Parasitologists have their own definition of the summer season - the season of helminths.During the warm season, various types of pests feel great and actively reproduce.
You can meet them everywhere - in country gardens, during a picnic and when communicating with our younger brothers.How to avoid this encounter and what to do if it happens?
Worms or helminths are parasites that affect humans, animals and even plants.Previously, it was generally accepted that helminthic infections were the lot of unscrupulous people, but today it is known that this is not the case.No one is safe from helminth infection.And according to expert estimates, worms affect from 70 to 95% of the world's population.
Signs of helminthiasis
There are often situations that are not easy to guess about such a neighborhood.Symptoms of the presence of parasites in the body are non-specific.For some they will cause intestinal disorders, for others - weakness, and for others they will not feel anything at all.Experts warn that worms can live in the human body for years and go unnoticed.However, a lot depends not only on your individual characteristics, but also on the type of parasites.
People at risk of helminth infection include people with weakened immune systems and children under 3 years of age.The acidity of a healthy adult's gastric juice is most often fatal to worms.Parasites live in any litter box and if a baby likes to put his fingers in his mouth, that can end sadly.
Pediatrician Maxim Pereverzentsev claims that for every square meter of sandbox there are at least fifty worm eggs.In addition, young children often play with pets, which carry parasite eggs in their fur or saliva.
Enterobiasis
The most common childhood parasites are pinworms, which cause the disease enterobiasis.It is not difficult to suspect their presence.At night, pinworms lay eggs in the anus area, causing intense itching in humans.Other symptoms include decreased appetite and restless sleep.Enterobiasis must be treated, and only a doctor can help with this.A little known fact: if a child is infected with worms, the vaccines given to him will not be effective.
Here are some other symptoms that may indicate the presence of worms in the human body: abdominal pain, skin rashes, allergic reactions, increased salivation, constipation or diarrhea, nausea.
Of the three hundred species of worms known in the world, the two most common in our country are pinworms and roundworms, which parasitize the intestines.According to the laboratory diagnostic doctor Vasily Yurasov, at least half of the population of our country has either one or the other.
Ascariasis
For example, it is very easy to get infected with roundworms in the dacha - there are a lot of them in our garden beds.They enter the body through poorly washed vegetables and leafy greens.The life span of a roundworm is measured in two years, and, as Yurasov says, theoretically, ascariasis can go away on its own (to continue to exist, the worm must be in the soil).However, during these two years, these worms can destroy your life a lot, because they affect not only the gastrointestinal system, but also the respiratory system.Most often, ascariasis manifests as dermatitis, muscle pain, stool disorders and a dry cough, which worsens at night.If there are many roundworms, they can lead to the development of pancreatitis, inflammation of the appendix, cholecystitis, intestinal obstruction and liver abscess.
Toxoporosis
Toxoporosis is transmitted through pets, which causes damage to the liver and mucous membranes of the eyes.Inadequately fried kebabs or insufficiently smoked or salted fish (usually carp and carp) transmit tape and liver.
If we talk about the diagnosis of helminths, then everything is not so simple here.Each of us has been checked for eggworms at least once in his life (for example, to get a certificate for a swimming pool), but detecting them in the research material is quite difficult.For example, roundworms release eggs every few days.Therefore, in order to understand the real situation, says laboratory diagnostic doctor Vasily Yurasov, such tests should be done at least three days in a row.
Diagnosis and treatment of helminthiasis
In addition, if there are serious suspicions about the presence of worms in the body, the doctor can prescribe an additional test - a stool test for worms.Based on the results of this analysis, a specialist will be able to understand the presence of helminths in the body based on a number of indirect signs.Another important aid in determining helminthic infestations is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of blood, which allows you to determine antibodies to various types of parasites.To complete the picture, the doctor may prescribe the patient a routine biochemical blood test.For example, if it turns out that a person has exceeded the normative value of eosinophils, it is very likely that the reason lies in the presence of something else in his body.
Pests should only be treated under the strict supervision of an expert.You should contact a healer or parasitologist.As for prevention, it is quite simple.Wash your hands as often as possible, rinse the greens from your garden beds well, fry your meat and fish well and don't let your pets eat too much.Good folk remedies for prevention include pumpkin seeds, ginger and tansy.