Parasitism in nature is a widespread phenomenon.It refers to the coexistence of two or more organisms that are not related in any way, but form a chain of host-parasite relationships.The second side uses the first as a source of food and habitat.One person often has to act as the owner.
Distribution
Human parasites include all creatures, except bacteria and viruses, that live and feed on him, causing harm.There are many creatures that can live on or inside the human body.They can be divided into two large groups:
- endoparasites;
- ectoparasites.
The former exist within the body, in a variety of physiological systems and organs.The latter either live in the body like mites or lice, or attack like bedbugs.
Group of endoparasites
A very large group that includes protozoa, helminths and some other parasites.
Protozoan or protozoa
They are so called because most of them are unicellular microorganisms.The human body can be affected by about 50 types of single-celled organisms.Protozoal infections cause various diseases.
Infection with them can occur in different ways:
- during sexual contacts;
- together with food;
- through insect bites etc.
The most common sexually transmitted parasitic infection is trichomoniasis.Its causative agent is Trichomonas vaginalis.According to statistics, two out of a hundred people on the planet are infected with trichomoniasis.
The presence of trichomoniasis can be recognized by the following symptoms.Women experience:
- abundant foamy discharge of yellow-green discharge;
- burning, itching and swelling of the genitals;
- hyperemia of the vaginal mucosa, etc.
The signs of the disease in men are less pronounced:
- pain during urination;
- discharge from the urethra;
- sometimes blood in the urine.
Trichomonas are dangerous because they can cause various complications (infertility, cervical cancer, etc.).
In addition, they can change shape, disguise themselves as other cells of the body (lymphocytes, platelets) and harbor intracellular microorganisms (viruses, chlamydia, etc.), which makes it difficult to identify and destroy the latter.
Antimicrobial drugs from the group of 5-nitroimidazoles are mainly used for treatment.
Another common disease of protozoal origin is giardiasis.The causative agent is lamblia.Parasitizes the small intestine.After penetrating the large intestine, Giardia loses its mobility and turns into cysts (a stable temporary form of existence), which are excreted together with feces.
Infection occurs through consumption of food and water contaminated with cysts.
Cysts can also enter the body through dirty hands.For this reason, giardiasis often affects young children (1-4 years old), who are not inclined to respect the rules of personal hygiene..
The presence of Giardia can be suspected by intestinal disorders (constipation alternating with diarrhea, bloating, rumbling, vomiting, pain in the upper abdomen) and general malaise (poor appetite, weakness, irritability, etc.).
Giardiasis is treated with the same drugs as trichomoniasis.
Other diseases caused by protozoan parasites:
- amebiasis;
- malaria;
- leishmaniasis;
- toxoplasmosis;
- sleeping sickness etc.
helminths
People often call them worms.More than 400 species of parasitic worms can live in humans.The most common are roundworms and human worms.
Worms are small round worms.Males reach a length of 5-6 millimeters, females - 10. They cause enterobiasis.They live in the cecum and appendix.Pinworms are not difficult to detect because they cause severe itching in the anal area.This is due to the fact that females crawl through the anus at night and lay eggs on the skin.
During the itching, the eggs get under the nails and on the hands.Then the person spreads it himself, touching various things with unwashed hands.
Therapy is carried out with anthelmintic drugs.All family members should be treated.In addition to medications, hygiene is very important in this case, as enterobiasis is a classic disease of dirty hands.Nails should be cut short, hands should be washed well, linen should be washed in hot water and ironed with a hot iron.The apartment must be cleaned with moisture.
The human roundworm is another type of parasitic worm.They are much larger and more dangerous than worms.The length of females can reach 40 centimeters, males are smaller in size.
Ascaris eggs enter the body in the same way as worm eggs.In the small intestine, the eggs turn into larvae, which penetrate through its walls into the circulatory system.Then the migration begins throughout the body.The bloodstream carries them to the liver, the right side of the heart, the lungs, and even the brain.
Moving through these organs, the larvae create a host of problems for humans.In the digestive system, they damage the liver, intestines and pancreas.
They can block the bile ducts and lead to acute cholangitis and pancreatitis.
Being in the heart, they provoke pain, local hemorrhage and the development of coronary artery disease.
The results of staying in the lungs are cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, bronchitis etc.
When moving through the brain, neuroses, dizziness, convulsions and seizures similar to epilepsy can be observed.
Other symptoms of ascariasis:
- nausea and vomiting;
- rapid fatigue during physical work;
- loss of appetite and body weight;
- diarrhea;
- abdominal pain;
- skin rash and itching.
Different anthelmintics are used to fight roundworms.
Other common helminthiases include:
- schistosomiasis;
- trichinosis;
- echinococcosis;
- clonorchiasis;
- opisthorchiasis;
- needle worm infection etc.
Other endoparasites
This group contains parasites that are rarely found.For example, the larva of the fly, which lives in Central and South America, can cause dermatobiasis.The female fly lays eggs in the abdomen of mosquitoes, gnats and ticks.When bitten by insects, the larvae hatch and burrow into the skin.Inflammation begins and pus forms.After a certain time, the larvae leave the person.
The sand flea, which causes tungiasis, acts in a similar way.But here a fertilized female enters the epidermis.
Ectoparasites
There are fewer of them than endoparasites.The most famous of them:
- lice;
- ticks
Ectoparasites also include fleas, bugs and mosquitoes.But they never live directly on or within a person.They attack a person and, having had enough, leave him.
Three types of lice parasitize humans (head, body and pubic).
Parasites, contrary to popular belief (they love dirt), can be acquired by any clean person.
Regardless of the type of lice, its symptoms are the same:
- itching;
- weeping (release of serous exudate through damage to the epidermis);
- crusts on the injured areas;
- pyoderma (purulent skin damage).
Different types of lice prefer to live in different parts of the body, hence the classification of lice.
Sometimes it is of a mixed type, for example, when head and pubic parasites are present in the body.
The most dangerous are body lice.They can carry typhus, relapsing fever and Volyn fever.Lice cannot tolerate other dangerous diseases (HIV, hepatitis), since the viruses, which enter the intestinal tract along with the blood of an infected person, are digested.
It is better not to use home remedies (kerosene, dichlorvos) to get rid of lice.The pharmaceutical industry offers a wide selection of drugs against pediculosis in the form of ointments, creams, aerosols and shampoos.They are based on insecticides.A fine comb for combing out the crumbs is included with the preparations.Disinsection of clothes and linen is also necessary.
Scabies, or itching, causes scabies, a contagious skin disease.You can get infected in the most random way, for example, holding the railing in a public building.Infection is guaranteed through close physical contact, especially sexual contact.It takes the tick 15 minutes to penetrate the epidermis.The insect is very small in size (from one to three tenths of a millimeter).Ticks come to the surface twice in their life.The first time in the form of a larva to penetrate to another place, the second time - for mating.
The main problems for people are caused by women.They lay eggs during the first half of the day, and at night they gnaw passages in the epidermis.
Recognizing scabies is easy.It is accompanied by unbearable itching, which significantly intensifies in the evening and night hours.Inflamed linear scabs can be seen on the skin.People prone to allergies experience severe allergic reactions.Due to severe scratches, the skin becomes saturated with liquid, swells and sometimes becomes covered with bloody crusts.
Scabies is treated with antiscabiotic agents.They are available in the form of emulsions, aerosols and creams.It is necessary to treat not only the affected areas, but also the whole body (except the face and head).They wash the body either before or after the therapy.You can not wash during it.If there are crusts on the body, they are softened and removed.Rub in the cream or emulsion for at least two minutes.Do not wash your hands for three hours after using the product.You are allowed to shower every other day.Linen is ironed, furniture and clothes treated with antiseptic.After two days, the course is repeated.
Another intradermal frost is the acne iron.It is also very small in size (0.5 millimeters at most).It lives in the mouths of the hair follicles, the ducts of the sebaceous and meibomian glands (at the edges of the eyelids).The disease in this case is called demodicosis.
90 percent of people have acne, but the pathological process does not always begin, mainly when the immune system weakens or as a result of severe stress.
In the initial stage, pimples, rashes and ulcers appear.When follicles are damaged, eyelashes and hair fall out.As the disease progresses, the skin changes color to gray and becomes bumpy.Demodicosis is dangerous due to the addition of a secondary infection and the formation of wounds.
Treatment of demodicosis is quite complicated.The disease is chronic in nature, as long courses of therapy and high concentrations of drugs are required.The intensive use of antiparasitic drugs has a bad effect on the condition of the liver and hematopoietic processes.However, sustained long-term remission can be achieved.Treatment by a dermatologist and a dermatocosmetologist at the same time is considered the most effective.
If you suspect a parasite infection, you should not try to identify them yourself and check the effectiveness of antiparasitic drugs or folk remedies.It is easier to go to the doctor and get all the necessary tests.Properly prescribed treatment will cleanse the body of these harmful parasites.