Intestinal or other worms in humans are an invasion that affects the whole body. This disease is caused by infection with eggs and larvae of worms and is characterized by a number of specific symptoms.
The diagnosis is made on the basis of several tests, both feces and blood. Worms in the abdomen and other organs occur in adults and children, may appear in the anus, in the stool, or do not manifest at all.
Causes
Worms in the intestines are transmitted mainly by fecal-oral route, ie the infection requires swallowing the eggs of parasites or worm larvae. An unpleasant feature of this invasion is that some types of helminths in children and adults remain viable for a long time outside the host's body (for example, in water, in the soil).
The eggs of the parasite that adults lay there remain capable of infection for several months. This characteristic leads to the fact that some types of worms are very common in children and adults.
The main routes of infection are as follows:
- Infection through the use of untreated water, which can be in a well, natural reservoir, or even leaking from the tap. Almost all intestinal parasites in humans survive for a long time and multiply in water, so it is better to drink bottled water. In areas unfavorable for sanitary conditions, water from wells can be used only after prolonged boiling;
- The appearance of worms in the baby's buttocks can occur as a result of eating poorly washed vegetables. If the fertilizer was used to fertilize soil that was infected with worms, then their larvae, eggs and adults appear and survive in the soil for a long time. Together with the particles of the earth, the eggs fall on the vegetables. If such vegetables are poorly washed, then they will enter the body of the host, causing helminthic invasion in the person;
- Flatulence and other characteristic symptoms of infection can occur after consuming contaminated meat, fish or poultry. If an animal, bird or fish has suffered from a helminthic infestation during its life, then its meat is most likely infected, while parasites (for example, fish) are easily rooted in the human body. You can get rid of them only as a result of careful and long-term heat treatment of meat (cooking or frying at maximum temperatures). You can also defeat the invasion by freezing. But since most modern home freezers can give a maximum temperature of about 8 degrees, it is necessary to keep meat, fish or poultry there for at least a week;
- Signs of worm infection in humans can appear after contact with a pet. Dogs and cats that walk the streets almost always have earthworms in their stomachs (domestic cats are not usually infected). When performing hygienic procedures, the animal spreads worm eggs from the anus all over the hair. If you kiss such an animal or do not wash your hands after contact with it, you can get worms in the human body, because animal invasions take root and multiply in the human body;
- A person may notice bloating and other signs of the presence of helminths even after swimming in an infected pond. This is a rather rare method, but infection is possible;
- The transmission of helminthiasis in humans from one person to another takes place through surfaces, towels, bedding. Eggs and larvae pass to the surface or tissue from the skin of an infected person, and from there migrate to the skin of a healthy person when touched. After that, they are likely to enter the oral cavity of a healthy person and develop an infection.
It is worth remembering that many types of intestinal parasites are common in children’s groups. This is because many children are not too concerned about hygiene and many areas in kindergartens are covered with helminth eggs, whose photo is shown below, even if only one child was initially ill.
For that reason, the primary task of the parents is to explain to the baby that all types of worms are dangerous in humans and that they can survive on the skin of the hand and reach it into the mouth. For this reason, good hygiene is important. A video on the spread of worms in women, men and children and the peculiarities of their development was published at the end of the material.
Sorte
Some patients are interested in what colors worms are and how to visually determine what is in the stool? These are most often white or light worms, although sometimes transparent worms are also found in humans. They are flat or round, sometimes with two dark food channels on the sides.
- The largest human worms are called tapeworms. The largest in this group is the bull tapeworm. According to scientific research, they can live in the intestines for up to 40 years and reach several meters in length.
- Roundworms are the most common type of pest, which belongs to the nematodes of roundworms. Can such individuals be very large? Females reach a length of about 25 cm, males - 12 cm;
- Pinworms are more common in children than in adults. These are small individuals, similar in description to roundworms, but smaller. The largest pinworm barely reaches 10-12 cm;
- Giardia is the smallest species of parasite. This is quite common. If it is found in the stool, you need to think about what to do with the worms and start choosing a treatment;
- Trichinosis invasions are characterized by the most severe course, fever and facial edema are present. Such invasions are called those caused by Trichinella nematodes.
The most common types of individuals have common characteristics and are visible in the feces. Therefore, the stool of a person with worms may be different from the stool of someone who is not infected.
Localization
Some people who suspect they have an invasion wonder where the worms are localized in the human body? Although it is traditionally believed that worms appear in the human body in the intestines, this is not entirely true.
Almost all types of helminths in humans can develop in many organs and systems, which is associated with the peculiarities of their migration, when larvae hatched from eggs in the intestine enter the bloodstream and spread with it throughout the body.
They enter the human body through the mouth, but can manifest in the following places:
- Subcutaneous parasites are not a very common type of tropical parasite transmitted by insects (tsetse flies, specific tropical mites, etc. ). Parasites under the skin are almost never found in the middle lane, but there is a risk of infection with them on tour. Such parasites are localized under the skin only in the initial stages of their life cycle, after which they can move to the muscles;
- The usual place where localization is observed in women is the vagina, uterus. They can crawl out of the anus there or infect the reproductive system during the migration phase;
- Worms in the ears of a baby or adult are also found because larvae often infect ENT organs (including the throat);
- Many worms choose the digestive system and intestines as the site of localization. They have enough food (blood and serum) and oxygen to maintain a normal life. Treating intestinal parasites is usually easier than others. But even if they were initially in a person’s stomach, then over time they can infect other organs;
- Signs of worms in the lungs can be confused with the characteristic symptoms of pleurisy or pneumonia. However, this is a common site of worm localization, so it is important to diagnose their presence in time;
- If the parasites are wrapped up in the brain, then the nervous system is damaged. It can manifest as convulsions, irritability, unreasonable anxiety, etc. ;
- If worms manifest in the heart in humans, then tachycardia, arrhythmias and others are possible. In particularly severe cases, heart failure develops;
- Helminths are also common in the liver, as they are primarily obtained from the intestine through the portal vein.
As can be seen from the above, patients wondering where worms live in humans should consider not only the type of invasion but also the stage of infection.
Complications
It is important to know what worms cause and what will happen if you do not treat them? Worms cause general intoxication of the body, which can be very pronounced.
Symptoms of an allergic nature also appear, because the immune system produces histamines in order to defend itself from invasion. In this case, you need to remember what an allergic rash with helminths looks like - these are pink spots of medium size, sometimes hives, itching, usually no.
As with liver localization, and when it is found in other organs, tapeworm in humans or some other parasite causes damage to the mucous membrane and local inflammatory processes in a small area.
As a result, an abscess can occur (in the case of the liver, with pus penetrating the abdominal cavity and blood poisoning if left untreated).
As with bronchial and lung damage, coughing often occurs. Then bronchitis, pleurisy or pneumonia develop, which must be treated with antibiotics, despite the fact that it is a reaction to the invasion.
With the localization of the parasite in the vagina, exacerbations of chronic diseases and microflora disorders may occur. It is believed that such a phenomenon can lead to infertility.
Symptoms
The symptoms of worms in humans are varied, but are characteristic of almost all types of parasites. However, chronic and acute infections can have different symptoms in adults. Acute infection is characterized by the following symptoms of the disease:
- Elevated temperature in normal general condition (up to 38 degrees);
- Shivering and skin symptoms (rash) similar to fever;
- When larvae are localized in the lungs or bronchi, symptoms in the body are expressed by coughing;
- Inflammatory processes are signs of the presence of worms in the human body, so there is an increase in lymph nodes;
- Worms and allergies in an individual are related, so there may be signs of worms in a person in the form of rashes and allergic reactions.
But the most common symptoms of the presence of worms in humans are intestinal, because the parasite is most often localized there. These are the symptoms of worm infection in an individual, such as:
- Stool disorders - constipation or diarrhea, sometimes bloody;
- The first symptoms of worms are loss of appetite, nausea, aversion to certain foods, which eventually leads to weight loss;
- The first signs of worms in adults may be bloating and bloating;
- Over time, abdominal and abdominal pain develops, independent of food intake, occasional or permanent;
- In worms, a person develops symptoms of general intoxication - paleness, drowsiness, chronic fatigue, etc.
Skin parasites cause specific symptoms in adults and children. The sign of worms is numbness of the extremities, tingling on the skin, headache, dizziness, much less often - fever. In any case, the incubation period of worms in humans is quite long and can last from a few weeks to several months.
For this reason, the first signs of worms in a person may not appear soon. And since almost all the symptoms of the presence of worms in a person can indicate other diseases, often if a person has worms, it becomes clear only when they enter the feces.
Diagnosis
Even if you know how worms appear, you may not notice their appearance. Some types of worms do not appear for a long time, and the diagnosis of worms in humans cannot be made at home. The following methods are used in laboratories to determine if worms exist, the symptoms and treatment of which are discussed in this article:
- General blood test. Worms can be in case there are deviations in it. It looks like severe anemia - a significant reduction in iron and hemoglobin levels. It occurs as a result of the fact that worms in humans cause local bleeding, constantly damage the mucous membranes, and are also parasites that feed directly on the blood;
- If the worms are in the intestines, then their waste products will be present in the stool. What are the signs of worms in an individual visible in the feces? These are eggs, larvae or even adult parasites. Although, if you know what worms look like in humans, adults in the stool can be recognized independently;
- Regardless of where the worms come from in humans and what types of worms in humans (protozoa, roundworms, tapeworms), antibodies to them appear in their blood. This is due to the fact that as soon as a person has worms, the immune system considers them a foreign invasion and tries to defend itself against it by making antibodies. This method helps to determine which types of worms are present and which symptoms to expect, as different antibodies are produced for each invasion.
The latter method of diagnosis is especially good because it allows you to learn about worms at an early stage, identify worm species and learn how to treat worms in humans.
Treatment
Some of those patients who are interested in what human worms look like and how they enter the body want to know and how to cure them in an individual. The official worm treatment regimen for adults includes a single dose of an anthelmintic that acts on the whole body when a person has worms.
It is also advisable to repeat the course of treatment in adults 2-3 weeks after the first administration of the drug. It is necessary to poison small and large infestations twice in order to get rid of the larvae completely.
The second treatment is recommended if the worms are in children. Because the drugs are toxic, treatment in adults has a negative effect on the liver. Children are prescribed medications that can be taken in a short course (several times), which reduces the burden on the liver.
Some of those who are wondering how to treat earthworms in an individual opt for folk methods of control, when earthworms in an adult or child are eliminated naturally.
It is believed that a mixture of ground pumpkin seeds with honey in a ratio of one to one is effective against worms, if consumed daily by the tablespoon.
Effective treatment is carried out with an enema of a solution of garlic and milk. You can also treat worms in the intestines by drinking a similar solution. In the presence of worms in a person, the symptoms will start to manifest less after a week.
Prophylaxis
By knowing where worms come from, where pinworms come from, you can determine a list of rules to follow to protect yourself from worms in humans. To avoid asking "do I have worms", it's worth doing the following:
- Wash vegetables and fruits well;
- Boil or fry the meat well, you can also freeze it for a long time;
- Use only bottled or purified water for drinking;
- Limit contact with pets and carry out regular prevention of helminthic infestation;
- Wash your hands regularly, especially after staying in public places.
If infection is suspected, regular stool testing for helminths is recommended.