How to understand that you have worms

Personal hygiene has greatly improved over the past century, but the worm problem is still relevant not only to rural residents, but also to urban dwellers. Statistics make it clear how high the risk of contracting helminthic invasions is: one in three people on the planet suffer from helminthiasis. But this disease does not always manifest itself clearly, and in some cases, sufferers fail to correctly interpret the symptoms and remain in the dark for a long time without taking any measures. Questions about how to understand that you have worms arise both with helminthiasis and with other pathologies with similar symptoms.

Worms are a large group of parasitic worms, the main signs of their presence in the human body are similar to each other. Doctors believe that every person at least once in their life has been exposed to helminthiasis. In addition, the presence of helminths in the body can provoke the development of other, sometimes very dangerous diseases, so the question of diagnosing this disease is very important.

Mechanisms of infection

Worm infection occurs in four main ways:

• Water, earth or sand. Soil and water provide ideal conditions for the storage of parasite eggs. A person bathing in open water is always at risk of ingesting eggs, which later turn into adults. Not as rare as it may seem, people also ingest particles of earth, exposing themselves to the danger of infection. Some types of parasites can enter the body directly through the skin.
• Food.On fruit and vegetable shells that have not been washed or cooked properly, there may be worm eggs. Consumption of raw or lightly processed meat, dried fish, dairy products, etc. it is associated with no less risks.
• Contact with the patient. Direct contact can take place both with a sick person and with an infected animal. Joint activities, life in a common area, close communication contribute to the rapid entry of parasites into the intestine and its further development.
• Bites.Worms can be transmitted by insect bites. This is one of the rarest ways of infection in temperate latitudes, but sometimes it becomes the cause of the disease. In warm countries, this route is more common, which should be remembered when going on vacation to warm lands.

Symptoms

For those who want to know how to understand that you have worms, you should understand the principles for identifying symptoms. Any symptoms of helminthiasis do not appear immediately after infection, but only when the parasite stops migrating through the gastrointestinal tract and begins to develop into an adult.

Some of the signs are due to the ingestion of toxins that the worm releases during life. All waste enters the intestinal lumen, from where it is absorbed into the bloodstream and transported to all organs. There are usually more signs and they are stronger in the multiple infection condition, when the number of worms becomes significant. In people who are immunosuppressed or have other chronic conditions, symptoms worsen over a relatively short period of time.

All signs are divided into two large groups: explicit and hidden. Explicit ones can be independently assessed at home, while hidden ones can only be determined on an outpatient basis with the help of appointments for certain tests and exams.

Explicit

The obvious ones include symptoms by which it can be understood that worms are present in the body. Their presence does not cause too obvious symptoms, as, for example, happens with the development of viruses. Parasites aim for life inside the body, so excessive deterioration of the infected host's condition would be a threat to their life. For this reason, the symptoms do not require emergency care.

You can suspect or understand the presence of the Helminthic invasion by the following signs:

• Gradual weight loss for no apparent reason, which continues for several months and sometimes for several consecutive years. The weight loss rate is not catastrophic, very often it is 2-5% per month. With a high intensity of infection in people with reduced immunity, this figure can reach up to 10%.
• Disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Some worms are able to block the bile ducts or the intestinal lumen, causing stable constipation. With a high intensity of release of toxins, on the contrary, recurrent diarrhea can occur. Due to inflammation of the walls of the upper part of the small intestine, increased flatulence and gas formation is often observed, and bloating is possible.
• Severe pain in the joints and muscles. Often such manifestations are attributed to the development of arthrosis, but in the case of helminths, this is caused by the migration of parasites. Also, such pain may be due to the influence of toxins on the joints and muscle tissue.
• Itching near the anus. This phenomenon is caused by the fact that a large number of parasitic worm species crawl out of the lumen of the rectum to reproduce and lay eggs. This causes intense itching, which tends to get worse in the evening and night.
• allergic manifestations. It often occurs in response to the appearance of a large number of toxins in the blood or due to damage to the intestinal mucosa, which provokes an increase in the immune system and an allergic reaction.
• Pulmonary manifestations. Possible in a wide range, ranging from constant coughing and ending with pneumonia. Characteristic for intense ascariasis which occurs over a period of not less than three months from the moment of infection.
• High temperature. This manifestation can be of different intensity. Most often, a low temperature of about 37 ° C persists around the clock, but in rare cases, fever can be observed.

Hidden away

Hidden signs can only be revealed by a doctor who will properly assess the clinical picture and be able to understand that worms could be the probable cause. Preventive measures for the diagnosis of helminthiases are:

• Stool analysis for worms. It has to be presented in two stages, therefore experts do not consider the results of an analysis to be reliable. This is due to the cyclical nature of reproduction, so it is far from always possible to understand from a stool analysis that the patient is suffering from helminths.
• Clinical blood test. Elevated levels of eosinophils indicate that parasites are likely to be present in the body. Often such a hypothesis arises after tests during the treatment or diagnosis of other diseases.
• Antibody analysis. At present, it is one of the most reliable diagnostic methods that help to understand if a person has worms. Despite the fact that it is more expensive than similar drugs, recently doctors prefer to prescribe it more and more due to its high information content and reliability.

Antiparasitic or laxative medications should not be taken prior to any clinical testing for parasites, as this makes diagnosis difficult.

Signs in a child

In children, the presence of worms is diagnosed more often than in adults. This is facilitated by poor hygiene, close contact with domestic or street animals, and incomplete development of the immune system. A growing organism usually reacts more acutely to the presence of parasites and the consequences can be more global than in adults. But understanding that a child has worms is not very easy. Symptoms may be the same as in adults, but most of the time they are more acute.

In most cases, the signs that suggest helminthic invasion in children are:

• Rapid weight loss. With a running image, such a manifestation can lead to a delay in physical development;
• Deterioration of hair and nails. It occurs due to a long-term deficiency of nutrients and vitamins caused by a violation of the absorption of digested food in the intestine.
• Sleep disorders. Pathology can cause the baby to wake up more often at night, cry, turn and talk in a dream.
• Irritability. Nervous system poisoning and poor health can affect the emotional state of the baby, cause increased excitability, capriciousness, crying, etc.
• The desire to constantly scratch the anus. Children do not control external manifestations, so this symptom often helps to understand the cause of ailments and physical changes.

Some parents tend to give their children broad-spectrum anti-parasite drugs for prevention, but experts advise against doing so, as most of these drugs are quite difficult to tolerate. It is better to first understand whether the child is infected and what kind of treatment she needs, since the therapy of different types of worms is significantly different and is not always effective for helminths of other groups.