Parasites in biology are considered to be those organisms that perform their vital activity at the expense of another organism of another biological species.
Such vital activity of the parasite does not bring any benefit to the host organism and, at best, the interaction does not lead to the development of negative effects.
In the worst case, the parasite causes the death of the host. In this case, either the parasite escapes to the external environment, or the joint dies.
Human parasitic diseases have been practically known since the primitive era of human existence. This fact was confirmed in the process of observing the behavior of direct human ancestors - apes. Parasites that live in fur are detected by monkeys and removed from each other. This process has a very important character of social interaction.
Human intolerance to the appearance of acne and pores on the skin also dates back to the early era of human existence. Some insect parasites in the tropics can lay their larvae on the skin. This leads to a reflex request to squeeze them out of the skin.
The various worms that affect the eyes, skin and gastrointestinal tract were described by ancient scientists. In the 18th-19th centuries, with the development and introduction of microscopy into medical practice, scientists established the causes and modes of transmission of parasites that can cause specific diseases in humans.
- The beginning of the 20th century and the discovery of antiparasitic agents allowed mankind to cope with most parasitic diseases.
Thus, humanity coexists very closely with various parasites almost throughout its history. However, modern medical science makes it possible to diagnose the whole spectrum of parasites quickly and quite accurately, which gives physicians the opportunity to treat such diseases in the shortest possible time and with minimal risks to patients.
The GP will help identify parasites in the human body, symptoms and treatment. Sometimes infectious disease specialists of a narrower specialization - parasitologists - may be involved.
What are parasitic diseases?
Parasitic diseases are nosologies that arise after the introduction (invasion) of biological agents into the body. The latter refer to the group of human parasites. The symptomatology of such diseases is extremely diverse and depends precisely on the agent that has penetrated and performs its vital activity in the body.
According to how parasites affect the human body, they are usually divided into the following groups:
- Exoparases that affect human skin and hair.
- Toxic effect of parasite residues on the body.
- Damage to the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract and lungs by a parasite.
- Formation of cysts and cysts in human organs. An increase in the size of such cysts and cysts leads to specific symptoms of organ compression.
- Disruption of the normal passage of food through the gastrointestinal tract. This can lead to intestinal intussusceptions (most often in children) or to the development of intestinal obstruction.
- Parasites that live inside a person can cause sensitization and the occurrence of non-specific allergic reactions.
- Microparasites can disrupt the functioning of blood cells, causing fever and intoxication.
- The impact of certain types of parasites on the body not only leads to severe symptoms, but can also lead to organ failure or death.
Such a variety of negative effects from parasites that arise in the body is due to the different biological species that enter the human organs. However, such a biological diversity of parasites living in the human body allowed doctors to identify specific signs of parasitic diseases.
Parasites that live in the human body
The main ways of human infection with parasites depend on the life cycle of the biological organism, which is the causative agent of the parasitic disease.
Doctors identify such ways of the parasite to penetrate a person as:
- Contact path.is a characteristic of exoparasite insects, as well as of some helminths that live mainly in water, the larvae of which penetrate human skin. You can be infected in this way both by a sick person and through soiled clothes, bedding, personal or public hygiene items, etc.
- Fecal-oral routeof infection. Occurs when pathogen cysts enter food after contact with infected feces, mainly from animals. Autoinvasion can also be noticed - a person's self-infection if personal hygiene is not observed, etc.
- Pollution.The pathogen enters the bloodstream when suppressed infected insects.
- Transmission infection.The parasite enters the bloodstream when bitten by an insect carrying the disease. Most often, this route of transmission is typical of the simplest parasites, for example, malaria.
- Sexually transmitted infection.is characteristic of both venereal diseases caused by parasites and some toxins that can affect a person's urinary and genital tract.
Protozoa, helminths (flat and flatworms), insects, and some species of fungi are attributed to the causes of parasitic diseases.
The location of people with these species depends on the geographical and climatic zone. Therefore, the medicines of each country keep their own records and a list of parasites that are specific to it.
Biological organisms entering the human body have been studied in detail by medical biologists and physicians, which made it possible to clearly classify all biological species that can cause parasitic diseases:
- The simplest organisms (amebiasis, balantidiasis, babeosis, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, malaria, giardiasis, trypanosomiasis, toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis).
- Helminths. Sometimes the term worms is used (ascariasis, dicrocele, difylobotriasis, dranculosis, clonorchiasis, opisthorchiasis, fortiloidosis, teniaza, fascioliasis, schistosomiasis, enterobiasis, echinococcosis).
- Exoparasites (lice (pubic, head, clothes), demodicosis, fleas, flies, scabies).
Signs of parasites in the human body
Unfortunately, there are no exact signs of parasites in the human body and no symptoms that would indicate this or that type of parasitic infection. This leads to the fact that for an accurate diagnosis, for example, helminthiasis, specific tests are needed.
On the other hand, almost all exo-infections are diagnosed quite simply - based on the clinical appearance and the presence of a certain type of insect on the skin.
In general terms, all the symptoms of parasitic diseases can be grouped into the following groups:
- Itchy skin and discomfort caused by hair and skin parasites (fleas, lice and others). A skin rash that itches like acne is often accompanied by a condition such as demodic scabies (a special type of mites).
- Pain in various parts of the body caused by the introduction of a parasite into the skin and muscles (some types of worms that live in water).
- Eye pain, blurred vision.
- Lung pain, coughing up phlegm (this situation may be typical for ascaris larvae migrating to the lungs, as well as with echinococcal lung cysts, etc. ).
- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea are very common symptoms of most helminths that parasitize the gastrointestinal tract.
- Jaundice, liver and biliary tract disorders, liver failure. These symptoms occur with helminths that affect the liver and biliary tract, as well as with malaria at the peak of the disease.
- Stomach pain.
- Intestinal obstruction due to closure of the intestinal lumen by a large number of roundworms or large representatives of flatworms.
All these symptoms of the presence of parasites in the human body, in the absence of data on another pathology, should push the doctor to think about a human parasitic disease and serve as a basis for diagnostic and laboratory studies.
Diagnosis of parasites in humans
Depending on the type of parasite that has invaded the human body, one or another research is performed. If we are talking about external exoparasites, which are mainly insects, then the diagnosis of the disease is usually limited to a general examination, as well as insect microscopy.
General examination is usually infallible for proper diagnosis and treatment or cleansing of the scalp or scalp. In the case of demodicosis or scabies, the diagnosis can be easily made based on the location of the rash and the presence of itching.
Scratches taken for microscopy in this case confirm the diagnosis of intradermal parasites.
For gastrointestinal parasites, the main screening study (a diagnostic procedure that allows you to quickly and relatively informatively evaluate data on the presence or absence of disease in a large number of people) is the stool analysis.- With a special microscopic examination of the stool, the laboratory assistant assesses the presence of worm eggs, dead worms, cyst capsules, etc.
According to the morphology of helminth eggs, you can almost accurately determine the type of worms that parasitize the body. Sometimes in the feces, the segments of the worms are determined macroscopically. They are then examined under a microscope to confirm the appearance of a flatworm that parasitizes the gastrointestinal tract.
In some cases, for example, when diagnosing parasites in the body is impossible by analyzing the stool or it is not informative, immunological studies are used. They allow you to assess the presence of antibodies to a particular type of helminth. Unfortunately, due to the special immunological relationship between the human immune system and the parasite, the level of antibodies in some cases may not reflect the real picture of the disease.
In the case of malaria, a thick drop of blood is tested to detect Plasmodium malaria. Also, total blood counts, leukocyte levels, as well as all biochemical parameters of the blood, especially the liver, are assessed.
The presence of an increased level of eosinophils in the blood is a common sign not only of allergic diseases but also of helminthic infestations. This is the first "bell".
Sometimes helminths in the gastrointestinal tract are a diagnostic finding during contrast radiographs, cystoscopy, FGDS, colonoscopy.
How to get rid of parasites in the human body?
Treatment of parasitic infections should only be performed by a physician, subject to certain rules.
Self-medication and traditional medicines in such cases do not lead to improvement, and can sometimes be fatal.
It is also important to provide preventative treatment for all family members and contacts.
Human exoparasites, which parasitize the hairy areas of the body, are destroyed with special disinfectants. Usually, a single treatment followed by a hygienic wash is enough to kill the exoparasite.
When it comes to types of skin parasites (scabies, demodicosis), use special oils that contain insecticides against such organisms.
Antihelminthics are used against round and flatworms, which act on the main lumen of the gastrointestinal tract especially in helminths. Depending on the biological type of helminth, different treatment regimens are used (from one tablet to a series of courses).
Such drugs should be used strictly under the supervision of a physician to recognize in time the adverse effects and side effects of medications.
No other method of treatment, detox programs, and so on can lead to the complete death of the parasite in the body and, as a result, to the healing of a person.