Worms should be understood as parasitic worms that enter 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% of people in the world know from their own experience what helminthiasis is.
Typically, roundworms and pinworms are most commonly found. These types of worms in humans are able to find a place in any of the organs.
The favorite place for helminths is the intestine. And only then they live in the organs of the liver and lungs.
But no exception is the fact when the parasites find their way into the eyeball or the muscles.
External characteristics of worms in humans
When diagnosing the patient's body, the doctor should 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, that is, 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, their slender, oblong body can reach up to 40 cm, and the average length is 20 cm.
But that doesn't mean there aren't more solid sized parasites. These include a wide ribbon.
It is named 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 you are really worried about this question, you should read the information below in the article.
Types of helminths are divided according to their location in the body. It can be tissue and luminal worms.
worms of fabric
Tissue worms should be understood as the types of helminths that prefer to settle in the pancreatic parenchyma, liver, brain substances, muscles and lung tissues.
It is for this reason that the pathology has many names: paragonimiasis in case of lung damage, echinococcosis with abnormalities of the liver, filariasis - lymph nodes, cysticercosis in case of violation of the brain.
translucent worms
This type of helminths differs in that they prefer to live in the intestinal lumen. These helminths include roundworms, tapeworms, whipworms, pinworms, hookworms, large tapeworms, and other worms.
Worms are also divided into species according to their body structure. There can 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, called nematodes.
Their bodies are presented in a round shape, the length of the worms reaches up to 40 cm in the largest case, but there are also 5 mm.
They themselves choose nematodes 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 eggs are transmitted when using 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 put dirty hands in their mouths.
Other types of nematodes are also subdivided. There are:
Ascaris
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 justified in the area of the small intestine.
During life, they move to the heart, liver and lungs. Transported through the human body, they carry great danger.
The fact is that all organs and ducts suffer from worms. Their 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, disruption of the digestive tract, as well as internal bleeding, obstruction of the intestinal organs.
If roundworms appear in children, this fact can negatively affect development. A child may lag behind in development compared to their own peers.
These parasites enter the child's body in the same way through unwashed hands with soap and dirty food.
Pinworms
Their body is gray. The length of these worms is 5-10 mm. The main localization of parasites is the intestine.
Most often, pinworms affect people who have swallowed their eggs through unwashed fruits, vegetables and/or fruits.
To become a sexually mature individual, the eggs must overcome the 14 day period. The total lifespan of parasites is approximately equal to a few months.
They disrupt the normal functioning of the digestive tract, which makes a person exhausted.
Vlasoglavy
These worms differ in their habitat. They choose to settle primarily in the large intestine.
Worms have a body of 3-5 cm, they are placed on the walls of the organ, absorbing blood. These worms cause the disease of trichuriasis, badly sending the body.
They can exist in the human body for about 5 years. During this time, a person will have a severe violation of stool, a problem with the desire to eat, ie. i. e. there may be an increase or decrease in appetite, abdominal pain and even anemia.
You should not leave the fact of infection with whipworms without attention, because against the background of their vital activity, the acute phase of appendicitis may begin.
This happens if the worms enter the cecum. They inflict a ruthless hit to health, and therefore efforts must be made to quickly eliminate whipworms.
Trichinella
Another type of worms, which are not large in size. They can reach 2-5 mm, but this does not mean that the worms do not strike health.
They cause trichinosis, which is manifested by high fever, swelling, fever and allergic reactions.
You can catch Trichinella through undercooked pork or game meat. These worms enter the muscles of the airways or face, striking the tissues.
For 3 weeks, worm eggs can be encapsulated, and thus the person recovers. But there are more difficult situations leading to death.
Another type of roundworm is Toxocara. They are found in the dog's body. In appearance, they resemble roundworms, but the body length is 15-30 cm.
This type of worm can be found in the human body. If this happens, the development of toxocariasis is observed, accompanied by dysfunction of internal organs, allergic reactions and other malfunctions of the body.
It should be noted that the larvae, once in the human body, are not able to develop to the state of sexually mature individuals, this is possible only in the body of dogs.
Symptoms of roundworm infestation vary depending on a person's state of health, as well as the number of worms present in the organs.
Type of worm tape in humans
Tape-type 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.
In order to become sexually mature individuals, the worms must switch hosts. One of the stages of this process is existence in the body of cattle.
The brightest representatives of this species will be presented in a detailed description below.
wide ribbon
Reaches about 10-15 m in length. It chooses the small intestine as its habitat.
It is able to provoke the development of diphyllobothriasis. A species of tapeworm enters the body if a person has eaten incompletely cooked freshwater fish, in which there has been an invasion of parasite larvae.
The infection is accompanied by severe abdominal pain, indigestion, anemia. This type of worm, like many other cestodes, looks really great.
bull tapeworm
In length, this type of tapeworm can even reach 18 m. This species is one of the largest in the human body.
It provokes the development of the pathology of teniarinhoz, which leads to physical exhaustion of the body. Also, a person may experience bowel obstruction, central nervous system dysfunctions.
This type of worm enters the body through the affected beef with parasite larvae. The worm settles in the region of the small intestine, which strikes all the organs of the human body.
Pork tapeworm
This type of parasite enters the human body through the infected pig. The worms can reach 8 m in length.
They settle, as a rule, in the region of the intestine, where they carry out their parasitic activity.
Taeniasis causes severe stomach dysfunction, along with allergic reactions and nerve dysfunction.
Another dangerous type of tapeworm is called echinococcus. It settled in the bodies of dogs, cats.
People are chosen as intermediate habitat. Even in such a short time, it can harm the human body as a whole, provoking the development of echinococcosis.
The eggs of the parasite reach the larval stage. Subsequently, they grow into the tissue membrane of the organs, causing a cystic formation.
Only a surgical method is able to remove this manifestation of parasitic echinococcus. For decades, these individuals live in the body of adults and experience the process of their development in meat.
Trematodes are flukes. They differ from other types of web 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. These worms can measure up to 1. 5 m and at first glance resemble a plant leaf.
The main source of flukes in the human body will again be undercooked and undercooked fish or seafood.
During their development, these parasites change host. The main varieties of flukes include the following subspecies:
- liver fluke;
- paw.
Based on the above information, it should be concluded 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 are able to infect the skin and soft tissues of a person. They cause dracunculiasis.
In length, they can reach 120 cm. Rishta hits subcutaneous tissue or muscle tissue.
Infection occurs when drinking untreated water. Infection can occur during bathing, as the parasites enter the intestines through the liquid, and then into 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 pull out its larvae.
This phenomenon is accompanied by severe itching. Very often such phenomena are recorded in the tropics. As intermediate hosts, guinea worms choose freshwater crustaceans, that is, cyclops.
Upon contact with water, a person can get into the skin and intestinal acne. The method of infection with them is percutaneous.
The parasites cause skin defects and enter 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 a suspicion of helminthic invasion in humans, the doctor recommends taking blood and fecal tests.
In the case of a general blood test, changes in the indicators of the leukocyte formula will shift to the right. The eosinophil count will be pronounced.
Urine, sputum and the contents of the stomach, duodenum also play an important role. It is for this reason that the doctor may prescribe scrapings in the anal and rectal region.
Having determined the type of worms in the human body, a specialist should choose the right drug treatment, along with this, effective traditional medicine recipes can be used.
Of course, it is worth understanding that in order to avoid re-infection, it is necessary to observe preventive measures.
For the successful treatment of an infected person, it is important that the course of deworming is carried out by the whole family, simple rules of hygiene are observed. It is customary to repeat the treatment 2 weeks after the first stage of elimination of worms.
Folk remedies have proven themselves, and many people believe that they are better than anthelmintic drugs offered by pharmacological organizations.
Their 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 popular traditional medicine recipes.
It is important to take into account the particular type of worms, their location, the characteristics of your body. If you make a mistake in the chosen treatment, the infection situation can become even more dire.
Expert advice
- Treatment with folk remedies should begin with diet therapy. It is better not to eat meat, fish for a week, that is, stick to a vegetarian diet. This will lead to a weakening of the forces of the parasites, and therefore it will be a little easier to fight the worms. It is only important to consider that fasting in this case will not be a successful idea. Lack of food intake in the body will not affect the strength of helminths, but the person will feel much worse.
- You should wash your hands before eating with soap.
- Food processing is necessary.
- Of great importance is the speed of detection of infection and the course of therapeutic treatment. In this case, the recovery time will be reduced to a minimum.