According to the WHO, more than 4 billion people on Earth suffer from parasites. Such a massive infection is explained by the underestimation of the problem, insufficient education of the population, ineffective diagnosis and treatment of patients.
All parasites that can cause disease in humans can be divided into three large groups:
- Protozoa or protozoa. There are some varieties of them, but only a few are widespread all over the world: lamblia, toxoplasma, Trichomonas.
- Worms or helminths. In the CIS countries, nematodes, pinworms, toxocara, trichinae, swine and bovine tapeworms, echinococci, feline flukes and others are present.
- Ectoparasites (parasitosis on the outside) - lice with lice, ticks.
Infection of the human body with parasites of the latter group is easy enough to notice, but protozoa and worms often become a "surprise" for their "owners".
Why are parasites dangerous?
Most parasites live a long time and actively multiply in the human body, so the diseases they cause take a chronic and constantly recurring course. In this case, the affected organs cease to function completely, immunity decreases, the patient becomes more vulnerable to infection.
As a result, the body of a person infected with parasites is impoverished, weakened, poisoned by parasite toxins and allergic. These processes, of course, do not develop at the speed of light, but years of ignorance about the presence of a parasite in the body and, consequently, the absence of treatment cause serious health problems.
How can you get infected?
Knowing the main ways to contract parasites is an opportunity to protect yourself and stay healthy. If we focus on common pathogens in the CIS countries, the list of possible routes of transmission of these parasites in humans will be as follows:
- Through dirty hands.
- Through dirty water (even when swimming in it).
- Through unwashed fruits and vegetables.
- Through raw or undercooked meat and fish.
- Contact with an infectious animal.
- Sexual contact (this is how trichomoniasis is transmitted).
How to suspect the presence of a parasite in a person?
Each parasite is characterized by its own localization in the human body, respectively, and by a special clinic of the defeat of one or another organ. However, several signs common to all helminthiases and some diseases caused by protozoa can be distinguished.
Intoxication
Its appearance is associated with the vital activity of the parasite in a person, it is the products secreted by it that poison the patient's body. This is manifested by headache, weakness, nausea, decreased appetite, irritability.
Allergy
Most often this is a rash that appears and disappears and does not respond well to dermatological treatment. This can manifest itself as a diathesis in children. The origin of such a rash is also explained by the effects of the parasite's toxins on the body. If a person is allergic, then worm infection can cause more serious manifestations: swelling of the mucous membranes, attacks of bronchospasm, and so on.
Weight loss
This symptom is particularly pronounced in children who seem to eat well but do not gain weight, lose weight and at the same time look very thin. The reason for the decrease in weight again lies in the competition for the patient's body nutrients with worms.
Periodic hyperthermia
In addition, the temperature does not rise much, up to 37. 5. This happens against the background of the absence of obvious signs of some kind of disease.
Intestinal disorders
This is flatulence, constipation, diarrhea, rumbling and pain in the abdomen. Most often, these symptoms are explained by the presence of dysbiosis and are unsuccessfully treated with antibiotics and bacterial drugs.
Anemia
Parasites inside a person feed on it, therefore, nutrients, micro and macro elements, as well as vitamins, often consumed by the patient, are not enough to meet the body's own needs. The first sign of such a deficiency is a lack of iron in anemia, which is manifested by pallor of the skin and mucous membranes, dizziness.
Variation in food preferences, cravings for sweets
These phenomena can also be explained by the lack of some nutrients in the patient's body.
The appearance of these signs, all the more all at once, should alert you and force you to see a doctor.
Diagnostic and protection methods
It should be noted right away that any alternative method of detecting parasites in the human body (for example, the advertised Voll method) cannot be considered a reliable source of information. Therefore, you can only rely on microscopic examination of feces and multiple and specific blood tests for the presence of antibodies to individual worms and protozoa. The latter can be done in private workshops.
To avoid becoming a victim of the parasite, a person must follow simple rules:
- Always and everywhere wash your hands with soap and water.
- There are only vegetables, fruits and herbs that are thoroughly washed, or better still blanched with boiling water.
- Do not drink raw water.
- Do not swim in muddy water.
- A complete heat treatment of meat and fish products is mandatory.
- Periodically washing children's toys and those that have been outside, for example, in a sandbox, should be disinfected.
- Check pets for parasites every year.
Remedies against parasites
Doctors recommend worm prophylaxis 2 times a year with special preparations. However, it is impossible to arbitrarily prescribe to oneself, and even more so to a child, such drugs, since all of them are toxic not only for worms. Therefore, you should consult a doctor about the possibility of using this or that drug and its dosage.
If the presence of a parasite in the human body is confirmed, it is worth looking for a good parasitologist who prescribes an effective treatment regimen, since taking a drug is usually not enough.