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

Before starting treatment for parasites, it is important to determine exactly which type is present in the body.This is necessary to select effective treatment methods, since most medications are designed specifically to get rid of a specific type of helminth.

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 within the cellular cytoplasm and cell nuclei, while in worms the anatomical organization is much more complex: they have differentiated organs that perform special physiological functions.Therefore, it is fundamentally wrong to classify worms as protozoa.

Sometimes helminths are called protozoan parasites in comparison with insects: bedbugs, lice, etc., since the latter are much higher on the evolutionary ladder.In this interpretation, the name of worms as protozoa is acceptable.

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The most common parasites

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

A huge number of these parasites are divided into main types:

• nematodes - roundworms (roundworms, pinworms, Trichinella, whipworms, etc.);
• cestodes – tapeworms (tapeworms, pork and bovine tapeworms, echinococci, etc.);
• trematodes - fluke worms (liver, blood, lung, and also flukes 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), parasitic in the intestines;
• 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, affecting the intestines and leading to enterobiasis with gastrointestinal disorders, exhaustion, sleep disturbances, etc. A characteristic sign of the presence of pinworms is itching in the anus, where they lay eggs.
• Trichinella - these microscopic worms (their size is only a few millimeters) lead to severe diseases - trichinosis, which can lead to 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 the front part of the body

in the form of threads), the larvae of which cause trichuriasis with diarrhea, acute abdominal pain and other symptoms resembling appendicitis.Due to intoxication of the body, anemia develops.

Tapeworms (cestodes)

• The wide tapeworm, whose body length reaches 10 m, leads to the development of diphyllobothriasis with nausea, weakness, vomiting, unstable stool, asthenia and anemia.
• Pork tapeworm has a length of 3 to 8 m, parasitizes mainly in the small intestine and causes two diseases at once: taeniasis with dyspeptic, astheno-neurotic and abdominal syndromes, and cysticercosis with intoxication, intestinal, allergic and respiratory syndromes.Depending on the location of cysticerci, muscles, brain, heart, eyes, etc. are affected.
• The bovine tapeworm, which can reach a length of up to 18 m, causes teniahrynchiasis and is 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.
• The dwarf tapeworm, only 1.5-5 cm long, is a source of hymenolepiasis with dyspeptic, pain and astheno-neurotic syndromes, which primarily 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 dire consequences in the form of damage to the liver and lungs, where cysts and tumors form, causing dysfunction of these organs.

Fluke worms (trematodes)

• The liver fluke, or liver fluke, is shaped like a leaf, 30-50 mm long and 8-13 mm wide, and has suckers.It damages the liver lining and, by clogging the bile ducts, can completely block the outflow of bile.May lead to cirrhosis, jaundice and liver cancer.
• The cat (Siberian) fluke, or cat fluke, is a flat worm 4-13 mm long.Localization - ducts of the gallbladder, liver and pancreas.It causes opisthorchiasis with the development of gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, cholecystitis and even liver cancer, which can be fatal.
• The pulmonary fluke has an ovoid shape, a red-brown body with small spines ranging in length from 7.5 to 12 mm and a width of 4-8 mm.It affects the lungs, causing inflammation, exudative pleurisy, focal fibrosis and lung cancer.Upon 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 intestines, diarrhea, granulomatous inflammation, leading to bladder cancer.

Diseases they cause

The most dangerous parasites living in the human body can cause a variety of diseases.Very often, an illness provoked by a specific parasite has the same name as it.Thus, various types of parasites in the human body can cause the following diseases:

• certain parasites inside humans (flukes) provoke trematodes;
• Cestodoses occur when infected by tapeworms;
• if an adult or child has roundworms in the intestines, 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 parasites 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 that are 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 pathologies – echinococcosis, ascariasis, acariasis, alveococcosis, tominxosis, etc.;
6. Liver diseases – opisthorchiasis, alveococcosis, echinococcosis, clonorchiasis;
7. In the mouth, ears and oral cavity, parasites can cause different types of myiasis;
8. Heart pathologies – dirophyllariasis and echinococcosis;
9. Diseases of the genitourinary system – alveococcosis, urate myiases, echinococcosis;
10. Vascular pathologies – filariasis and schistosomiasis.

Flatworms

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

The following types have become widespread:

1. Siberian fluke (cat fluke), or opisthorchis.Most often, infection occurs through raw fish, which leads to the appearance of a rather dangerous disease - opisthorchiasis.Parasites multiply very quickly, which can cause serious consequences.The worms have a yellowish tint, and their length can exceed 12 m. By gaining a foothold in the human body, these parasites provoke internal bleeding, disrupt bile outflow, and cause pancreatic dysfunction.Dangerous consequences: purulent cholangitis, achylia, cholangiocarcinoma.

2. Liver fluke.The intermediate host is cattle, and humans become infected by eating poorly processed meat from affected animals.As a result of infection, the disease fascioliasis develops.These worms are relatively small in size (no more than 5-6 cm), but they can provoke dangerous pathologies: liver abscesses, cholangitis, hepatitis.Through the blood, the parasite larvae can spread throughout the body.
3. Schistosoma.The worm is able to settle in blood vessels, consuming blood components.As a result of its vital activity, the development of varicose veins and tumor formations is possible.The main symptom is intense general intoxication.

In the human body you can find a huge number of different parasitic worms that can take hold in various internal organs.All of them cause chronic diseases that can provoke severe pathologies.If signs of helminthiasis of any type appear, you should consult a doctor to begin adequate treatment.

Bull tapeworm

The bovine tapeworm 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 excrement.The eggs fall into the soil, then onto plants, and these plants are eaten by cattle.In the animal's body, the eggs become larvae, which are localized in the muscles.If a person eats contaminated beef, the larvae enter the intestines.The larvae are not transmitted from person to person.

Adult worms have a head with four suckers, a neck and a body consisting of segments.The number of segments is constantly growing; mature segments can separate 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 undetermined localization, allergies, fluctuations in appetite.

In order to remove bovine tapeworm from the body, there is a scheme consisting of 3 stages: preparatory (cleansing the body), treatment with antiparasitic drugs, recovery (diet, herbal medicine).

Tapeworms

Tapeworms, or cestodes, include a variety of flatworms, the length of which can range from 2 mm to 10-12 m. The body of such parasites has a specific structure - numerous segments, a neck and a head with suction cups (hooks) for attachment to the walls.The cestode is a hermaphrodite, and the eggs are located in the segments.The worm absorbs nutrients through the entire surface of the body.

The following common types of tapeworms are distinguished:

1. Alveococcus.They can provoke cholangitis and abscess, as well as spread to the spleen, muscles and brain.
2. Tapeworms, or tapeworms.Bovine tapeworm causes the disease teniarhynchosis and is usually located in the small intestine.Serious complications - cholecystitis, intestinal obstruction, appendicitis.This worm can lead to the following consequences: atrophy of the intestinal lining, Gunther's glossitis, leukopenia.

Protozoan parasites

Toxoplasma gondii is a type of 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 the disease is mild, with the exception of damage to the fetus inside the mother's womb during pregnancy, which creates serious consequences for both the mother and the fetus, even death.

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

Malarial plasmodium is the simplest single-celled creature, in the development cycle of which a person is a temporary host, and a mosquito is a permanent host.In the human body, 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 bursts depends on the type of pathogen.In addition to all this, anemia develops, since plasmodium affects red blood cells.

Giardia is a pear-shaped protozoan that has two nuclei and four pairs of flagella.The main source is pigs and people.Giardiasis is a common disease primarily affecting the liver and small intestine.The disease can occur in both mild and severe forms.

Trichomonas are flagellated, unicellular, pear-shaped organisms that cause the disease trichomoniasis, are sexually transmitted and affect the genitourinary system.It is noticeable that men and women are affected, but in men the disease is usually asymptomatic.

Trypanosomes are a genus of unicellular flagellated protozoa.Trypanosomiasis causes a serious illness, and sleeping sickness is deadly for humans.Trypanosomes are transmitted by bedbugs and tsetse flies.In the host's body, the parasite multiplies under the skin, then penetrates the lymphatic system and blood.Most pathogens are located in the spinal cord and brain, where they destroy cells and release their toxins.