Ascaris affects. Ascariasis symptoms. Symptoms of ascariasis in adults

According to statistics, almost 1 billion people are diagnosed with the disease every year.

Life cycle of roundworm

This process starts in the human intestine. In it, an adult female is capable of laying up to 250 thousand eggs daily. The latter then exit into the external environment with feces.

Symptoms of ascariasis in adults

If the infection is moderate or severe, a person will experience the following warning signs:

• Cough (wet or dry). When sputum is released, streaks of blood can sometimes be detected. The presence of impurities of liquid connective tissue is due to tissue damage.
• Painful sensations in the chest area.
• Dyspnea. It usually occurs after physical activity. If a person is susceptible to allergic reactions or suffers from bronchial asthma, shortness of breath may also occur at rest.
• Increase in body temperature to subfebrile levels. It may cause chills, excessive sweating, and aches in the muscles and joints.
• Tachycardia.
• Regular episodes of sudden jumps in blood pressure (most often we are talking about hypotension).

In some cases, the vital activity of roundworms in adults provokes an allergic reaction. The latter is manifested by swelling, skin rashes and itching.

With massive infection at the intestinal stage, the following may occur: nausea, vomiting, flatulence, acute pain in the abdominal area, and stool disorders. Body weight often decreases.

Symptoms in children

Newborn babies are not susceptible to the disease. The disease is most often diagnosed in children aged 3 to 10 years. In such situations, the symptoms are similar to those caused by roundworms in adults.

In addition, children experience the following conditions:

• Retarded physical development.
• Lethargy.
• Irritability.
• Increased degree of fatigue.

Regardless of the severity of the symptoms, treatment for roundworms cannot be delayed. This is due to the fact that their vital activity in children’s bodies most often provokes the development of serious complications, including pneumonia.

Who to contact

Based on the results of the diagnostics, the doctor may additionally refer you for a consultation with an immunologist, gastroenterologist, or surgeon.

Diagnostic methods

Currently, the following methods are used to diagnose ascariasis:

• Blood test (both general and biochemical).
• Examination of liquid connective tissue for antibodies to roundworms.
• Stool analysis.
• Urine examination.
• Sputum analysis.
• Radiography.
• Anthropometry.

As a rule, no specific changes are detected in a blood test. Your doctor may notice a slight increase in your white blood cell and eosinophil levels.

Examination of feces is a standard procedure when a helminthic infestation is suspected. If roundworms are not found in the feces, this does not indicate that they are not in the body. As a rule, faecal analysis must be performed several times.

Treatment of ascariasis

The disease requires an integrated approach. The standard treatment regimen includes the following points:

For children, the doctor may additionally prescribe a hypoallergenic diet for the duration of treatment.

Possible complications

• Intestinal obstruction.
• Mechanical jaundice.
• Acute pancreatitis.
• Appendicitis.
• Peritonitis.
• Cholangitis of a purulent nature.
• Liver abscess.
• Pneumonia.
• Asphyxia.

To prevent the development of complications, it is necessary to consult a doctor in a timely manner. In severe cases, hospitalization in a hospital is indicated.

Traditional methods

One of the effective remedies is pomegranate infusion. Dried skins must be poured with boiling water. After the infusion has cooled, it must be taken three times a day. Pumpkin seeds are also effective against roundworms. They must be peeled and consumed raw twice a day, 2 tsp.

Prevention

In order to prevent the development of ascariasis, you must regularly follow the following rules:

In addition, it is important to promptly replace sewer and water pipes.

The peculiarity of the disease is that patients can become infected again due to non-compliance with personal hygiene rules.

The development of roundworm takes place in a closed cycle. There are five stages:

How do they get infected, are they contagious or not?

The main mode of transmission of infection is the oral-fecal route. Roundworms penetrate directly into the human body in different ways. Most often the cause is:

• Insufficiently washed vegetables - they are in close contact with the soil, which may be contaminated.
• Berries picked from the ground.
• Unheated well or tap water.
• Dirty hands.

Doctors often diagnose a patient’s infection with eggs from his own body. This path is typical for childhood. With the help of contaminated hands, the helminth is transferred to toys, food, subsequent ingestion and re-infection.

Symptoms of having roundworms

The clinical picture of the pathology is varied. Depends on three factors:

• The massiveness of the invasion.
• Patient's age.
• Current phase of the disease.

Symptoms of ascariasis in adults

Several months pass from the moment of infection to the appearance of the first signs.

Symptoms of chronic ascariasis:

• Gastrointestinal syndrome. A painful stomach, problems with stool, attacks of morning sickness, vomiting, and loss of appetite are typical for him.
• Violation of general health.

Symptoms of roundworms in children

In childhood, the signs of the disease are different. The migratory stage is often virtually asymptomatic. But if a large number of eggs enter the gastrointestinal tract, then severe intoxication of the body is noted.

Signs of roundworm infection in a child are as follows:

• Raising body temperature to high levels.
• Enlarged lymph nodes, liver, spleen.
• Headache.
• Dermatitis.
• Cough accompanied by purulent discharge, inflammation of the bronchi.

The late stage - the presence of an adult in the digestive tract - is accompanied by signs of intestinal pathologies. The symptoms are as follows:

• Flatulence.
• Attacks of nausea ending in vomiting.
• Hypersalivation.
• Fast weight loss.
• Fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal pain.
• Anal itching, redness.
• Damage to the oral mucosa.
• Enlarged pupils, photophobia.

If such symptoms appear, the child must be shown to a pediatrician and have feces submitted for research.

Accurate diagnosis

To determine helminthic infestation, the following methods are used:

• Blood test - general and biochemistry.
• Test for the presence of antibodies.
• Study of sputum, urine, feces.
• Radiography.
• Anthropometry.

Blood analysis

There are no specific deviations. There is an increase in the number of leukocytes - a potential sign of the movement of larvae from the intestines into the lung tissue.

Antibody determination

The technique is recognized as the most effective and detects the presence or absence of infection with maximum accuracy.

Their production begins immediately after infection. In practice, it is used to diagnose helminth larvae. To identify adult individuals, testing stool for worm eggs will be effective.

Sputum analysis

Examination of feces is the most common method for diagnosing ascariasis. A fertilized egg has a characteristic appearance: it is an ellipse with a dense, uneven outer shell of yellow-brown color.

To diagnose helminthic infestation, a method for determining volatile fatty acids is used. An increase in the reading is a potential sign of illness.

Radiography

The study is carried out to identify characteristic changes in the tissues of the lungs and gastrointestinal tract. It is prescribed as one of the first in cases of suspected ascariasis.

The roundworms themselves are not visible in the human intestine on an x-ray. The study is necessary to differentiate other gastrointestinal pathologies.

Ultrasound examination

Anthropometry

Actively implemented in childhood. The doctor is interested in the following indicators:

• height;
• head and chest circumference.

Treatment of ascariasis in adults

Treatment of the disease requires an integrated approach. The patient is prescribed medication and consultations with specialized specialists are prescribed. Additionally, folk practices may be recommended.

Which doctor should I contact?

If necessary or to clarify the diagnosis, a consultation with doctors of other specializations is prescribed:

• Immunologist – in case of development of pronounced allergies.
• Surgeon – when the patient has identified concomitant complications.
• Gastroenterologist – if there are chronic gastrointestinal pathologies.

Medicines

In case of massive invasion, it is possible to administer drugs through a nasogastric tube, which minimizes contact of the drug with saliva and helps to more accurately calculate the dosage.

Elena Malysheva and the program Live Healthy:

Folk remedies

The classic treatment regimen for ascariasis can be supplemented with home recipes:

• Decoction of pomegranate peels. Take 2-3 pieces per 200 ml of boiling water. Cool the drink, divide into three parts and drink throughout the day.
• Wormwood infusion. Brew a teaspoon of chopped herbs in 400 ml of hot water. Infuse, filter, drink 2 tbsp. l. morning and evening before meals.

Before starting to take the chosen remedy, it is recommended to consult a doctor.

Treatment of children

The main direction of therapy for ascariasis is stimulation of immune defense.

Ascariasis does not pose a danger to the life and health of the patient, but it is accompanied by complications.

A child becomes infected when he eats with dirty hands or puts a poorly washed tomato or strawberry into his mouth straight from the garden. If the apartment is unsanitary and pets are not taken care of, then children, especially very young ones, are the first to suffer. They themselves cannot yet take care of themselves, but they come into most contact with dust on the floor and various objects that they reach. This is where the worm eggs settle.

Ascaris larvae and eggs remain viable even when frozen. They die in dry air at high temperatures. You can destroy eggs using alcohol, ether, gasoline, and hot water. They do not tolerate direct sunlight.

What danger do roundworms pose to a child’s health?

Roundworms do not have organs for attachment to the intestinal walls; they move freely throughout it, causing enormous harm to the body:

Approximately 3 months after infection with roundworms, signs of anemia appear. If roundworms are detected in a child, there is no time to delay; he must be treated to prevent serious complications.

Video: What is the danger of ascariasis in children. How to treat

How does roundworm infection occur?

Since the development of roundworm follows a certain cycle, two phases of the disease are distinguished: migratory (the movement of larvae through the blood) and late (the existence of an adult in the intestine).

At the first stage, during the movement of the larvae, they enter various organs, they can cause irritation and damage to soft tissues, as well as cause an allergic cough and rash. Inflammatory diseases occur.

If few eggs have entered the body, then children may not have pronounced symptoms of roundworm infection. But with severe infection, even at the first stage, serious poisoning of the body occurs. The following symptoms appear:

• temperature rise to 38°;
• swollen lymph nodes;
• headache;
• increased volume of the liver and spleen;
• damage to the feet and hands with dermatitis;
• the occurrence of cough with purulent sputum due to the formation of inflammatory areas (infiltrates) in the lungs, damage to the bronchi.

At a later stage, the child develops symptoms of intestinal diseases such as dyspepsia and dysentery. The following signs of illness occur:

• bloating;
• nausea;
• increased secretion of saliva;
• vomit;
• sudden weight loss;
• fatigue;
• lack of appetite, cramps in the abdomen on the right or in the navel area;
• itching and redness of the anus;
• photophobia, enlarged pupils;
• stomatitis.

Signs of neuropsychiatric disorders may occur. Convulsions and even epileptic attacks may occur. Sleep becomes restless, with nightmare visions, causing the baby to moan, scream, and often wake up.

Advice: Since the symptoms of roundworm infection in children are similar to those of a cold or allergy, if a rash appears on the skin, an unreasonable cough, or intestinal disorders, it is necessary to check whether the child has worms and do a stool test. This will save him from unnecessary suffering and begin treatment at an early stage.

How are roundworms detected in a child?

Diagnosis of ascariasis is carried out by research and instrumental methods.

General blood analysis. The level of leukocytes determines the presence of inflammatory processes.

Stool analysis at a late stage. Both larvae and adult roundworms can be seen in feces.

Endoscopy esophagus, stomach, duodenum, large intestine. Using an optical device on a flexible hose, you can see the roundworms themselves, as well as assess the condition of the mucous membrane.

Treatment of children infected with roundworms

Preparing for therapy

The child is given activated carbon or medicinal sorbents to speed up the process of removing the toxic waste products of the worm, which cause poisoning of the body. Irritation of the intestinal mucosa is eliminated. Anti-inflammatory drugs are used for this. In case of pneumonia or bronchitis, antibiotics are prescribed.

Allergy treatment is carried out with antihistamines. To treat dysbiosis and restore intestinal microflora, drugs containing beneficial bacteria are used. Medicines are prescribed to strengthen the immune system. Hardening a sick child is of great importance.

Vitamin and mineral complexes are used to combat vitamin deficiency and anemia. To cleanse the intestines, drugs are prescribed that improve peristalsis, promote the movement of food and remove toxins.

Addition: During treatment, the child needs food that does not irritate the stomach and intestines (unsalted, non-spicy, non-acidic food). Thorough house cleaning is required daily. Particular attention should be paid to cleaning things that collect dust (worm eggs can linger in the folds of clothing, in the pile of carpets, soft toys, and on upholstered furniture).

Why are folk remedies dangerous?

Medicines kill adult roundworms and larvae, but do not affect eggs. There is a high probability of re-infection if hygiene rules are not followed. Therefore, after half a month, treatment for helminthiasis is repeated.

Drug treatment

The choice of drug depends on the stage of development of the disease and the age of the patient:

Video: What products help get rid of roundworms

Prevention of roundworm infection

To prevent infection, prevention is necessary: ​​teach the child to frequently wash his hands with soap, drink only boiled water, and eat washed fruits, berries and vegetables. You should not drink water from the tap or from a spring, as ascaris eggs can get there from the soil.

Worms belong to the genus of roundworms. The body is long, with a pointed end on both sides. The color is reddish. Dead individuals become gray or white in appearance. The helminth reaches impressive sizes. The average body length of a worm is 15 cm. An adult female reaches a length of 40 cm, and in medicine there are cases when a helminth in the human body grew up to 1 meter. Worms are predominantly localized in the small intestine, do not attach to its walls, move freely in it, and feed on food debris. An individual roundworm moves in the direction opposite to the movement of food. Therefore, worms are found extremely rarely in feces. Worm eggs get there, and not every time. This makes it difficult to diagnose ascariasis.

Features of the development of roundworms

The helminth cycle from egg to adult roundworm occurs in several stages. Initially, the eggs are passed through the feces. Remains in soil and water. When a person is infected, they penetrate the intestines. This is where the life cycle of the roundworm inside the patient begins. There are 2 stages – migratory and intestinal. The first is characterized by an unclear location of the helminth. In the intestine, the eggs continue their development and turn into larvae. Initially their sizes are so small. That through the intestinal walls the larvae penetrate into the blood vessels. Together with the bloodstream they are distributed throughout the body.

At first, the larva stops in the liver, moves to the heart, and completes its journey with the lungs. Migration processes of roundworms are associated with the feeding habits of the larvae. After emerging from the egg, they consume blood serum and gradually switch to red blood cells. They have more oxygen. To detect the latter, the larva moves throughout the body and internal organs. The lungs provide complete nutrition for roundworm larvae. They stay there for about 1.5 weeks. They provoke lung disease and cough with a lot of sputum. The larvae emerge from the patient in the sputum. A certain part of them is again swallowed by the sick person. During this process, the larva completes the migratory phase of development, which lasts approximately 14 days. The intestinal begins. In the intestines, the larva transforms into an adult roundworm.

Where do helminths live?

The last stage of development of the roundworm larvae takes place in the small intestine. An adult roundworm feeds on the leftover food that humans consume. The main location of roundworms is the small intestine. The female lays approximately 240 eggs per day. Ascaris eggs gradually leave the body along with feces. After which the person becomes infectious to others. The development of the larvae in the intestine takes several months. The worm lives there for the rest of its life. However, there are cases when roundworms do not adhere to the generally accepted pattern. They remain to live in different organs - heart, lungs, liver.

How long do worms live?

Helminth eggs enter the soil cover with feces. Then they end up on ripened vegetables, fruits, berries, and herbs. With inadequate heat treatment, roundworm eggs enter the intestines. You can get infected anywhere, anytime. Holding money in your hands, touching the handle on public transport. But agricultural workers especially suffer from ascariasis. Especially in areas where human feces are used as fertilizer. You can become infected from unwashed hands if basic hygiene rules are not followed.

Children are at risk. Especially at a young age. When little creatures put everything in their mouths. This is how they experience the world and taste everything. A fragile body, unformed intestines, and a weak immune system turn out to be the most favorable place for the existence of helminths. Children can become infected with roundworms when playing in the sandbox, or just on the playground.

Complications of ascariasis

If one roundworm survives in the patient’s body, there will be no obvious symptoms of the disease. Signs of ascariasis will be limited to abdominal discomfort, bloating, and dysbacteriosis. With severe infection and large sizes of roundworms, worms can form balls, which cause intestinal obstruction.

Roundworms in the body are an extremely dangerous phenomenon. With their presence, worms irritate the nervous system, cause toxicosis, decreased hemoglobin, and weakened the body as a whole. For children, helminths are dangerous due to retardation in mental and physical development.

Diagnosis of the disease

Currently, several methods are used to study the human body for ascariasis.

Treatment of the disease

The average duration of treatment for roundworms is 2 months. For this purpose, medications and folk recipes are used.

Drug treatment is carried out in courses of one week with breaks. They undergo periodic examinations. The main rule in the presence of roundworms in the body is that cough cannot be treated with medications. The sputum should be spat out, and the mouth should be rinsed periodically with a decoction of wormwood.

Treatment for roundworms with folk recipes involves the use of herbs and various products. Wormwood, tansy, pumpkin seeds, garlic with milk, walnuts, pomegranate with peel and many others are widely used. Before starting treatment for the disease, you should consult a specialist.

Disease prevention

The disease can be prevented by following simple rules:

Roundworms can exist in the patient’s body for a long time. We should not forget about the dangers and neglect simple hygiene rules. In this case, prevention plays an important role.

The disease is widespread throughout the globe, excluding deserts and permafrost areas. The source of infection is land contaminated with waste products of the human body.

Female roundworms in a living organism lay more than 230 thousand eggs per day, which fall into the ground along with feces. In order for the larva to develop in the soil, a suitable temperature and air humidity are necessary. So, at 25-30°C, the egg matures in 17 days. And at 13-20°C this process will take from four to six weeks.

At lower temperatures, the development of the larva stops, but it does not die. And, if favorable conditions arise in the future, it can still infect a person with ascariasis.

How can you get infected?

But under some circumstances, interaction with pets can lead to infection:

Considering these factors, animal owners are at greater risk of contracting ascariasis, but if they follow the rules of personal hygiene, this danger is reduced to zero.

What happens after infection?

A person who swallows mature eggs becomes infected with ascariasis. 2 weeks after infection, their migration in the body begins. Once in the human body, they go through several stages of development and end up in the intestines, where they transform into larvae.

After which they enter the blood through the intestinal walls and migrate with the bloodstream. The basis of nutrition for the larvae at this time is red blood cells and blood plasma. Then they enter other organs - the heart, liver and others, where ascariasis in humans forms infiltrates with a large number of eosinophils.

The larvae enter the lungs, bronchi and pharynx, where they are carried with sputum and from there return to the small intestine, where the larvae form into adults, releasing toxins and a huge number of eggs excreted in the feces. This is the stage at which obvious symptoms of the disease appear. The eggs fall into the soil, infecting everything around, and a person again receives them through food that has not undergone heat treatment.

Symptoms of ascariasis in adults

Once in the human body, roundworms cause a number of characteristic symptoms. Early signs of ascariasis in adults begin to be observed only at the stage of larval migration:

• low-grade body temperature;
• malaise;
• , sometimes - with a scanty amount of mucous or purulent sputum;
• on the hands and feet.

In some cases, roundworms cause blockage of the intestinal lumen or ducts through which bile is secreted, causing intestinal obstruction, colic, appendicitis, inflammation of the gallbladder and ducts.

Depending on the general state of health, the listed symptoms can be expressed either more intensely, resembling intoxication of the body, or manifest weakly, practically absent.

Complications

During the intestinal phase, it is necessary to be wary of the development of serious complications for the patient’s health:

1. Intestinal obstruction, which occurs due to the closure of the intestinal lumen by a ball of roundworms. Intestinal obstruction with ascariasis accounts for 3% of all cases of such complications.
2. Peritonitis (as a result of the vital activity of adults, the integrity of the intestinal wall may be disrupted).
3. Ascariasis pancreatitis (migration of ascaris into the pancreatic ducts leads to the development of acute pancreatitis). The patient has sharp abdominal pain, vomiting, there may be collapse, an increase in urine diastasis.
4. Mechanical blockage of the respiratory tract (roundworms crawl into the stomach, esophagus, oropharynx, respiratory tract, and can cause filling of the lumen of the bronchopulmonary tree, causing breathing problems).
5. Ascariasis of the liver (the crawling of roundworms into the bile ducts of the liver will lead to the development of obstructive jaundice). The patient has bursting, boring pain in the right hypochondrium, vomiting, jaundice, and enlarged liver. Purulent cholangitis or inflammation of the bile ducts may develop (due to the addition of bacterial flora), which can lead to multiple liver abscesses.

Diagnostics

Treatment of ascariasis

Taking into account the results of all tests, and taking into account the existing symptoms of ascariasis, the doctor prescribes appropriate treatment. The process of expelling roundworms from the body includes the use of modern medications (see). Treatment of ascariasis is accompanied by taking iron supplements and multivitamins. It is also recommended to adhere to a diet containing increased amounts of protein foods.

At the same time, doctors prohibit self-treatment of roundworms at home, since an incorrectly calculated dose of medication can result in serious intoxication of the body. Short-term side effects from the use of drugs are so varied that they can lead to negative consequences for the patient.

How to treat roundworms? In the early stages of treating ascariasis, adult patients are prescribed desensitizing therapy: Mintezol (50 mg/kg body weight twice a day for a week) or Mebendazole (taken 100 mg 2 times a day for 3 to 4 days). Treatment of ascariasis in children and adults is carried out with the help of anthelmintics: (after dinner), Combanthrin (during meals), (in cases of polyinfestation). The constant improvement of these drugs and increasing their effectiveness have led to the fact that today anthelmintics are able to cope with the treatment of ascariasis in 85-100% of cases.

When ascariasis is in migration phase, to treat infestation in children and adults, drugs against nematodes of universal action are used:

1. Mebendazole -, Mebex, Vermox (from 90 to 130 rubles), Thermox, Vero-Mebendazole, Vermakar;
2. Levamisole - Dekaris (from 70 to 90 rubles);
3. Thiabendazole – Mintezol, Mertect, Arbotect, Tresaderm, Mintezol, Tecto.

The intestinal stage of ascariasis is treated with the following medications:

1. Pyrantel pamoate – Helmintox (from 90 to 120 rubles), (from 30 to 50 rubles), Combantrin, Nemotsid, all drugs are designed for single use;
2. Decaris - taken in accordance with the instructions, focusing on the age and weight of the patient.
3. Mebendazole - Vormin, Mebex, Vermox, Thermox, Vero-Mebendazole, Vermakar.

It is also recommended that those suffering from ascariasis follow a diet according to. The diet should reduce the presence of alcohol and fat, and increase the amount of protein-rich foods. Hygiene rules for patients with ascariasis must be strictly observed; they are strongly discouraged from drinking raw water, and all food must be thoroughly washed before consumption.

A control study of the effectiveness of treatment is recommended to be carried out 2-3 weeks after treatment for 3 days in a row and again after 2 weeks for 3 days in a row. Dispensary observation of those who have recovered from ascariasis lasts 3 years with an annual examination of stool by an infectious disease specialist.

Forecast

In uncomplicated cases, the prognosis is favorable, treatment is effective within 2 weeks, without treatment and self-infection, worms are eliminated within a maximum of a year.

However, it is prohibited to use anthelmintic drugs for prevention on your own. The drugs are toxic; dosages for children are selected individually based on weight; in the process, negative reactions from the liver and nervous system may develop.

Prevention

The main measure to prevent infection with roundworms is compliance with certain rules:

• thoroughly wash foods that may have come into contact with the ground (vegetables, fruits or herbs);
• after contacting or working with soil, wash your hands twice with soap;
• do not let the child put soil into his mouth and teach him to wash his hands after playing outside;
• place children's sandboxes in the sun and loosen the sand regularly;
• do not allow children to play with street shoes;
• Wet clean the house weekly.

Despite the sufficient sanitary and hygienic standard of living of the population, therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities, the incidence of ascariasis is high. So today, about 1 billion cases of ascariasis are registered annually throughout the world.