According to the World Health Organization, approximately 90% of the world's population is infected with some type of parasite. About 250 species of worms (helminthiasis) alone can live in the human body, but in addition to them there are also protozoa (amoebas, lamblia and others), arthropods, insect larvae and many othersparasites.
Most often, residents of large cities are infected with banal worms, roundworms and tapeworms, dangerous for health and very unpleasant parasites, but only residents of tropical countries and tourists going on vacation to the Southusually encounter truly terrible creatures that parasitize the human body. . America, Africa or Australia.
Every day, every person faces a large number of parasites; one can become infected with worms by eating food or drinking water with eggs or larvae of parasites, through close contact with a parasite carrier (animal or human), less often infection occursby household items or insect bites.
The most common parasitoses
- Roundworms– representatives of this type of worms are diagnosed in 100 million people worldwide every year. An adult roundworm is a roundworm up to 40 cm long, which can exist in the human intestine for years, feeding on its red blood cells and poisoning the human body with waste. Female roundworms can lay up to 200, 000 eggs per day, which are released with feces and infect the soil. Ascarid 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 is common during childhood; parasites enter the human body when the rules of personal hygiene are not followed (not washing hands after going to the toilet, after walking and before eating, not changing underwear in time, gettingfinger licking and soon). These roundworms do not cause as serious poisoning as other worms, but can provoke the development of diseases such as enterocolitis, vulvovaginitis, salpingitis, cystitis and others. During the breeding season, adult worms leave the lower parts of the large intestine and lay eggs in the perianal folds, causing severe itching in the child, the main symptom of worm infection.
- Bovine and porcine tapewormare large tapeworms whose length can reach 10 M. Despite such impressive sizes, tapeworms are not considered the largest and longest parasites. The longest worm in the world, the broad tapeworm, can reach a length of 25 M. Infection with parasites occurs when eating undercooked meat or through 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. No less dangerous are the larvae of worms that penetrate the internal organs, brain and even eyeballs.
- Giardia- protozoa or protozoan parasites which live in the small intestine of humans. Infection with protozoa is possible by eating food or water contaminated with cysts. Diagnosis of Giardia infection is quite difficult, since there are no specific symptoms of the disease. A sick person constantly feels sick, often gets sick or has symptoms of various diseases of the 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: filariae, schistosomes, guinea worms, cysticerci, toxoplasmas, loa loa and some other less common parasites.
Wired
Wireworms are round and long worms, their length is about 45 cm; you can become infected with filariae larvae through the bite of blood-sucking insects; mosquitoes usually carry the larvae, and less often other insects. The filariae enter the lymphatic vessels and obstruct them. As a result of an infection, a person's lower extremities swell so much that he loses the ability to move independently.
"Elephant disease" is widespread in hot countries, affecting both local residents and tourists, the latter in a more serious form. This disease is considered especially dangerous due to the difficulties in diagnosis and treatment - the disease becomes noticeable only when it becomes chronic, which is almost impossible to cure.
Schistosomes
Schistosomes are a special type of worm that live in human blood vessels. Tiny flatworms, up to 2 mm long, enter the human body by swimming or drinking water contaminated with parasitic cercariae.
Schistosomiasis is primarily a tropical disease, contracted while swimming in open water. Once in 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. Roundworms, penetrating the human intestine, literally eat it away, then penetrate into the lymphatic vessels and subcutaneous fat, where they can reach 80 cm in length.
Where the parasites live, deep abscesses appear, inside which there are one or more large worms. Such parasitosis can only be cured surgically.
LoaLoa
Loa Loa or "eye worm" is a round helminth that parasitizes subcutaneous fat. A person becomes infected through the bite of a blood-sucking insect, which is the intermediate host of the parasite.
Once in the human body, Loa Loa begins to migrate throughout the body, including entering the eyeballs, brain or nervous tissue.
Whiskered Vandellia
Unlike other parasites, it belongs to freshwater fish and lives in Amazonian rivers. A fairly large fish - up to 15 cm long, due to its transparency and eel-like shape, is almost invisible in the water and quietly swims to its victims. The whiskered vandellia can swim into the human urethra, attach itself to the wall of a blood vessel and suck blood, literally devouring its owner from the inside. You can get rid of such a parasite only through severe surgical intervention.
Anyone can become infected with parasites; Hundreds of thousands of dangerous parasites lie in wait for each of us: in water, soil, on tree leaves, on public transport, in seafood, on fresh fruits and vegetables. Therefore, it is so important to observe all sanitary and hygienic rules and teach children the rules of personal hygiene as early as possible.
The entry of most parasites into the human body occurs completely unnoticed; the first symptoms of the disease do not appear until several weeks or months after infection. Symptoms of parasitosis can be different: from slight malaise and headache to a sharp deterioration in condition, fever and hemoptysis.
Only constant monitoring of your health, regular medical examinations and extreme caution when visiting tropical countries will help you avoid infection with the most terrible parasites or, at least, diagnose such an infection in time.