Parasitism in nature is a widespread phenomenon.It refers to the coexistence of two or more organisms that are not related to each other in any way, but form a chain of host-parasite relationships.The other party uses the first as a source of food and habitat.A person often has to act as an owner.
Classification
Human parasites include all creatures, except bacteria and viruses, that live and feed at his expense, 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 first exist inside the body, in different physiological systems and organs.The latter either live on the body like mites or lice, or attack like bed bugs.
A group of endoparasites
A very large group that includes protozoa, helminths and some other parasites.
Protozoa or protozoa
They are called so because they are mostly unicellular microorganisms.About 50 types of single-celled organisms can affect the human body.Protozoal infections cause various diseases.
Infection with them can happen 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's Experience:
- abundant foamy discharge of yellowish-greenish discharge;
- burning, itching and swelling of the genitals;
- hyperemia of the vaginal mucosa, etc.
Signs of the disease in men are less pronounced:
- pain when urinating;
- discharge from the urethra;
- sometimes blood in the urine.
Trichomonads are dangerous because they can cause various complications (infertility, cervical cancer, etc.).
In addition, they can change shape, disguise themselves as other body cells (lymphocytes, platelets) and harbor intracellular microorganisms (viruses, chlamydia, etc.), making them difficult to identify and destroy.
Antimicrobial drugs from the 5-nitroimidazole group are mainly used for treatment.
Another common disease of protozoal origin is giardiasis.The causative agent is lamblia.Parasitic in the small intestine.After penetrating the large intestine, Giardia loses its mobility and turns into cysts (stable temporary form of existence), which are excreted together with feces.
Infection occurs by consuming food and water contaminated with cysts.
Cysts can also be introduced into the body through dirty hands.For this reason, giardiasis often affects young children (1-4 years old), who are not inclined to follow the rules of personal hygiene..
The presence of Giardia can be suspected of an intestinal disorder (constipation alternating with diarrhea, bloating, belching, nausea, pain in the upper abdomen) and general weakness (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 pinworms and human roundworms.
Pinworms are small round worms.Males reach a length of 5-6 millimeters, females - 10. They are the causative agents of 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 in the skin.
When scratching, the eggs get under the nails and on the hands.Then the person spreads them himself, touching various things with unwashed hands.
Therapy is carried out with anthelmintic drugs.All family members should be treated.In addition to medicines, hygiene is very important in this case, because enterobiosis is a classic disease of dirty hands.Nails should be shortened, hands should be washed well, bedding should be washed in hot water and ironed with a hot iron.The apartment needs to be wet cleaned.
The human roundworm is another type of parasitic roundworm.They are much larger and more dangerous than pinworms.The length of females can reach 40 centimeters, males are smaller.
Ascaris eggs enter the body in the same way as pinworm eggs.In the small intestine, the eggs turn into larvae, which penetrate through its walls into the blood vessel system.This is when 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 whole bunch 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 cause pain, local bleeding and the development of coronary artery disease.
The consequences of staying in the lungs are coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, bronchitis, etc.
Neuroses, dizziness, convulsions and epileptic seizures can be observed when moving through the brain.
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.
Various anthelmintics are used to combat roundworms.
Other common helminth infections include:
- schistosomiasis;
- trichinosis;
- echinococcosis;
- clonorchiasis;
- opisthorchiasis;
- hookworm infection etc.
Other endoparasites
This group contains parasites that are rarely found.For example, gadfly larvae, which live in Central and South America, can cause dermatobiosis.The female gnat lays eggs in the abdomen of mosquitoes, gnats and ticks.When bitten by insects, the larvae hatch from the eggs 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, works in a similar way.But here the fertilized female is introduced into the epidermis.
Ectoparasites
There are fewer of them than endoparasites.The most famous of them:
- lice;
- ticks.
Ectoparasites also include fleas, bed bugs and mosquitoes.But they never live directly on or within a person.They attack a person and, after having had their fill, leave them.
Three types of lice parasitize humans (head, body and pubic).
Parasites, contrary to popular opinion (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 painful areas;
- pyoderma (purulent skin lesion).
Different types of lice prefer to live on different parts of the body, hence the classification of lice.
Sometimes it is of a mixed type, for example, when there are parasites on the head and pubis on the body.
The most dangerous are the ears.They can carry typhus, relapsing fever and Volin fever.Lice cannot tolerate other dangerous diseases (HIV, hepatitis), because viruses that enter the intestinal tract together 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 variety of anti-pediculosis drugs in the form of ointments, creams, aerosols and shampoos.They are based on insecticides.A thin comb for combing out nits comes with the preparations.Disinsection of clothes and bedding is also necessary.
Scabies mites, or scabies, cause scabies, a contagious skin disease.You can get infected in the most random way, for example, holding a fence in a public building.Infection is guaranteed by close physical contact, especially sexual contact.A tick needs 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.In the first half of the day, they lay eggs, and at night they bite and pass through the epidermis.
Scabies is easy to recognize.It is accompanied by unbearable itching, which suddenly intensifies in the evening and night hours.An inflamed linear scab can be seen on the skin.People prone to allergies experience severe allergic reactions.Due to strong scratching, the skin becomes saturated with liquid, swells, and sometimes becomes covered with bloody crusts.
Scabies is treated with anti-cabicidal 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 scalp).They wash the body before or after therapy.You cannot wash yourself 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.Bed linen is ironed, furniture and clothes are treated with an antiseptic.After two days, the course is repeated.
Another intradermal mite is acne iron.It is also very small in size (maximum 0.5 millimeters).It lives in the mouths of hair follicles, ducts of 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 is weakened or as a result of severe stress.
In the initial stage, acne, rashes and ulcers appear.When follicles are damaged, eyelashes and hair fall out.As the disease progresses, the skin changes color to an earthy gray and becomes bumpy.Demodicosis is dangerous due to the addition of secondary infection and the formation of scars.
Treatment of demodicosis is quite complicated.The disease is chronic in nature, as long courses of therapy and high concentrations of drugs are required.Intensive use of antiparasitic drugs has a bad effect on the state of the liver and hematopoietic processes.However, stable long-term remission can be achieved.Treatment by dermatologists and dermatocosmetologists is considered the most effective at the same time.
If you suspect an infection with parasites, 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 do all the necessary tests.Properly prescribed treatment will cleanse the body of these harmful parasites.