Various scientific studies have confirmed the connection of many human pathological conditions with parasitic diseases. Often, worms in humans do not give any characteristic symptoms of the disease, so they can exist in the body for many years, causing dangerous complications and pathologies. Sometimes the only symptom of a parasitic disease can be blackheads in the stool or light-colored helminth eggs and worms in the stool. To find out whether there are worms in the human body, it is necessary to conduct a diagnosis. First of all, they conduct a study on feces, so it is so important to know what worms look like in human feces and also to understand the types of parasites in humans. In addition to the types of parasites, our article will describe the symptoms of worms in humans and methods for diagnosing a parasitic disease.
Symptoms of worms in humans
It is easy to understand what the worm eggs look like in the stool and the worms themselves, from the photo. Different worms in one person in the photo can vary significantly. The size of some egg or adult worms is very small, other parasites in the stool and their eggs can be seen without a microscope. That is why, when answering the question of whether eggs can be seen with the naked eye, it is necessary to take into account which worms live in a person.
Eggs in the stool do not always appear, sometimes the only symptoms of helminthiasis can be the following conditions:
- weight loss;
- general weakness;
- often there is rapid fatigue;
- the skin becomes pale;
- itching in the anal region.
However, some of the symptoms of the disease, which are caused by worm larvae or adults, the patient does not even associate with worms. These symptoms include the following:
- flatulence, diarrhea and constipation;
- nausea and vomit;
- pain in the navel and right hypochondrium.
When such symptoms appear, it is first of all necessary to conduct a study of fecal masses. In this case, it is possible to detect the smallest worm eggs in the feces. Since self-identification of worm eggs is difficult, it is best to send the feces to the laboratory for analysis. Only a specialist knows what worm eggs look like.
Sometimes there are no parasites in the stool, but the patient has signs of general intoxication. When parasitic toxins affect the human nervous system, the following symptoms of the disease appear:
- dizziness;
- fatigue;
- headache;
- increased irritability;
- drowsiness;
- depression;
- convulsions;
- Temperature increase.
If worms and their eggs are found in the feces of a child, then often the symptoms of the disease are complemented by various allergic manifestations:
- urticaria, dermatitis;
- skin rashes;
- skin itching, redness.
Worms in the feces of an adult or a child can be detected only at a certain stage of the disease, and again not always. That is why it is not so important to know what parasite larvae look like, as it is necessary to understand the symptoms of a particular parasitic disease:
- Pinworms that cause enterobiasis usually cause severe itching in the anal area, which gets worse at night. This is due to the fact that these roundworms (roundworms) lay their eggs on the perianal folds, crawling out of the anus.
- A characteristic symptom of hookworms, diphyllobothriasis and tricuriasis will be anemia and beriberi.
- The symptomatology of ascariasis depends on the stage of development of the helminth. In the migratory phase, the clinical picture is expressed by a complex of symptoms of the respiratory system (shortness of breath, cough, bronchitis, pneumonia). In the intestinal phase, symptoms characteristic of gastrointestinal pathologies appear. In this case, black spots may appear in the stool.
- Fever, facial swelling, and muscle pain occur with trichinosis.
- If the flukes have lodged in the liver, pancreatitis develops, yellowness of the sclera and skin appears, and the spleen enlarges. With this form of the disease, black threads and dots in fecal masses may be absent.
- Schistosomiasis causes bleeding in the genitourinary system, so there may be urine mixed with blood. Often the parasite causes digestive upset.
Types of worms
In the photo, worms in a person can differ greatly depending on their belonging to a particular species. Hence, tapeworms and parasitic nematodes in the human body. In the photo, helminths of the same variety can also differ. So, pinworms, roundworms, trichinella, roundworms, hookworms belong to the order of roundworms. There are two classes of flatworms:
- cestodes (this is swine and bovine tapeworms, echinococcus, broad tapeworms, alveococcus);
- flukes (these include schistosomes, opisthorchis, paragonim).
What this or that helminth looks like, you can find out from the photo. We will describe the features of the existence of the main parasites of the human body:
- Pinworms cause enterobiasis, the symptoms of which appear on the third day after infection. Eggs enter the body with unwashed hands, fruits and herbs.
- Vlasoglav causes a disease called tricuriasis. The first symptoms of him can be seen 21-35 days after the invasion. Infection occurs when cooking in unsanitary conditions. Usually the patient is tormented by diarrhea, loss of appetite, abdominal pain. It could be inflammation of the appendix.
- The culprit of diphyllobothriasis is a large tapeworm. The disease manifests itself in 2-5 weeks from the moment of infection. The parasite enters the body with infected fried fish. This helminth can live in the human body for decades, causing anemia, beriberi, intestinal obstruction, allergies and intoxication.
- Nematodes are the culprits of ascariasis. It is when they become infected with these worms that blackheads can appear in the feces of an adult and a child. From the moment of invasion to the appearance of a clinical picture, it takes up to three months. The parasite enters the intestine with plant foods.
- Nematode - hookworm causes hookworm. Infection can occur when working in the ground, walking barefoot on the ground. The disease manifests itself 5-8 days after infection. First, there is itching and swelling at the site of penetration of the parasite, then coughing with copious sputum, dizziness, weakness.
- The giant fluke to the liver causes fascioliasis. The parasite enters the body with contaminated water and plant foods. The first signs of the disease can be seen after 0. 5-1 months from the start of the invasion. The disease manifests itself as a dry cough, fever, abdominal pain and loss of appetite.
- A worm called a trichinella is the culprit of trichinosis in humans. Helminth can enter the human body with poorly processed meat and fat. The first symptoms appear two days after the infection. Usually the patient is tormented by diarrhea, heartburn and nausea.
Diagnosis of helminthiasis
When diagnosing a lot of helminthiases, a stool study is first performed. If you find blackheads in the stool or white worms in the stool, this analysis should be done as soon as possible.
However, not only stool with black dots is an indication for a coprogram. Even invisible eggs can often be easily identified under a microscope. A more accurate diagnosis of fecal masses for the detection of helminth DNA particles is performed using the PCR technique.
If a person has a lot of black dots in the stool, then among other diagnostic methods it is worth mentioning the following:
- Scrape from the area near the anus;
- Blood analysis by ELISA, PCR, RNGA and other methods;
- Be sure to do blood biochemistry and KLA;
- In some cases, ultrasound, magnetic resonance and CT scans are performed to identify the sites of localization of the parasites;
- To diagnose the migratory phase of helminths, an X-ray examination is indicated.
In some forms of helminthiasis, the contents of sputum, rectal mucus, urine, and gallbladder can be examined. In addition, endoscopic examination is sometimes used in the diagnosis.