Parasitologists have their own definition of the summer season: helminth season.During the warm season, various types of parasites feel great and actively reproduce.
You can meet them everywhere: in country gardens, on a picnic and when communicating with our smaller brothers.How to avoid this encounter and what to do if it happens?
Worms or helminths are parasites that affect people, animals and even plants.Previously, it was generally accepted that helminth infections were the prerogative 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 70 to 95% of the world's population.
Signs of helminthiasis
There are often situations when it is not easy to guess such a neighborhood.Symptoms of the presence of parasites in the body are not specific.For some they will cause intestinal disorders, for others asthenia, for others they will feel nothing.Experts warn that worms can live in the human body for years and go unnoticed.However, a lot depends not only on individual characteristics, but also on the type of parasites themselves.
People at risk of helminth infection include people with weakened immune systems and children under 3 years of age.The acidity of the gastric juice of a healthy adult is often fatal to worms.Parasites live in any sandbox, and if the child likes to put his fingers in his mouth, this can end sadly.
Pediatrician Maxim Pereverzentsev claims that for every square meter of sandbox there are at least fifty worm eggs.Additionally, young children often play with pets that carry parasite eggs on their fur or in their 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 severe 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 becomes infected with worms, the vaccinations 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 types of worms known in the world, the two most widespread in our country are pinworms and roundworms, which parasitize the intestine.According to the doctor of laboratory diagnostics Vasily Yurasov, at least half of the population of our country has one or the other.
Ascariasis
For example, it is quite easy to get infected with nematodes in the dacha - there are a lot of them in our flower beds.They enter the body through poorly washed vegetables and leafy greens.The lifespan of a nematode is measured in two years, and, as Yurasov says, theoretically ascariasis can disappear on its own (to continue to exist, the worm must be in the soil).However, during these two years, these worms can significantly ruin your life, because they affect not only the gastrointestinal tract, but also the respiratory system.Most often, ascariasis manifests itself with skin dermatitis, muscle pain, stool disorders and 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, causing damage to the liver and mucous membranes of the eyes.Poorly fried kebabs or insufficiently smoked or salted fish (usually carp and koi) transmit tapeworms and liver flukes.
If we talk about the diagnosis of helminths, then not everything is so simple here.Each of us has been tested for egg worms at least once in our life (for example, to obtain a certificate for a swimming pool), but detecting them in research material is quite difficult.For example, roundworms release eggs every few days.Therefore, to understand the real situation, says laboratory diagnostics doctor Vasily Yurasov, such tests should be carried out at least three consecutive days.
Diagnosis and treatment of helminthiasis
Also, if there are serious suspicions about the presence of worms in the body, the doctor may 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 significant aid in determining helminth infestations is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent blood test, 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 quite possible that the reason lies in the presence of something else in his body.
Parasites should be treated only under the strict supervision of a specialist.You should contact a therapist or parasitologist.As for prevention, it's pretty simple.Wash your hands as often as possible, rinse vegetables from flowerbeds thoroughly, fry meat and fish well and do not let your pets overeat.Good folk remedies for prevention include pumpkin seeds, ginger and tansy.