What are the names of worms that can live in the human body?

Worms or helminths are parasites that live, feed, grow and reproduce in the human body, in other words they use it to carry out their life cycle. According to various statistics, there are from 300 to 500 species of worms dangerous to humans in the world. Their prevalence varies from country to country and depends on the level of health literacy of the population and the socioeconomic development of the region. But even in enlightened European countries, symptoms of helminthiasis are found in a third of the inhabitants. Worm larvae can enter the human body in several ways, depending on their development cycle. The names of worms in humans, their varieties, as well as methods of infection, symptoms and methods of treatment of helminthiasis are relevant information for the majority of the world's population.

What types of worms are there?

Over many years of evolution, parasites have ideally adapted to live at the expense of other living things, without arousing suspicion in the immune system for a long time, so the symptoms of worms in humans do not appear immediately and can be completely absent or slightly expressed.

Worms are able to penetrate the body unnoticed, camouflage themselves, destroy tissues and organs and poison the human body with toxins, living in it for a long time.

Some types of worms are dangerous only to humans, while others are parasites in animals. Their size varies from microscopic to gigantic (15 or more meters in length). About three dozen parasites are common, including single-celled protozoan creatures. Among all the diversity, there are 3 main groups of helminths depending on the characteristics of their life cycle:

1. Contact worms- present only in humans, they have a simple development cycle that does not require more than one host. Typical representatives are pinworms, these are the most common intestinal worms in children. Infection occurs in families, groups of children, public places through unwashed hands, household objects (toys, books, curtains, etc. ) on which mature eggs of these worms have fallen, as well as through inhalation of dust.
2. Group of geohelminths– their eggs must first mature in soil, water or sand. They enter the human body through the mouth with unwashed berries, vegetables or herbs (such as roundworms and whipworms) or through the skin (such as hookworms).
3. Biohelminths– have a complex life cycle with a change of hosts. These worms appear in humans by eating poorly washed vegetables or raw water (echinococcus), animal meat contaminated with larvae (bovine or porcine tapeworm), planed fish and caviar (tapeworm broad), river fish (step or liver fluke) or through the bloodstream. (filaria).

Types of worms

All types of helminths are divided into 3 classes based on morphological characteristics:

1. Class of roundworms (roundworms)– roundworms, pinworms, hookworms, whipworms, trichinella. Nematodes are distinguished by the presence of separate sexes and have different sizes: from 1 cm (female pinworms) to 40 cm (roundworms).
2. Class of flukes (usually called trematodes)– Siberian fluke (cat fluke), schistosomes. These are always biohelminths and hermaphrodites, equipped with various devices for suction and attachment to the internal organs of a person.
3. Class of tapeworms (type of flatworms)- These are long ribbon pests. These include the broad tapeworm, the porcine tapeworm and the bovine tapeworm - this is the largest worm, capable of growing up to 20 meters in length. Flatworms feed on the entire surface of the body, are hermaphrodites and biohelminths. Echinococcus is considered the smallest representative of tapeworms.

What the world of worms is all about is great diversity and exceptional survival. The class of trematodes and tapeworms are 100% parasites, but nematodes are heterogeneous, there are several tens of thousands of species, but not all of them like to parasitize the human body. Most helminths lay eggs that can survive in the external environment for several months, and Trichinella is a viviparous individual.

In the human body, worms live not only in the intestines; some of them prefer to be found in the liver, lung parenchyma, brain, skin, muscle tissue and even eyeballs.

Worms can live a long time; for example, a cysticercus can live in the brain for many years; growth of a hydatid cyst continues for up to 10 years.

Speaking of nematodes

Which worms are most common:

1. Pinworms- live in the lower parts of the small intestine and throughout the large intestine of humans; females lay eggs around the anus at night, causing a characteristic sign of enterobiasis in humans: itching. Transmission of worms between people occurs through dirty hands (very often eggs of these worms are found under children's nails), bedding and household items. The eggs are very light and can be transmitted through the air with dust; they remain viable for up to six months. These are the least toxic of the worms. Human feces do not contain them; for diagnosis it is necessary to carry out a curettage of the perianal area.
2. Ascaris- a large worm with a hook-shaped curved end; a mature individual can reach a length of up to half a meter. The eggs ripen in the soil and enter the stomach and small intestine with unwashed berries, vegetables or herbs. The released larvae gnaw the intestinal wall, penetrating the hepatic venous vessels, from there, with the blood flow, rush into the lungs, the right side of the heart, sometimes into the brain and eyes, and inflammation develops in these organs . When coughing, sputum with larvae enters the mouth and is again ingested into the gastrointestinal tract, where mature individuals develop, laying eggs after a month. These worms are brown or reddish in color because they hijack red blood cells. The lifespan of nematodes is up to 2 years. For diagnosis, feces are analyzed for the presence of worm eggs.
3. Whipworms- a very thin worm, about 5 cm long and with a pointed end, with which it clings to the internal surface of the intestinal wall. The eggs mature in the soil, from where they penetrate the intestine and here the larvae emerge. Whipworms feed on blood and prefer to remain within the cecum and appendix, often causing inflammation and anemia. Life expectancy is approximately 3-4 years. To detect it, you need to test your feces for worm eggs.
4. Trichinella- a small round worm that moves between predators and livestock. A person becomes infected by eating meat with larvae, in the intestine, after a couple of days, a mature individual of Trichinella is formed, which then gives birth to live larvae. Through the blood they can infect the whole body, but prefer skeletal muscles, where they remain for up to 5 years.

Speaking of tapeworms and flukes

What types of worms cause the most harm to the human body:

1. Bull tapeworm (popularly called tapeworm)- is considered the largest human worm (up to 15-20 meters) with a ribbon-shaped body of thousands of individual segments, among which the most mature are located in the tail and fall off as the eggs in them ripen . These fragments are the size of a human fingernail, fall to the ground, grass and then end up in the body of livestock. A person becomes infected through cow meat. Bovine tapeworms can live in a person's small intestine for up to 10 years and feed on the entire surface of their body. Stool is examined for diagnosis.
2. Pork tapeworm– similar to the bull tapeworm, but shorter in length. If a person becomes infected with the larvae, the tapeworm grows in his or her small intestine; when infested with eggs, the larvae migrate and can infect any organ.
3. Broad tapeworm– their type of worm is flat, more than 12 meters long. A person becomes infected by eating poorly salted caviar, dried or undercooked fish. It can settle in the small intestine for decades, constantly releasing mature segments with larvae into the environment.
4. Echinococcus- the smallest parasite of the tapeworm class. Over the course of several years, its larvae form cysts, which can be located in different organs and reach 10 cm or more in diameter. Infection occurs from sick dogs or livestock. The course is characterized by a pronounced clinical picture and the risk of complications.
5. Feline fluke (liver).- a small worm that enters the human body by consuming undercooked freshwater fish, lives in the lumen of the small intestine, inside the bile and pancreatic ducts, can multiply rapidly and live up to two decades.

Despite the wide variety of species, it is possible to quite accurately determine which worm lives in the human body using modern diagnostic methods and the old proven test - feces for helminth eggs.

Treatment is carried out after confirmation of the diagnosis and prescription from the attending physician.