugs are used. Surgery is required for complications of genitourinary schistosomiasis.
There are many parasites that can harm the human body. Most of them enter their owner's body via the gastrointestinal tract if safe food preparation technology is not followed and basic hygiene procedures are not followed.
Parasites in the body - adaptive properties
- long life expectancy (helminths live in the human body for years, and sometimes as long as the host of the parasite lives);
- the ability to suppress or modify the immune response of the host organism (a state of immunodeficiency occurs, conditions are created for the penetration of pathogens from the outside, as well as for the "disinhibition" of internal foci of infection);
- many types of helminths, entering the digestive tract, release anti-enzymes, which saves them from death; the digestion process is disrupted, toxic-allergic reactions of varying severity appear: urticaria, bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis;
- stages of development (egg, larva, change of owner);
- the ability of eggs to survive for years in the external environment;
- sexual reproduction, in which the exchange of genetic information takes place, and this is already the highest stage of development, which leads to an increase in the heterogeneous population, that is, parasites become less vulnerable;
- lack of immunization methods, as the immune response is weak and unstable;
- widespread helminths, many habitats (water, soil, air, plants and animals).
Prevention of parasites in the body
Preventive measures to prevent pest infestation should be comprehensive. First of all, it is necessary to follow the basic rules of personal hygiene, eat only fruits, washed vegetables, heat-treated fish and meat, drink only clean water.
Most experts support the pharmacological prevention of helminthiasis using pharmaceutical anti-parasitic drugs: a parasitologist will help you choose the necessary medicine and correctly calculate its dosage.
You can supplement this therapy with folk remedies that have an anthelmintic effect - for example, eat more onions, garlic, various spices, eat pumpkin seeds regularly.