How to find out that you have worms

Personal hygiene has improved significantly over the last century, but the problem of worms is still relevant not only to rural residents but also to urban residents. Statistics clearly show how high the risk of contracting helminth infestations: every third person on the planet suffers from helminthiasis. However, this disease does not always manifest itself clearly, and in some cases patients are unable to interpret the symptoms correctly and remain in the dark for a long time without taking any action. Questions about how to find out that you have worms arise in both helminthiasis and other pathologies with similar symptoms.

Worms are a large group of parasitic worms, the main signs of the presence of which in the human body are similar to each other. Doctors believe that everyone has been exposed to helminthiasis at least once in their life. In addition, the presence of helminths in the body can provoke the development of other diseases, sometimes very dangerous, so the question of diagnosing this disease is very important.

Mechanisms of infection

Infection with worms occurs in four main ways:

• Water, soil or sand. Soil and water provide ideal conditions for storing eggs of parasites. A person who bathes in open water is always at risk of swallowing eggs, which later become adults. Not as infrequently as it may seem, people also ingest soil particles, exposing themselves to the risk of infection. Some types of parasites can enter the body directly through the skin.
• Food.There may be worm eggs on the shells of fruits and vegetables that have not been washed or cooked properly. The consumption of raw or lightly processed meat, dried fish, dairy products, etc. is associated with no less risk.
• Contact with the patient. Direct contact can occur with both a sick person and an infected animal. Joint activities, living in a common area, close communication contribute to the rapid entry of parasites into the intestine and its further development.
• Bites.Worms can be transmitted through insect bites. This is one of the rarest ways of infection in temperate latitudes, but it sometimes causes the disease. In hot countries this time is more common, which should be remembered when going on vacation in warm lands.

Symptoms

For those who want to know how to understand that you have worms, you need to understand the principles of identifying symptoms. All the symptoms of helminthiasis do not appear immediately after infection, but only when the parasite stops migrating through the gastrointestinal tract and begins to develop into an adult.

Some of the symptoms are due to the ingestion of toxins that the worm releases during its lifetime. All waste enters the intestinal lumen, where it is absorbed into the blood and transported to all organs. There are usually more signs and they are stronger in multiple infections when the number of worms becomes significant. In people who are immunosuppressed or have other chronic diseases, the symptoms worsen in a relatively short period of time.

All signs are divided into two major groups: overt and covert. Explicit ones can be assessed on their own at home, while hidden ones can only be determined on an outpatient basis with the help of appointments for certain tests and examinations.

Expressly

The obvious ones include symptoms that indicate that there are worms in the body. Their presence does not cause very obvious symptoms, as, for example, occurs with the development of viruses. The parasites are directed to life inside the body, so too much deterioration of the infected host would be a threat to their lives. For this reason, the symptoms do not require emergency care.

You can suspect or find out the presence of helminth infestation by the following signs:

• Gradual weight loss for no apparent reason, lasting several months and sometimes several years in a row. The rate of weight loss is not catastrophic, most often they are 2-5% per month. With a high intensity of infection in people with reduced immunity, this figure can reach 10%.
• Gastrointestinal disorders. Some worms are able to block the bile ducts or intestinal lumen, which provokes stable constipation. In contrast, recurrent diarrhea may occur with high levels of toxin release. Due to inflammation of the walls of the upper small intestine, increased gas and flatulence are often observed, bloating is possible.
• Severe pain in joints and muscles. Often such manifestations are attributed to the development of osteoarthritis, but in the case of helminths it is caused by the migration of parasites. In addition, such pain may be due to the effect of toxins on joints and muscle tissue.
• Itching near the anus. This phenomenon is due to the fact that a large number of parasitic worms crawl from the lumen of the rectum to reproduce and lay eggs. This causes severe itching, which tends to get worse in the evening and at night.
• allergic manifestations. It often occurs in response to the appearance of a large number of toxins in the blood or due to damage to the intestinal mucosa, which causes an increase in the immune system and an allergic reaction.
• Pulmonary manifestations. Possible in a wide range, ranging from persistent cough and ending with pneumonia. Characteristic of intense ascariasis, occurring in a period of not less than three months from the time of infection.
• Fever. Such a manifestation can be of varying intensity. Most often, the low temperature of about 37 ° C is maintained around the clock, but in rare cases, fever can be observed.

Hidden

Concealed signs can be detected only by a doctor who will adequately assess the clinical picture and will be able to understand that worms may be the probable cause. Preventive measures for diagnosing helminthiasis are:

• Analysis of feces for worms. It must be presented in two stages, which is why experts do not consider the results of an analysis to be reliable. This is due to the cyclicity of reproduction, so it is not always possible to understand from a stool analysis that the patient suffers from helminths.
• Clinical blood test. Elevated levels of eosinophils indicate that parasites are likely to be present in the body. Often such an assumption arises after tests during the treatment or diagnosis of other diseases.
• Antibody analysis. Currently, this is one of the most reliable diagnostic methods that help to understand whether a person has worms. Despite the fact that it is more expensive than such drugs, recently doctors are increasingly preferring to prescribe it due to its high informativeness and reliability.

Antiparasitic drugs or laxatives should not be taken before any clinical tests for parasites, as this makes diagnosis difficult.

Signs in a child

The presence of worms in children is diagnosed more often than in adults. This is facilitated by poor hygiene, close contact with domestic or street animals and incomplete development of the immune system. The growing organism usually reacts more sharply to the presence of parasites and the consequences may be more global than in adults. But to understand that the child has worms is not very easy. The symptoms may be the same as in adults, but are most often more severe.

In most cases, the signs suggestive of helminth infestation in children are:

• Rapid weight loss. In a running picture, such a manifestation can lead to a delay in physical development;
• Deterioration of hair and nails. It occurs due to long-term deficiency of nutrients and vitamins caused by impaired absorption of digested food in the intestine.
• Sleep disturbance. Pathology can cause a child to wake up more often at night, cry, turn around and talk in his sleep.
• Irritability. Nervous system intoxication and poor health can affect the emotional state of the child, cause irritability, capriciousness, tearfulness and more.
• The desire to constantly scratch the anus. Children do not control external manifestations, so this symptom often helps to understand the cause of diseases and physical changes.

Some parents tend to give their children broad-spectrum antiparasitic drugs for prevention, but experts do not recommend doing so, as most of these drugs are quite difficult to tolerate. It is better to first find out if the child is infected and what kind of treatment he needs, because the treatment of different types of worms is significantly different and is not always effective for helminths from other groups.