Ascaridosis symptoms

Parasitic diseases caused by roundworms( nematodes), in terms of the number of affected, the variety of diseases and the breadth of the spread, surpass all other naresitic diseases. They are common on all continents and in all climatic zones. The total number of people affected by nematodes is approaching 3 billion people.

A common property for all parasites belonging to this class is a rather complex body structure.

All nematodes have a threadlike or fusiform body with pointed tips, not divided into separate segments( segments).The body on the incision is round( hence the name).Most of the round parasites are capable of active movement, but more than adults, larvae tend to "travel", which often move from one host organ to another until they reach the final maturity.

Round parasites are dioecious, reproduce either by laying eggs from which an actively moving larva is excreted, or producing live larvae immediately. The larvae almost do not differ from the adult parasite, except for the absence of the reproductive system. In general, the primary development of these, as, indeed, and most other parasites, have digestive and reproductive systems. In addition, there is a nervous and excretory system. Respiratory and circulatory organs are absent - as unnecessary. The oxygen required for the cells of one's body is obtained by digesting glycogen, they feed on, absorbing nutrients from the contents of the intestine or tissue fluids. Some are hematophagous;feed on the blood of their master.

All parasites produce special substances that protect them from the action of the digestive enzymes of the host and make them "invisible" to the body's immune systems.

It should be understood that these parasites are highly organized organisms that have developed effective and complex systems to counter the attempts of the host organism to get rid of their presence. Consider the most common representatives.

Of roundworms, the most common are: ascaris, pinworm, whipworm and trichinella. Round worms are also called nematodes. According to the number of diseases caused by them and the breadth of spread, they are the most numerous worms, at least in our latitudes.

Ascarids are roundworms, the most highly organized. In addition, they are the largest representatives of roundworms. Ascarids refer to restless helminthes: they are active, mobile and can penetrate, if they want, into any human organ. A stringed body of ascarids is able to even drill holes in the walls of the intestine and other tubular organs. The body of the live roundworm is strong and resilient. The impression is that the walls of the body are under great internal pressure. The body of these worms on a cross-section is round, hence the name.

The person "is familiar" with askarid from the ancient times. The mention of this parasite is found in the famous papyrus of Ebert( 6th century BC) and in the writings of Hippocrates. The first scientific description of the parasite was given by K. Linnaeus in 1758.How to use folk remedies for this disease look here.

These are usually dioecious worms, with well-developed digestive and secretory canals, as well as the nervous system. Female ascarids can reach 30-45 cm in length, males shorter - 15-25 cm, with the posterior end of their body usually bent and sometimes even twisted.

The thickness of ascarids is 6 mm average. Their coloration can be of all shades - from white to orange-red colors. At death, ascarids have a pale whitish color.

Inside the skin-muscular bag there is a fluid-filled body cavity. Inside are the internal organs of ascarids.

Ascaride covers are a strong cuticle that does not respond to digestive enzymes. This circumstance is an obstacle to the pharmacological effect when trying to expel them. Only dead helminths can be affected by digestive enzymes and pharmacological agents.

In the anterior and posterior regions of the body there are sensitive papillae, which perform the function of mechanical perception. Ascarid human - geogelmint, which means that it parasitizes only in the human body.

Adult ascarids live in the small intestine. In some cases, it can affect the liver, lungs, and also penetrate into the brain and eyes.

In the intestine, ascarids are "digested" by ingestion of intestinal contents. Then they are parasites.

Under unfavorable conditions, they can flee to other tubular organs, such as the caecum( appendix), to the ducts of the digestive glands, etc., then they can not do without surgical intervention.

Ascarids do not have any attachments and attachments. This they are very different from flat and tapeworms. But what holds them and why they are not thrown out together with excrement during defecation? And how can they resist uninterrupted peristaltic movements of the intestine?

First, these are pretty large worms. Dimensions help them not only to digest food well, but also to counteract peristalsis. They are kept and thanks, as we have already mentioned, the elasticity of the body and muscle activity. Ascarids retain their positions, being bent into an arc, and at the same time they rest on the wall of the intestine. In addition, in order not to be thrown out, they make coordinated anti-peristaltic movements.

Ascarids in large numbers in a restricted area of ​​the intestine are usually arranged in rows parallel to each other. Such a strategic grouping of parasites seems to be optimal for their nutrition, since the ascarids partially block the gut, which allows them to retain the intestinal contents longer for their nutrition and absorb the nutrients they need.

Ascarids are very fertile. Females lay to 250 thousand eggs daily. It is estimated that the weight of eggs laid by one female within one year is 1500 times the weight of the worm itself. It turns out that a person infected with ascarids, along with feces, allocates a huge number of eggs. And the feature of the latter is a very dense shell, which protects them from the effects of adverse environmental factors. They almost do not have chlorine lime and other disinfectants.

Ascarids begin to secrete eggs after reaching puberty. To fully develop eggs, they need oxygen, so they can not develop in the human intestine. Therefore, despite the huge number of eggs in the intestine, it is impossible to get infected from their own ascarids.

For further development they need to go into the external environment. Larvae develop in eggs depending on temperature and humidity in the period from several days to several months. The optimum temperature for their development is 24-30 ° C.Infection occurs when ingested mature eggs.

After swallowing and inevitable entry into the small intestine, larvae emerge from them, which enter the intestinal wall and penetrate into the blood vessels. Hence, the larvae migrate to the liver and lungs( migration stage - 6-7 weeks).In the lungs, the larva gnaws through the wall of the alveoli, and then with the sputum it appears in the oral cavity.

Most likely, it will turn out that the owner will swallow it again. Thus, the larva enters the intestine. And this circle can be repeated again and again.

Seven to eight weeks after ingestion, larvae reach puberty and lay eggs. We described a circle in which it is better not to fall. Hence the conclusion: never swallow sputum and mucus, which you can periodically spot in your mouth.

Adult ascaris lives in the small intestine. Life expectancy of the parasite is about a year. If during this time there was no re-infection, then spontaneous disposal of the parasite is possible. However, on the contrary, cases are described where mass reproduction of the parasite led to obstruction of the intestine and bile ducts, perforation of the intestine with the development of peritonitis and other deadly complications. Cases of penetration of larvae into the placenta and the fetus are described.

Clinical manifestations of "living" of ascarids in the body are very diverse. This is due to the fact that in fact we are not dealing with one kind of parasite, but at least two: the adult parasite and its larva behave in our body in completely different ways.

The source of infection of people ascaris is the people themselves already infected with helminths. Once the feces of the infected person get into the external environment - they are already becoming potentially dangerous in terms of infection. Ascarid eggs fall into the soil, then into the air, are carried by the wind, rain currents, etc. A little imagination - and the picture is clear. These "gifts" can be brought home on street shoes.

After drying eggs, ascaris becomes the main component of household dust. Yes, and on the street you can fully breathe ascarid eggs along with street dust.

Compost is a favorite fertilizer used by gardeners on garden plots. So eggs can get on fruits and vegetables.

Ascaris eggs survive, they can suffer a prolonged temperature drop to -30 ° C.They can be in the soil in a viable state for up to three years. They are resistant to various chemicals, but quickly die under the influence of high temperature. The temperature of +60 ° С kills them for 1-2 minutes, +70 ° С - in a few seconds.

Once again in the intestine of a person, the larva of the roundworm after 2.5-3 months turns into a sexually mature form. The number of ascarids, simultaneously parasitizing in the human intestine, can reach several hundred.

If we talk about age characteristics of infection with ascarids, then children become infected more often than adults. But this is understandable, given that children are more often on the street, their games are often associated with soil and sand. Hygienic skills in children are absent.

The disease caused by ascarids is called ascaridosis. Natural immunity against ascarids in humans is absent, therefore primary infection can occur quite acutely.

Excreted by ascarid products of vital activity, which inevitably enter the human body, are very toxic. Therefore, both at the pulmonary stage of the ascaris development, and at the intestinal stage of infection, allergic reactions are observed in the form of skin rashes, and symptoms of poisoning of the organism can also develop.

When parasitizing ascarids in the intestine, various intestinal disorders are observed, caused both by the mechanical action of worms on the intestine, and by the action of toxins. Toxins can lead to intestinal obstruction due to spasm of the intestine. Ascarias toxins act depressingly on the hematopoietic system and cause anemia, which can be so acute that blood cancer is diagnosed.

The exposure of toxins to the nervous system leads to various kinds of neurological disorders, such as sleep disorders, headaches, and, in especially severe cases, to a violation of muscle tone.

Even with a small number of parasites and absence of severe symptoms of ascaridosis, ascarids deplete the body, weaken the immune system, thereby aggravating the course of other diseases.

When a mature egg of ascarids enters the human digestive tract, a larva emerges from it, which requires oxygen for further development. To do this, it invades the capillaries of the small intestine, from where through the portal system of the liver and the lower vena cava enters the right atrium. Further with the blood flow, the larva penetrates into the lungs, where it leaves the bloodstream and "goes out to breathe" into the lumen of the alveoli. During the journey, the larva feeds first with blood serum, and then with erythrocytes, and where it eats, there it defecates - i.e.into our bloodstream. During the same time, it molts and increases in size by almost two times. From the lumen of the alveoli, the larva along the respiratory tract ascends to the pharynx, where it is again swallowed with food or saliva and returned to the intestine. Here, after another molt, it will turn into an adult parasite and the cycle will repeat. The duration of the trip or migration phase is 2-3 weeks.

After this begins a long cycle of parasitism of a friendly team of parasites in the intestines with all the ensuing consequences. This is the intestinal phase. Each of these phases is accompanied by a specific picture of the response of the human body to the parasite.

In the migratory phase, ascaris larvae have a mechanical effect, causing hemorrhages and the formation of eosinophilic infiltrates in the tissues of various organs: more often in the intestine, liver and lungs, less often in the brain( !), Eyes and other organs. In a small child, each of these manifestations can be fatal!

In addition, the body is irritated by the products of larval exchange and disintegration, which leads to the development of cough, runny nose, urticaria, skin itching, pain in the muscles and joints, and a rise in temperature. If this is accompanied by pulmonary manifestations, there may be signs of pneumonia and bronchitis, asthmatic attacks, fever of 38 ° C or more, chills, abdominal pain, nausea, stool disorders.

When infected with a small number of larvae, this stage may occur almost or completely imperceptibly.

In the intestinal phase distinguish:

Except for all of the above, ascarids in the intestinal stage behave quietly - they feed on, biting the intestinal wall, and multiply. However, sometimes there is an increased tendency of adult parasites to travel. The reasons for such increased activity are several: high temperature, the effect of drugs or narcotics, and especially the search for a sexual partner when parasites of the same sex are infected( this happens when a small number of parasites are infected).As a result of such "migrations" complications can arise:

The diagnosis of the migratory phase of ascariasis is based on the detection of larvae in sputum and antibodies in the blood, the intestinal phase - eggs of ascaris in feces. But, as you can see, the clinic of the migratory phase may not manifest at all, and the intestinal one is so inconsequential that the usual physician thinks of parasites, if not the last, then not very soon. And it's good, if it comes, in general. ..

Being in the mouth, the larvae enter the salivary ducts and penetrate the glands themselves. That's why the children become drooling, after sleep, slobbering on the pillow is found, jams are formed in the corners of the mouth or a white coating from the saliva on the lips. With long-term damage, atrophy of the lobule glands occurs, the taste buds suffer from the taste buds and the digestion process is broken, the appetite decreases or, conversely, the feeling of hunger increases. During sleep, mature large roundworms from the baby's intestines can enter the stomach, esophagus, pharynx, and then into the larynx, trachea and cause death from suffocation. The release of ascarids during vomiting is very common. It causes anxiety and fear not only in the patient, but also in others.

Consequences of the intestinal phase of ascaris development are especially dangerous for expectant mothers. Ascarid larvae penetrate the placenta and can colonize the fetal body. If they settle in the brain of the embryo, the young mother is provided with difficult births with breaks, since the fetal head will be enlarged. And then close contact with the children's neurologist or, worse, with a neurosurgeon about the diagnosis of "hydrocephalus" - an increase in the head, a dropsy of the brain of various degrees, up to the divergence of the cranial suture joints. If the parasites get into the lungs of the child, then in infancy, endless ARVI, bronchitis and pneumonia begin, practically not amenable to antibiotic treatment. Women who want to give birth to healthy children should be checked in advance for the presence of helminths.

Living in the salivary glands, the ascarid larvae from time to time( in the spring-autumn off-season, on the full moon and on days of magnetic storms) intensify their activity. As a result, the general intoxication of the body increases, and the infected, especially the children, become irritable, capricious, they have restless sleep. In a dream a man shudders, groans, grinds his teeth, with age, snoring can add to these symptoms. Once in the nasal cavity, the larvae can crawl into the adnexal sinuses and cause both acute and chronic inflammation of the mucous membrane.

There is a direct way to penetrate the larvae through the auditory tubes from the nasopharynx into the middle ear cavity: right, left, or both. As a consequence - hearing impairment, noise, ringing in the ears, dizziness, "sea" disease( motion sickness), there may be a Ménière syndrome accompanied by memory dips. Some patients clearly note the relationship between hearing loss, the appearance of noise, ringing in the ears with food intake, digestion. Disappearance of unpleasant symptoms is also clearly associated with anthelminthic treatment, during which both worms and their larvae are destroyed.

Pulmonary manifestations of ascaridosis are often diagnosed as acute respiratory infections, influenza, bronchitis, acute pneumonia and even tuberculosis. These diseases can be accompanied by an increase in temperature, often small, although sometimes it reaches quite large values. Perhaps the appearance of dry cough, asthmatic bronchitis with dry wheezing. Outbreaks of seasonal respiratory diseases are dangerous.

Pulmonary lesions of ascarids can go into a persistent chronic form with seasonal exacerbations and result in severe bronchial asthma. It is established that bronchial asthma in 100% of cases is somehow connected with ascarids. A minor cough at an early age should not be considered an ordinary cold. You can put an end to asthma by destroying the roundworm. It is necessary to pay attention to thorough washing hands before eating, do not touch dirty fingers to the mouth. Dogs, cats, pigs, horses and other animals that live near a person can be infected with ascarids. Never let children touch the excrement and vomiting of animals. This can lead to serious infection, fraught with serious consequences. If the family has at least one asthmatic, each member of his environment should be checked for parasites and cured. Do not allow pets to be present in the patient's bedroom with asthma.

Massive invasions of parasites are noted during the rainy season, when the soils contaminated with ascarids are washed into water. Ascarids get into the human body with water, vegetables, fruits, berries, mushrooms, medicinal plants. In addition, increased humidity promotes the accelerated development of ascaris eggs and increases the degree of invasiveness of the larvae.

With the introduction of ascarid larvae into vital organs( kidneys, heart, etc.), hemorrhages( hemorrhages) occur in them, inflammation foci appear( infiltrates).The most pronounced are the infiltrates in the lungs. Sometimes hemorrhages are so vast that they can occupy a whole fraction of the lung. In the affected lungs, there are also areas of edema and dilatation of the alveoli. With the development of the process of edema, the infiltrate extends to the walls and lumens of the vessels, causing the formation of thrombi and new hemorrhages. In the intestine, they can assemble into tangles, thereby causing obstruction or constipation( this is more common in children).Ascarids continue to live throughout the life of a person, hitting his organs mechanically and intoxication.

If the hepatic ducts are clogged, then the release of toxic elements occurs through the skin, and then allergies occur, a skin itch of incomprehensible origin, skin lesions - from dry eczema to purulent processes.

American researcher H. Clark revealed the existence of a special form of parasites - ascarids of the brain( Ascaris megalocephalon).The defeat of the brain by the larvae of these ascarids gives a clinical picture of brain tumors. As a rule, in a person with migraines, paroxysmal headaches, high blood pressure, convulsions, dizziness, loss of consciousness, depressions and severe neuroses, the Clarke parasite is detected. Primary localization - temporal, frontal and occipital lobes.

Thus, ascarids - the most terrible parasites, provoking many dangerous diseases. And if you do not conduct timely diagnosis and treatment, the consequences are imminent! Carelessness in this matter is not only inappropriate, but also disastrous.

Decaris( levamisole).For an adult, take 150 mg at night for children, at a rate of 2.5 mg for

, 1 kg of body weight: up to 4 years - 25 mg, 4 to 10 years - 50 mg, 10 to 15 years - 100 mg.

Vermox( mebendazole).Adults take 100 mg 2 times a day for 3 days, children under 10 years - 50 mg, preferably 40 minutes after eating. Contraindicated in pregnancy.

Medamin( by chemical structure is close to vermox).Adults and children take immediately after meals at the rate of 10 mg per 1 kg of body weight per day. The daily dose of the drug is divided into 3 divided doses and drunk during the day. The tablets are chewed and washed down with a small amount of water. With the use of medina nausea, allergic reactions are possible. Contraindicated in pregnancy.

Albendazole. Take 0.4 grams once.

Pirate helper. Take once from the calculation of 10 mg per 1 kg of body weight( the maximum dose for adults - 750 mg once).

Helmintox( nemotsid) - once. Breast children weighing up to 10 kg - one measuring spoon suspension( 1 tablet - 125 mg), children weighing 10 to 20 kg - 2 tablespoons or 2 tablets of 125 mg, etc.

Introduction of oxygen into the stomach on an empty stomach or 3-4 hours after ingestion through a duodenal probe without olive in a dose for an adult session - 1,5-2 liters, for a child - at the rate of 80-100 ml for 1 year of life. Gas should be injected slowly, in portions of 200-250 ml at intervals of 2-3 min;after the introduction of 500 ml the doctor listens to the belly below the navel. The presence of rumbling testifies to the intake of oxygen into the intestine and the possibility of resuming its administration. The whole procedure takes about 15 min. At the end the probe is removed, the patient remains in the lying position for 2 hours, after which it can stand up and take food. Treatment is carried out for 2 consecutive days. Oxygen dosing is performed with a device for imposing pneumothorax, Bobrov's apparatus, a slightly modified Richardson double cylinder. Contraindications - gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer in the acute stage, acute and subacute inflammatory processes in the abdominal cavity.

Effective agent is a powder of the inflorescence of the tartar wormwood, the active substance in which is santonin. Inflorescences rub in a mortar and give the patient in a mixture with honey, jam, semolina 3 times a day for 1.5-2 hours before meals in the following single doses: adults - 5 g, children 1-3 years - 0,25-0, 75 g;4-6 years - 1-1,5 g;7-9 years old - 1.75-2.25 g;10-14 years - 2,5-3,5 g;15 years - 4 years. Treatment is conducted within 2 days;In the evening of the second day, a laxative is prescribed to the patient.

In folk medicine there is a simpler version of taking a citric seed: mix 1 tsp.of the citric seed with honey and eat on an empty stomach. After two hours, repeat the medication, but in the interval nothing is. Then you need to drink a laxative, and the parasites will come out.

Enema with infusions of sagebrush: 1 tbsp.l.dry chopped herbs pour a glass of boiling water, insist 6 hours, make an enema with 1 glass of infusion( for children - with 1/2 cup).Repeat every 4-6 days.

Treatment of santonin and inflorescences of citrate wormwood is contraindicated in diseases of the kidneys, acute gastrointestinal disorders and fever. Pregnant and breast-feeding treatment with Santonin is performed during bed rest.

There may be side effects - xanthopsy, weakness, headaches, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, cold sweat. Xantopsy is not a contraindication to continuing treatment with santonin. With the development of other side effects, the drug is canceled, the stomach is washed, an enema is made, a laxative, cardiovascular agents are prescribed.