Specific diseases classified as infectious include parasites. They are caused by special parasites that have adapted to life inside or on the human body, feeding and reproducing in it or with its help. In this case, a person can be both an intermediate and final host of the parasite (that is, eggs and larvae or adults develop in the body). Depending on the type of parasite and the location of the lesion, many diseases caused by them can be identified. The most common is helminthiasis - a parasitic disease of special types of worms.
Parasites: types of worms in the body
The largest group of parasites that can live in the human body are various types of worms, both flat and round. They belong to a separate group of diseases that doctors collectively call "helminthiasis". Each parasite of this group has its own route and method of infection, characteristics of its life cycle and development of clinical manifestations as well as methods of treatment. Additionally, each parasite has the potential to cause specific complications due to its life cycle. The most common parasites that humans can get sick with are pinworms and roundworms, trichinella, and pork or beef tapeworms.
Types of parasites and characteristics of the infection process
If there are signs of indirect helminth infection, it can be assumed that one of the parasites lives in the human body. However, for treatment to be effective and accurate, it is important to know the specific types of parasites and which organs and systems are affected by them. To do this, it is important to undergo a full examination and pass several tests. Why is this necessary?
First of all, it is important to remember that many parasites live in the host's body in a larval state (if a human is the intermediate host) or a sexually mature individual (if the host isFinal). In this regard, the effectiveness of treatment, depending on the parasitic stage of the worm, as well as the habitat of the parasite may vary.
Parasites such as echinococcus are dangerous to humans in their larval stage. The larvae are round cysts filled with toxic fluid, infecting the lungs, liver, kidneys or brain. Inside these organs, over months or years, an Echinococcal cyst develops, inside which there are larvae. But parasites like pinworms live in the body as sexually mature individuals. The female crawls out of her rectum to lay millions of eggs, which are released into the outside environment with feces.
Depending on the type of parasites, as well as each body's reaction to them, the location of the damage and the body's response, clinical manifestations range from asymptomatic to obvious and severe, even causing death. dead. It is also important to remember that there are variations of mixed infections when several types of parasites live simultaneously in the body.
How do parasites enter the body?
The ways parasites enter the body can vary. Infection usually occurs when parasite eggs enter the human body with contaminated food or water, from dirty hands, as well as through damaged skin, through insect bites. Normally, worm eggs survive for a long time as eggs in soil, water or on the surface of objects. Entering the body through hands, food or water that has not been properly treated, the parasite enters the body, where the eggs quickly mature and the larvae (intermediate versions of the parasite) or adultsCity emerges from them.
It is important to remember that parasites in the body cause serious harm, even when there are no obvious signs of damage. First of all, they eat their host, depriving them of some nutrients, vitamins and minerals. In addition, parasites in the body sharply increase the body's ability to cause allergies, overstimulate the immune system, threatening spontaneous skin growths and other allergic reactions to products. and the substance was quite familiar before.
The body is not indifferent to worm invasion, especially if it is soft tissue and internal organs. As a result, protective anti-inflammatory capsules are formed in muscles and tissues, separating parasites from healthy tissues. This leads to the formation of parasitic cysts, which are often filled with worm waste. Usually the body also reacts to the appearance of parasites with digestive disorders, if these are worms living in the intestines, changes in appetite, changes in weight and exacerbation of chronic diseases.
Don't think that the parasite problem only concerns people in the poorest countries and those who are careless about hygiene. The rate of helminth infection is astonishing, according to WHO, it is comparable to diseases such as ARVI and influenza. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct regular checks and rule out parasitic diseases.
What type of parasite testing is needed?
Many patients mistakenly believe that a negative parasitic test (stool or perianal smear) is a guarantee that the body is free of parasites. However, in reality things are not like that, and this result makes no sense at all. First, the parasites can live outside the intestinal tract, living in other organs and tissues, and then their eggs or larvae simply do not exist in the stool.
Second, at the time of parasite testing, there may be a period when the parasites are still present or no longer laying eggs. And thirdly, there is a risk that all the conditions for analysis are not met, and therefore eggs are simply not found in the provided sample.
So, if we talk about intestinal worms, when testing for parasites is prescribed, stool is taken three times within a certain period of time to confirm the presence or absence of parasites. Only this technique can confirm or refute the diagnosis with a probability of up to 90%.
More clarity on this issue is the analysis of parasites taken from a vein, with the determination of antibodies to certain types of worms. If the body has been exposed to a parasite recently, there will be M-type antibodies against it, helping to identify the pathogen. The prolonged presence of the parasite will also induce antibodies of other classes.