Subcutaneous parasites living in the thickness of human skin damage it and cause inflammation. They can penetrate from the main place of "deployment" to other organs and provoke serious diseases. Most subcutaneous helminths are found in southern countries and the common person can become infected with them during a vacation or business trip there.
The danger of subcutaneous helminth infestation is that it is asymptomatic during the incubation period, which can last for years. This subsequently interferes with treatment and reduces its effectiveness.
What are subcutaneous parasites?
Helminths affect not only a person's internal organs but also their skin. Once in its thickness, they damage the epidermis, feed on its cells and defecate. Waste products of subcutaneous worms cause intoxication because they contain toxic substances. And the longer the worms are under a person's skin, the more pronounced the symptoms of invasion.
Subcutaneous worms cause many diseases because they affect the immune and lymphatic systems of the human body. For example, parasites can provoke the development of elephantism - elephantiasis. It interferes with the circulation of lymph in the body. This leads to an increase in the volume of the limbs and their disfigurement. At the last stage the affected organ is covered with ulcers, necrosis develops.
Human helminths that live under the skin include:
- Nematodes of the genus Dirofilaria. Causes heartworm disease. Infection of the body occurs through the bite of blood-sucking insects: lice, fleas, ticks, which are carriers of larvae from one host to another. Adult heartworm can reach 30 cm in length. The process of reproduction takes place in the thickness of the skin, after which the female lays microfilariae in the bloodstream.
- Filariasis. Causes filariasis. They are parasitic roundworms. An adult can reach almost half a meter, while the body diameter is not more than 0, 3 mm. Carriers of filariasis are blood-sucking insects that transmit larvae to parasites from one host to another.
- Bull worm larvae. Man provokes the development of cysticercosis. Infection occurs through the intestines, where the eggs of parasites penetrate along with water, food, dirt. Subsequently, under the influence of gastric juices, their shell dissolves - the larvae emerge. They then spread throughout the body along with the bloodstream.
- Blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. It's called schistosomiasis. An adult can reach 2 cm in length. Reproduction occurs through the penetration of larvae into the body - cercariae along with water.
Main manifestations and treatment
If a person has parasites under the skin, then in the first place it affects his condition: there is slackness, changes in color, there are scars and microcracks. This is due to the fact that the "guests" damage the skin, feed on its cells and poison waste products.
Subcutaneous parasites in humans cause symptoms of helminth infestation:
- Allergic rashes;
- Cough;
- Decreased immunity;
- Itching;
- Peeling, redness of the skin;
- Appetite problems;
- Joint and muscle pain;
- Sleep disturbance;
- Irritability;
- apathy.
Skin parasites in a sick person cause malfunctions of the whole organism: anemia, dysbacteriosis and others develop.
The treatment of parasitic disease is chosen individually. The choice of method is influenced by the degree of damage to the body, the symptoms and the type of pathogen. In some cases, in addition to medical treatment, surgery may be needed to remove the helminth under the skin or even the entire affected organ.
Along with anthelmintic drugs, antihistamines and vasoconstrictors are used. If the inflammation started due to worms living under the skin, then antibiotic therapy is needed.
You should not try to get rid of helminths living under the skin with the help of traditional medicine - as practice shows, they are ineffective and can harm human health.
Symptoms of filariasis
The subcutaneous worms that cause this disease - filariasis - appear in the human body after being bitten by a blood-sucking infected insect. The highest number of cases is registered in tropical and subtropical countries.
These subcutaneous worms in humans are able to live in the human body and not manifest themselves for a long time: the incubation period of the disease can last up to 7 years. This makes diagnosis difficult.
The symptoms and manifestations of the invasion appear gradually, as the parasite grows under the skin of a person and its effect on the surrounding tissues. The most common manifestations of filariasis include:
- hives;
- Itching;
- warts;
- eczema;
- Small hard lumps under the skin.
As the disease worsens, fever, general weakness, headache, and drowsiness may occur.
Treatment of filariasis should be performed in a hospital setting. Antiparasitic drugs are used for drug deworming. The effectiveness of the therapy is monitored by a blood test. In cases where this does not help, the sick person undergoes surgery to restore the outflow of lymph from the affected organ.
Cysticercosis and schistosomiasis
Tapeworm larvae cause cysticercosis. This type of helminth is characterized by survival: it is enough for one parasite to enter the human body and it will quickly develop into an adult, which will then begin to multiply.
This feature makes it difficult to treat the disease - if the head segment remains after surgical removal of the worm, the parasite will grow again. Despite the fact that the adult tapeworm is located in the human intestine, its larvae spread throughout the body through the bloodstream, including under the skin. Subsequently, they can stay there for a long time - from 5 to 30 years.
If in cysticercosis the worms are wrapped under the skin or in the muscle tissue, then for a person the disease is asymptomatic. However, the location of the parasite can be determined by tumor-like neoplasms that will rise above the skin. Palpation of the tubercle may reveal that it is hollow inside. The skin on the shoulders, the upper half of the chest and the palms usually become a favorite place for tapeworm larvae.
In subcutaneous cysticercosis drugs are not carried out, the patient should be under medical supervision. This is due to the fact that when the parasite dies after the use of antiparasitic drugs, toxins begin to enter the body. They, in turn, can give a strong allergic reaction.
The larvae of schistosomiasis, cercariae, cause schistosomiasis in humans. Infection occurs through water. The first symptoms of worms under the skin appear 10-15 minutes after the invasion. This is due to the fact that the worms under the skin secrete a large amount of their own secretory fluid, which causes a toxic-allergic reaction in humans.
The first manifestations:
- Intense itching;
- hives;
- Rash.
Then there is a lull, after which (after 1-2 months) begins the acute stage of schistosomiasis, which shows the neglect of the disease:
- Fever;
- Nocturnal hyperhidrosis;
- hives;
- Dry cough;
- Changes in the qualitative composition of the blood.
Currently, the treatment of schistosomiasis is limited to the use of 2 anthelmintic drugs. Steroids, antihistamines and anti-inflammatory drugs are also used in the acute stage of the disease.
Heartworm and morgelon virus
These two diseases have similar symptoms, with some differences. In heartworm disease, a sick person finds a small tubercle under the skin on his body that moves during palpation. This indicates that a subcutaneous worm has curled up in the body. The same manifestation of invasion is observed in Morgellon virus.
The essential difference between these two parasites is that heartworms do not disturb their host: the blister under the skin does not cause discomfort, it can appear and disappear from time to time. The worms parasitize in the arm, leg, near the eyes, nose, chest, in men - in the genitals. If heartworm is under a person's skin for a long time, then under the influence of toxins his body temperature rises and weakness is felt.
Morgellon virus causes severe itching on the skin of the helminth infestation. In the absence of medical care, a bleeding wound, eczema soon appears. This increases the risk of infecting the body with other diseases several times.
The best treatment for the parasite is surgical removal.