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 second party uses the first as a source of food and habitat.One must often 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 many 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 various physiological systems and organs.The latter either live on the body as mites or lice, or attack as bed bugs.
A group of endoparasites
A very large group that includes protozoa, helminths and some other parasites.
Protozoa or protozoa
They are so called because most of them are unicellular microorganisms.The human body can be affected by about 50 types of single-celled organisms.Protozoan infections cause a variety of diseases.
Infection with them can happen in different ways:
- during sexual intercourse;
- 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 experience:
- copious frothy release of yellowish-greenish discharge;
- burning, itching and swelling of the genitals;
- hyperemia of the vaginal mucosa, etc.
The 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 their shape, disguise themselves as other cells of the body (lymphocytes, platelets) and provide shelter for intracellular microorganisms (viruses, chlamydia, etc.), which makes the latter difficult to identify and destroy.
Antimicrobial drugs from the 5-nitroimidazole group are mainly used for treatment.
Another common disease of protozoan origin is giardiasis.The causative agent is lamblia.It parasitizes the small intestine.Upon penetration into the large intestine, Giardia loses its mobility and turns into cysts (stable temporary form of existence), which are excreted together with the 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 reluctant to follow 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:
- 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 enterobiosis.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 combing, the eggs fall under the nails and on the hands.Then the person distributes them himself, touching various things with unwashed hands.
Therapy is carried out with anthelmintic drugs.All family members should be treated.In addition to medication, hygiene is very important in this case, as enterobiosis is a classic disease of dirty hands.Nails should be clipped, hands washed well, linen washed in hot water and ironed with a hot iron.The apartment needs wet cleaning.
The human roundworm is another type of parasitic roundworm.They are much larger and more dangerous than sedges.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 that penetrate through its walls into the circulatory system.Then the migration into the body begins.The blood 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 host 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 retention in the lungs are cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, bronchitis, etc.
Neuroses, vertigo, convulsions and epileptic seizures can be observed with movement in 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 helminthiasis include:
- schistosomiasis;
- trichinellosis;
- echinococcosis;
- clonorchiasis;
- opisthorchosis;
- hookworm, etc.
Other endoparasites
This group includes parasites that occur rarely.For example, gadfly larvae that live in Central and South America can cause dermatobiosis.The female gadfly lays eggs in the abdomen of mosquitoes, gnats and ticks.When bitten by an insect, 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 a fertilized female is introduced into the epidermis.
Ectoparasites
They are less 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, after having had enough, 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, the symptoms are the same:
- itching;
- weeping (release of serous exudate through damage to the epidermis);
- crusts on inflamed 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 of the head and pubis on the body.
The most dangerous are body lice.They can carry typhus, relapsing fever, and botulism.Lice cannot tolerate other dangerous diseases (HIV, hepatitis), because the viruses entering 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 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 underwear is also necessary.
Scabies, or scabies, causes scabies, a contagious skin disease.You can become infected in the most random way, for example, by grabbing the railing of a public building.Contagion is guaranteed with close physical contact, especially 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 lifetime.The first time in the form of a larva to penetrate 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 through passages in the epidermis.
Recognizing scabies is easy.It is accompanied by unbearable itching, which sharply intensifies in the evening and at night.An inflamed linear scab can be seen on the skin.People prone to allergies experience severe allergic reactions.Due to severe scratching, the skin becomes saturated with fluid, swells and sometimes becomes covered with bloody crusts.
Scabies is treated with anti-scabies.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 for the face and scalp).They wash the body before or after the therapy.You cannot wash 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 have the right 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 the acne mite.It is also very small in size (0.5 millimeters maximum).It lives in the mouths of hair follicles, ducts of sebaceous and meibomian glands (at the edges of the eyelids).In this case, the disease is called demodicosis.
90 percent of people have acne, but the pathological process does not always begin, mainly when the immune system weakens 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 earthy gray and becomes lumpy.Demodecosis 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 treatment 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.Simultaneous treatment by a dermatologist and a dermatocosmetologist is considered the most effective.
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 get all the necessary tests.Properly prescribed treatment will cleanse the body of these harmful parasites.