Parasitism in nature is a widespread phenomenon.It refers to the coexistence of two or more organisms that are not interconnected in any way, but form a chain of host-parasite relationships.The second side uses the first as a source of food and habitat.A person often has to act as the owner.
Classification
Human parasites include all creatures, except bacteria and viruses, that live and feed at his expense, causing harm.There are a lot of creatures that can live on or inside the human body.They can be divided into two large groups:
- endoparasites;
- ectoparasites.
The former exist inside the body, in a variety of physiological systems and organs.The latter either live on the body like mites or lice, or attack like bedbugs.
Group of endoparasites
A very large group that includes protozoa, helminths and some other parasites.
Protozoa or protozoa
They are called that because most of them are single-celled microorganisms.The human body can be affected by about 50 species of single-celled organisms.Protozoal infections cause various diseases.
Infection with them can occur in different ways:
- during sexual contacts;
- along 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 experience:
- copious 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.
Trichomonas are dangerous because they can cause various complications (infertility, cervical cancer, etc.).
In addition, they can change shape, disguise themselves as other cells of the body (lymphocytes, platelets) and provide shelter to intracellular microorganisms (viruses, chlamydia, etc.), which makes the latter difficult to identify and destroy.
For treatment, antimicrobial drugs from the group of 5-nitroimidazoles are used predominantly.
Another common disease of protozoal origin is giardiasis.The causative agent is lamblia.Parasitizes the small intestine.Upon penetration into the large intestine, Giardia loses its mobility and turns into cysts (a stable temporary form of existence), which are excreted along with feces.
Infection occurs through consumption of 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 observe the rules of personal hygiene..
The presence of Giardia can be suspected by intestinal disorder (constipation alternating with diarrhea, bloating, rumbling, nausea, pain in the upper abdomen) and general malaise (poor appetite, weakness, irritability, etc.).
Giardiasis is treated with the same drugs as trichomoniasis.
Other diseases caused by protozoan parasites:
- amoebiasis;
- malaria;
- leishmaniasis;
- toxoplasmosis;
- sleeping sickness, etc.
Helminths
People often call them worms.More than 400 types of parasitic worms can live in humans.The most common are pinworms and human roundworms.
Pinworms are small roundworms.Males reach a length of 5-6 millimeters, females - 10. They are the cause 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 out 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 medications, hygiene is very important in this case, since enterobiasis is a classic disease of dirty hands.Nails should be cut short, hands should be washed thoroughly, linen 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 in size.
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 circulatory system.Then migration throughout the body begins.The bloodstream carries them to the liver, right side of the heart, 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 provoke pain, local hemorrhages, and the development of coronary artery disease.
The results of staying in the lungs are cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, bronchitis, etc.
When moving through the brain, neuroses, dizziness, convulsions, and epileptic-like seizures can be observed.
Other symptoms of ascariasis:
- nausea and vomiting;
- rapid fatigue during physical work;
- loss of appetite and body weight;
- diarrhea;
- pain in the abdomen;
- skin rash and itching.
Various anthelmintics are used to combat roundworms.
Other common helminthiases include:
- schistosomiasis;
- trichinosis;
- echinococcosis;
- clonorchiasis;
- opisthorchiasis;
- hookworm infection, etc.
Other endoparasites
This group contains parasites that are rarely found.For example, the larva of the gadfly, which lives in Central and South America, can cause dermatobiasis.The female gadfly lays eggs in the abdomens of mosquitoes, mosquitoes and ticks.When bitten by insects, the larvae emerge 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, acts in a similar way.But here a 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 inside a person.They attack a person and, having had their fill, leave him.
Three types of lice parasitize humans (head, body, and pubic).
Parasites, contrary to popular belief (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 sore 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 head and pubic parasites are present on the body.
The most dangerous are body lice.They can carry typhus, relapsing fever, and Volyn fever.Lice cannot tolerate other dangerous diseases (HIV, hepatitis), since viruses, entering the intestinal tract along 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 selection 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 is included with the preparations.Disinsection of clothes and linen is also necessary.
The scabies mite, or itch, causes scabies, a contagious skin disease.You can become infected in the most random way, for example, by holding the railing in a public building.Infection is guaranteed through close physical contact, in particular sexual contact.It takes the tick 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 into another place, the second time - for mating.
The main problems for humans are caused by females.They lay eggs during the first half of the day, and at night they gnaw passages in the epidermis.
Recognizing scabies is easy.It is accompanied by unbearable itching, which sharply intensifies in the evening and night hours.Inflamed linear scabies 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 antiscabiotic 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 entire body (except for the face and scalp).They wash the body either before or after therapy.You cannot wash during it.If there are crusts on the body, they are softened and removed.Rub the cream or emulsion in 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.Linen is ironed, furniture and clothes are treated with antiseptic.After two days, the course is repeated.
Another intradermal mite is the acne iron.It is also very small in size (maximum 0.5 millimeters).Lives in the mouths of hair follicles, ducts of the sebaceous and meibomian glands (at the edges of the eyelids).The disease is called demodicosis in this case.
90 percent of people have acne, but the pathological process does not always start, mainly when the immune system is weakened or as a result of severe stress.
At the initial stage, acne, rashes, and ulcers appear.When the follicles are damaged, eyelashes and hair fall out.As the disease progresses, the skin changes color to earthy gray and becomes lumpy.Demodicosis is dangerous due to the addition of a secondary infection and the formation of scars.
Treatment of demodicosis is quite complicated.The disease is chronic in nature, since long courses of therapy and high concentrations of medication are required.Intensive use of antiparasitic drugs has a bad effect on the condition of the liver and hematopoietic processes.However, stable long-term remission can be achieved.Treatment by a dermatologist and a dermatocosmetologist simultaneously is considered the most effective.
If you suspect a parasite infection, you should not try to identify them yourself and check the effectiveness of antiparasitic drugs or folk remedies.It’s easier to go to the doctor and get all the necessary tests.Properly prescribed treatment will cleanse the body of these harmful parasites.