Worms should be understood as parasitic worms that penetrate the human body. There are similar representatives in some animal species.
Worms appear in the human body after infection with parasite eggs.
After conducting numerous studies, scientists have come to the conclusion that more than 25 percent of people in the world know from their own experience what helminthiasis is.
As a general rule, roundworms and pinworms are found most often. This type of worms in humans are able to find a place in any of the organs.
The favorite place of helminths is the intestines. And only then do they live in the organs of the liver and lungs.
But it is not an exception that the parasites find their place in the eyeball or in the muscles.
External features of worms in humans.
During the diagnosis of the patient's body, the doctor must have all the knowledge about the possible invasion of worms, as well as how to eliminate them in the future.
Thanks to this information, it is possible to avoid complex conditions that can arise in the form of complications after infection with helminth eggs.
It is for this reason that it is important to determine the worms in the human body at the time of infection with them, ie. in the early stages.
One of the most popular types of helminths are roundworms and pinworms. In their appearance, they resemble a white worm.
Surprisingly, its slim and oblong body can reach up to 40 cm, the average length is 20 cm.
But this is not to say that there are no parasites of more solid size. These include a wide ribbon.
It is called so for a reason, because in appearance it resembles a ribbon. Its length varies in meters.
Worm Classification Division
What are the types of worms in the human body? If this question really bothers you, then you should read the information below in the article.
The types of helminths are divided according to their location in the body. They can be tissue and luminal worms.
tissue worms
Tissue worms should be understood as those types of helminths that prefer to settle in the pancreatic parenchyma, liver, brain substances, muscles and lung tissue.
It is for this reason that the pathology has several names: paragonimiasis in cases of lung damage, echinococcosis with abnormalities in the liver, filariasis - lymph nodes, cysticercosis in violation of the brain.
translucent worms
This type of helminth differs in that it prefers to live in the intestinal lumen. These helminths include roundworms, tapeworms, whipworms, pinworms, hookworms, broad tapeworms, and other worms.
Worms are also divided into species based on their body structure. There may be round, flat, ribbon, and other varieties. But this will be discussed in more detail a little later in the article.
Round view of human worms.
This is a fairly common variety of helminths, which are called nematodes.
Their bodies are round in shape, the length of the worms reaches up to 40 cm in the largest case, but there are also 5 mm.
They choose nematodes for themselves as the location of the intestines, but it is possible that they settle in tissues or other organs.
The prevalence of this type of worms is explained by the fact that the eggs are transmitted during the use of unwashed vegetables or fruits. This type of pathology is considered a disease of dirty hands, and therefore children most often suffer from round parasites, which strive to bring dirty hands to their mouths.
Other types of nematodes are also subdivided. There is:
round worm
Provoke the development of ascariasis. These are quite large worms, which can reach 40 cm in length.
They differ from their counterparts in the shape of the spindle. Similar representatives are founded in the area of the small intestine.
During life, they travel to the heart, liver, and lungs. Transported through the human body, they carry great danger.
What happens is that all organs and ducts suffer from worms. Its life cycle is approximately equal to one year, but during this time a person will face many unpleasant consequences associated with the manifestation of allergies, disturbance of the digestive tract, as well as internal bleeding, obstruction of the intestinal organs.
If roundworms appear in children, then this fact can negatively affect development. A child can fall far behind in the development of his own peers.
These parasites enter the child's body in the same way through hands dirty with soap and dirty food.
Intestinal worms
His body is gray. The length of such worms is 5-10 mm. The main location of parasites is the intestine.
In most cases, pinworms affect people who have swallowed the eggs through unwashed fruit, vegetables, or fruit.
To become a sexually mature individual, the eggs must exceed the period of 14 days. The total lifespan of the parasites is approximately equal to a couple of months.
They disrupt the normal functioning of the digestive tract, causing a person to become exhausted.
vlasoglavy
These worms differ in their habitat. They choose to settle mainly in the large intestine.
The worms have a body of 3-5 cm, they are placed on the walls of the organ, absorbing blood. These worms provoke the disease trichuriasis, seriously sending the body.
They can exist in the human body for about 5 years. During this time, a person will have a serious violation of stool, a problem with the desire to eat, that is. there may be increased or decreased appetite, pain in the abdomen, and even anemia.
You should not leave without attention the fact of infection with whipworms, because against the background of their vital activity, the acute phase of appendicitis can begin.
This happens if the worms get into the cecum. They deal a merciless blow to health, and therefore efforts should be made to quickly eliminate whipworms.
Trichinella
Another type of worms, which are not large. They can reach 2-5 mm, but this does not mean that the worms do not attack health.
They cause trichinosis, which is manifested by high fever, swelling, fever and allergic reactions.
You can get Trichinella from pork or game meat that is not fully cooked. These worms penetrate the muscles of the respiratory tract or face, hitting the tissues.
For 3 weeks, the worm eggs can be encapsulated, and thus the person recovers. But there are more difficult situations that lead to death.
Another type of roundworm is Toxocara. They are found in the dog's body. In appearance, they look like roundworms, but the body length is 15-30 cm.
This type of worm can be in the human body. If this happens, the development of toxocariasis is observed, accompanied by malfunctions of internal organs, allergic reactions and other malfunctions in the body.
It should be noted that the larvae, once in the human body, are not capable of developing to the state of sexually mature individuals, this is only possible in the body of dogs.
The symptoms of worm infestation will vary depending on the state of human health, as well as the number of worms found in the organs.
Ribbon type of worms in humans.
Ribbon worms pose a great danger to human health. They are called cestodes. These are worms that grow up to 18 m. It is customary to divide them into 2 types:
- ribbons;
- chains
To become sexually mature individuals, the worms must change hosts. One of the stages of this process is the existence in the body of cattle.
The brightest representatives of this species will be presented in a detailed description below.
wide ribbon
It reaches about 10-15 m in length. It chooses the small intestine as its habitat.
It is capable of provoking the development of diphyllobothriasis. A kind of tapeworm enters the body if a person has eaten incompletely cooked freshwater fish, in which there was an invasion of parasite larvae.
Infection is accompanied by severe pain in the abdomen, indigestion, anemia. This type of worm, like many other cestodes, looks really impressive.
I had a bull
In length, this type of tapeworm can reach even 18 m. This species is one of the largest in the human body.
It provokes the development of teniarinhoz pathology, which leads to physical exhaustion of the body. Also, a person may experience intestinal obstruction, failures in the central nervous system.
This type of worm enters the body through the affected meat with parasite larvae. The worm settles in the area of the small intestine, attacking all organs of the human body.
pork tapeworm
This type of parasite enters the human body through infected pork. The worms can be 8 m long.
They settle, as a rule, in the area of the intestine, where they carry out their parasitic activity.
Taeniasis causes a serious malfunction of the stomach, accompanied by allergic reactions and nerve dysfunctions.
Another dangerous type of tapeworm is called echinococcus. It settled in the body of dogs, cats.
People are chosen as an intermediate habitat. Even in such a short time, it can completely damage the human body, causing the development of echinococcosis.
The eggs of the parasite reach the larval stage. Subsequently, they grow in the tissue membrane of the organs, leading to the formation of cysts.
Only a surgical method can eliminate this manifestation of parasitic echinococci. For decades, these individuals live in the body of adults and undergo the process of their development in the flesh.
Trematodes, they are trematodes. They differ from other types of tape parasites in that they have special suckers on the body, thanks to which they are absorbed into the walls of human organs and tissues.
They suck blood and useful elements. Such worms can be up to 1. 5 m in size, and at first glance resemble a plant leaf.
The main source of flukes in the human body will again be undercooked or undercooked fish or shellfish.
During their developmental stages, these parasites switch hosts. The main varieties of trematodes include the following subspecies:
- hepatic parasite;
- chance.
Based on the above information, it is worth concluding that almost all worms enter the human body through meat.
In fact, this is not always the case, there are also types of parasites that affect the skin. They will be discussed below.
Types of worms that affect the skin in humans
Helminths called rishta can infect a person's skin and soft tissues. They cause dracunculiasis.
In length, they can reach 120 cm Rishta hits the subcutaneous tissue or muscle tissue.
Infection occurs during consumption of untreated water. The infection can occur during bathing, because the parasites enter the intestines through the liquid and then the fiber.
If the helminth reaches sexual maturity, it has the opportunity to secrete substances that have a negative effect on the human body. The skin begins to corrode under the influence of this. At the site of damage there will be an ulcer, which the parasite uses to remove its larvae.
This phenomenon is accompanied by severe itching. Most often, such phenomena are recorded in the tropics. As intermediate hosts, guinea worms choose freshwater crustaceans, i. e. Cyclops.
Upon contact with water, a person can get into the skin and intestinal acne. The method of infection with them is percutaneous.
Parasites cause skin defects and penetrate into the blood. Risk factors will be cases of walking barefoot on the ground, working with dirt, swimming in ponds with dirty water.
Diagnostic measures of helminthiasis and treatment.
If there is suspicion of helminthic invasion in humans, the doctor recommends blood and stool tests.
In the case of a general blood test, the changes in the indicators of the leukocyte formula will be shifted to the right. The number of eosinophils will be pronounced.
Urine, sputum and the contents of the stomach, duodenum also play an important role. That is why the doctor may prescribe scrapings in the anal and rectum area.
After determining the type of worms in the human body, a specialist must choose the correct course of drug treatment, along with this, effective recipes of traditional medicine can be used.
Of course, it is worth understanding that in order to avoid reinfection, it is necessary to adhere to preventive measures.
For the successful treatment of an infected person, it is important that the whole family conducts the deworming course, simple hygiene rules are observed. It is customary to repeat the course of treatment 2 weeks after the first stage of deworming.
Folk remedies are time-tested and many people believe that they are better than anthelmintic drugs offered by pharmacological organizations.
Its main advantage will be the absence of contraindications and side effects as such.
It is important to note that without consulting a doctor it is impossible to start using folk recipes of traditional medicine.
It is important to take into account the special type of worms, their location, the features of their body. If you make a mistake in the chosen course of treatment, the infection situation can become even more disastrous.
expert advice
- Treatment with folk remedies should begin with diet therapy. It is better not to eat meat, fish for a week, that is. follow a vegetarian diet. This will entail a weakening of the forces of the parasites and therefore it will be a little easier to deal with the worms. It is only important to consider that fasting in this case will not be a successful idea. The lack of food intake in the body will not affect the strength of the helminths, but the person will feel much worse.
- You should wash your hands before eating with soap.
- It is necessary to carry out food processing.
- The timeliness of detection of infection and the course of therapeutic treatment is of great importance. In this case, the recovery time will be reduced to a minimum.