According to the World Health Organization, about 90% of the world's population is infected with one or another type of parasite. Only about 250 species of worms (helminths) can live in the human body, but in addition to them there are protozoa (amoebae, lamblia and others), arthropods, insect larvae and many other parasites.
Often, residents of big cities are infected with banal worms, roundworms and tapeworms, parasites that are dangerous to health and very unpleasant, but only residents of tropical countries and tourists who go on vacation to the south usually encounter truly terrible creatures that parasitize the human body. America, Africa or Australia.
Each person is exposed to a large number of parasites every day, you can get worms by eating or drinking water with eggs or larvae of the parasites, much less contact with the carrier of the parasites (animal or human). infection occurs through household items or insect bites.
The most common parasites
- Roundworms- representatives of this type of worms are diagnosed in 100 million people in the world every year. An adult roundworm is a round worm up to 40 cm long, which can exist in the human intestines for years, feeds on red blood cells and poisons the human body with waste products. Female roundworms can lay up to 200, 000 eggs per day, which are released with feces and infect the soil. Ascaris larvae can migrate throughout the body, affecting internal organs, blood vessels and even the human brain.
- Pinworms- small roundworms that live in the large intestine. Pinworm infection often occurs in childhood, parasites enter the human body when personal hygiene rules are not followed (do not wash your hands before using the toilet, walking and eating, do not change your underwear on time, do not lick your fingers, etc. ). etc. ). These roundworms do not cause severe intoxication like other worms, but can cause the development of diseases such as enterocolitis, vulvovaginitis, salpingitis, cystitis and others. During the breeding season, adult worms leave the lower part of the large intestine and lay eggs in the perianal folds, which causes severe itching, which is the main symptom of worm infection in a child.
- Beef and pork tapeare large tapeworms that can reach 10 m in length. Despite such impressive sizes, tapeworms are not considered the largest and longest parasites. The longest worm in the world, the broad tapeworm can reach 25 m in length. Infection with parasites occurs when eating poorly cooked meat or during contact and household contact. Tapeworms not only cause intoxication and exhaustion of the host's body, but can also cause blockage of the bile ducts or intestinal obstruction. Larvae of worms that penetrate internal organs, brain and even eyeballs are no less dangerous.
- Giardia- protozoa or protozoan parasites that live in the small intestines of humans. Infection with protozoa is possible by eating food or water contaminated with cysts. Giardia infection is difficult to diagnose because there are no specific symptoms of the disease. A sick person constantly feels bad, often gets sick or is diagnosed with symptoms of various diseases of internal organs.
Which parasites are considered the most dangerous?
Representatives of the following species are considered the most terrible and dangerous parasites in the world: filaria, schistosomes, guinea worms, cysticerci, toxoplasma, loa loa and some other less common parasites.
Filaria
Filaria are round and long worms, about 45 cm long; you can be infected with filarial larvae by the bite of blood-sucking insects; mosquitoes usually carry larvae, less often other insects. Filariae penetrate the lymphatic vessels and block them. As a result of infection, a person's lower limbs swell so much that he loses the ability to move independently.
"Elephant disease" is widespread in hot countries, affecting both locals and tourists, the latter being more severe. This disease is considered especially dangerous due to the difficulties in diagnosis and treatment - the disease is noticeable only when it becomes chronic, it is almost impossible to treat it.
Schistosomes
Schistosomes are a special type of worm that lives in human blood vessels. Small flatworms up to 2 mm in length enter the human body when drinking or swimming in water contaminated with parasitic cercariae.
Schistosomiasis is mainly a tropical disease, contracted by swimming in open water. Once inside the human body, schistosomes can cause serious damage to the liver, bladder or intestines.
Guinea worm
Guinea worm or dracunculiasis is another serious parasitic disease that can be contracted by drinking dirty water in tropical countries. Entering the human intestine, roundworms literally bite it, then penetrate the lymphatic vessels and subcutaneous fat, where they can grow up to 80 cm in length.
Where the parasites live, deep abscesses form, in which one or more large worms can be found. Such parasitosis can only be treated surgically.
Loa Loa
Loa Loa or "eyeworm" is a round helminth that parasitizes the subcutaneous fat. Humans are infected by the bite of a blood-sucking insect, which is the intermediate host of the parasite.
After entering the human body, Loa Loa begins to migrate throughout the body, penetrating the eyeballs, brain or nervous tissue.
Mustache Vandellia
Unlike other parasites, it belongs to freshwater fish and lives in the Amazon rivers. A fairly large fish - up to 15 cm long, due to its transparency and eel-like shape, it is almost invisible in the water and quietly swims to its victims. A man with a mustache can swim into the urethra, cling to the wall of a blood vessel and swallow the blood, literally eating the owner from the inside. You can get rid of such a parasite only with a serious operation.
Anyone can be infected with parasites, hundreds of thousands of dangerous parasites are lurking in each of us: in water, soil, tree leaves, public transport, seafood, fresh vegetables and fruits. Therefore, it is very important to follow all sanitary and hygienic rules and teach children about personal hygiene as early as possible.
Most parasites enter the human body completely unnoticed, the first symptoms of the disease appear only a few weeks or months after infection. Symptoms of parasitosis can be different: from mild discomfort and headaches to severe deterioration of the condition, fever and hemoptysis.
Only constant monitoring of your health, regular medical examinations and extreme caution when visiting tropical countries will help you not to be infected with the most terrible parasites, or at least to diagnose such an infection in time.