What parasites can live in the human body and how to fight them properly?

Before starting treatment for parasites, it is important to determine exactly what type is present in the body.This is necessary to choose an effective treatment method, because most drugs are designed specifically to eliminate certain types of helminths.

Are worms protozoa?

Sometimes you can hear the phrase that the patient is infected with protozoan worms.You need to understand that protozoa are exclusively unicellular microorganisms, and in extreme cases they organize colonies.But they are never multicellular, like worms and helminths.

In protozoa, all processes occur in the cellular cytoplasm and cell nucleus, while in worms the anatomical organization is more complex: they have different organs that perform special physiological functions.Therefore, it is fundamentally wrong to classify worms as protozoa.

Sometimes helminths are called protozoan parasites compared to insects: bedbugs, fleas, etc., because the latter are much higher on the evolutionary ladder.In this interpretation, the name worms as protozoa is acceptable.

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The most common parasite

The most common endoparasites are, of course, helminths (worms), which, according to various sources, infect more than 80% of the world's population.

Most of these parasites are divided into the main types:

• nematodes - roundworms (roundworms, pinworms, Trichinella, whipworms, etc.);
• cestodes - tapeworms (tapeworms, pig and cattle tapeworms, echinococci, etc.);
• trematodes - worms (liver, blood, lungs, and also worms that live in the intestines).

Sometimes you can find a more general classification, according to which all types of human parasites are divided into:

• luminal (intestinal), parasite in the intestine;
• tissue, localized in other organs and tissues.

Let's look at a brief description of the most common types of helminths.

Roundworms (nematodes)

• Roundworms are the most common roundworms, 20 to 40 cm long, parasitic in the small intestine, but first migrate in the human body, affecting the circulatory and respiratory systems.Along with the intestines, these parasites can be found in the liver and gall bladder, heart and lungs.A common symptom of ascariasis is an allergic reaction.
• Pinworms are small worms up to 1 cm, affect the intestines and lead to enterobiasis with gastrointestinal disorders, fatigue, sleep disorders, etc.A characteristic sign of the presence of pinworms is itching in the anus, where they lay their eggs.
• Trichinella - this microscopic worm (its size is only a few millimeters) leads to a severe disease - trichinosis, which can cause death if left untreated.Adult species live in the human body in the muscles (respiratory, facial, etc.), causing muscle pain, fever, swelling, and allergic skin rashes.
• Whipworms are small worms (up to 4.5 cm long, with a front body

in the form of threads), larvae that cause trichuriasis with diarrhea, acute abdominal pain and other symptoms resembling appendicitis.As a result of body intoxication, anemia develops.

Tapeworms (cestodes)

• Broad tapeworms, whose body length reaches 10 m, lead to the development of diphyllobothriasis with nausea, weakness, vomiting, unstable stools, asthenia and anemia.
• Pig tapeworms are 3 to 8 m long, parasitic mainly in the small intestine and cause two diseases at once: taeniasis with dyspeptic, astheno-neurotic and stomach syndromes, and cysticercosis with hangovers, intestinal, allergic and respiratory syndromes.Depending on the location of cysticerci, muscles, brain, heart, eyes, etc. are affected.
• Cattle tapeworms, which can reach a length of up to 18 m, cause teniahrynchiasis and are considered one of the most dangerous types of worms.If deworming is not done, it can live in the human body for up to 18-20 years!Localized in the large intestine, it causes severe intoxication with waste products, as well as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, anemia, allergic reactions and problems with the nervous system.
• Dwarf tapeworms, only 1.5-5 cm long, are a source of hymenolepiasis with dyspeptic, pain and astheno-neurotic syndromes, which mainly affect the digestive and nervous systems of the body, as well as the liver.
• Echinococcus is considered the smallest tapeworm - its length is only from 2.5 to 8, rarely 9 mm, but infection with it has bad consequences in the form of damage to the liver and lungs, where cysts and tumors are formed, causing dysfunction of these organs.

Fluke worm (trematode)

• Liver fluke, or heartworm, is shaped like a leaf, 30-50 mm long and 8-13 mm wide, and has a sucker.It damages the lining of the liver and, by blocking the bile ducts, can completely block the outflow of bile.Can cause cirrhosis, jaundice and liver cancer.
• Cat fluke (Siberian), or cat fluke, is a flatworm 4-13 mm long.Localization - gallbladder, liver and pancreatic ducts.It causes opisthorchiasis with the development of gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, cholecystitis and even liver cancer, which can be fatal.
• Pulmonary fluke has an ovoid shape, red-brown body with small spines between 7.5 to 12 mm long and 4-8 mm wide.It affects the lungs, causing inflammation, exudative pleurisy, focal fibrosis and lung cancer.When penetration into the brain it causes encephalitis and meningoencephalitis.
• Schistosomes (blood flukes) are dioecious worms 1-2 cm in size, the eggs of which cause enlargement of the liver, spleen and lymph nodes, the formation of polyps in the intestine, diarrhea, granulomatous inflammation, which leads to bladder cancer.

The disease they cause

The most dangerous parasite that lives in the human body can cause various diseases.Often, the disease caused by a certain parasite has the same name as it.Therefore, various types of parasites in the human body can cause the following diseases:

• certain parasites in humans (flukes) provoke trematodes;
• Cestodoss occurs when infected by a tapeworm;
• if an adult or child has roundworms in the intestine, then nematodes are diagnosed;
• leeches cause hirudinosis;
• Anktocephalosis is caused by acanthocephalans.

However, parasites in the human body can affect more than one organ.Depending on the location of the parasite in the human body, the following parasitic diseases are distinguished:

1. When the eyes are affected, onchocerciasis, demodicosis, cysticercosis and myiasis may occur;
2. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract caused by single-celled parasites and helminths are ascariasis, trichinosis, hookworm, enterobiasis, intestinal myiasis and metagonimiasis;
3. Brain diseases - echinococcosis, toxoplasmosis, alveococcosis and cysticercosis;
4. Dermatological diseases - demodicosis, pediculosis, scabies, pulicosis, thrombidiasis, phthiriasis;
5. Lung pathology - echinococcosis, ascariasis, acariasis, alveococcosis, tominxosis, etc.;
6. Liver diseases - opisthorchiasis, alveococcosis, echinococcosis, clonorchiasis;
7. In the mouth, ears and oral cavity, parasites can cause various types of myiasis;
8. Heart pathology - dirophyllariasis and echinococcosis;
9. Diseases of the genitourinary system - alveococcosis, uric myiasis, echinococcosis;
10. Vascular pathology - filariasis and schistosomiasis.

Flatworms

Parasitic flatworms, or flukes (flukes), have a characteristic leaf-shaped body shape.Their structure is quite organized - they have digestive, excretory and nervous systems.They change their host during their life cycle.

The following types have expanded:

1. Siberian fluke (cat fluke), or opisthorchis.Often, infection occurs through raw fish, which leads to the appearance of a rather dangerous disease - opisthorchiasis.Parasites multiply quickly, which can cause serious consequences.Worms have a yellowish color, and their length can exceed 12 m.By establishing a foothold in the human body, these parasites cause internal bleeding, interfere with the outflow of bile, and cause pancreatic dysfunction.Harmful consequences: purulent cholangitis, achylia, cholangiocarcinoma.

2. Heartbreak.The intermediate host is cattle, and humans become infected by eating unprocessed meat from affected animals.As a result of the infection, fascioliasis develops.These worms are relatively small in size (no more than 5-6 cm), but they can trigger dangerous pathologies: liver abscess, cholangitis, hepatitis.Through blood, parasite larvae can spread throughout the body.
3. Schistosoma.The worm can settle in the blood vessels, feeding on blood components.As a result of its important activity, the development of varicose veins and the formation of tumors are possible.The main symptom is a severe general hangover.

In the human body, you can find a large number of different parasitic worms that can survive in various internal organs.All of them cause chronic diseases that can trigger severe pathology.If signs of helminthiasis of any kind appear, you should see a doctor to start adequate treatment.

Bull tapeworm

Cattle tapeworms can reach a length of up to 12 m.It is a hermaphrodite that can produce more than 100,000 eggs, which are excreted in the feces.Eggs fall into the soil, then onto plants, and these plants are eaten by cows.In the animal's body, the eggs become larvae, which are located in the muscles.If a person eats contaminated beef, the larvae enter the intestine.Larvae are not transmitted from person to person.

Adult worms have a head with four suckers, a neck and a body made up of segments.The number of segments is constantly growing;Mature segments can detach from the worm and crawl out of the human intestine.

Bull tapeworm

Symptoms of the disease are nausea, vomiting, dyspeptic disorders, increased salivation, dizziness, weakness, nervousness, fatigue, abdominal pain of unspecified localization, allergies, fluctuations in appetite.

To remove bovine tapeworms from the body, there is a scheme consisting of 3 stages: preparation (cleansing the body), treatment with antiparasitic drugs, recovery (diet, herbal medicine).

tapeworm

Tapeworms, or cestodes, include various flatworms, whose length can range from 2 mm to 10-12 m.The body of the parasite has a specific structure - many segments, a neck and a head with a suction cup (hook) to attach to the wall.Cestodes are hermaphrodites, and eggs are located in segments.Worms absorb nutrients through the entire surface of the body.

The following types of common tapeworms are distinguished:

1. Alveococcus.They can trigger cholangitis and abscesses, as well as spread to the spleen, muscles and brain.
2. Tapeworms, or tapeworms.Bovine tapeworms cause the disease teniarhynchosis and are usually located in the small intestine.Serious complications - cholecystitis, intestinal obstruction, appendicitis.These worms can lead to the following consequences: atrophy of the intestinal lining, Gunther's glossitis, leukopenia.

Protozoan parasites

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite whose main host is cats.They can also be carried by warm-blooded animals and humans.The disease caused by toxoplasma is called toxoplasmosis.The course of this disease is mild, except for damage to the fetus in the mother's womb during pregnancy, which causes serious consequences for the mother and fetus, even death.

Amoeba is a single-celled simple organism that is considered to be one of the first creatures to live on Earth.Diseases caused by amoeba are called amoebiasis.Intestinal infection, with a predominant ulcerative lesion in the large intestine with the appearance of bloody diarrhea, the possibility of the formation of secondary intestinal lesions, with a tendency to become chronic.

Plasmodium malaria is the simplest single-celled organism, in a developmental cycle where a person is the temporary host, and the mosquito is the permanent host.In the human body, the parasitic plasmodium is represented by 4 species:

• P. malarie – four-day malaria;
• P.vivax - three-day malaria;
• P.ovale - three-day ovale malaria;
• P.falciparum - tropical malaria;

The duration of the interval between outbreaks depends on the type of pathogen.In addition to all this, anemia develops, because plasmodium affects red blood cells.

Giardia is a pear-shaped protozoan that has two nuclei and four pairs of flagella.The main sources are pigs and humans.Giardiasis is a common disease that affects the liver and small intestine.This disease can occur in mild and severe forms.

Trichomonas is a flagellated, unicellular, pear-shaped organism that causes the disease trichomoniasis, which is sexually transmitted and affects the genitourinary system.It is notable that men and women are affected, but in men the disease is usually asymptomatic.

Trypanosomes are a genus of unicellular flagellated protozoa.Trypanosomiasis causes serious illness, and sleeping sickness is fatal to humans.Trypanosomes are spread by bugs and tsetse flies.Inside the host's body, the parasite multiplies under the skin, then penetrates the lymphatic and blood systems.Most pathogens reside in the spinal cord and brain, where they destroy cells and release their toxins.