Various scientific studies have confirmed the association 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 symptoms of a parasitic disease may be black spots in the stool or brightly colored helminth eggs and worms in the stool. To find out whether there are worms in the human body, it is necessary to carry out a diagnosis. First of all, they conduct studies on feces, so it is very important to know the appearance of worms 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 parasitic diseases.
Symptoms of worms in humans
It is easy to understand what the worm eggs look like in the feces and the worms themselves, from the photos. Different worms on a person in a photo can be significantly different. The size of some egg or adult worms is very small, other parasites in the feces and eggs can be seen without a microscope. That is why, when answering the question of whether an egg 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 may be the following conditions:
- weight reduction;
- general weakness;
- there is often rapid fatigue;
- skin becomes pale;
- itching in the anal area.
However, some symptoms of the disease, which are caused by worm larvae or adults, patients do not even associate with worms. These symptoms include the following:
- bloating, diarrhea and constipation;
- dizziness and vomiting;
- pain in the center and right hypochondrium.
When such symptoms appear, it is first necessary to conduct a study of fecal mass. In this case, the smallest worm eggs in the feces can be detected. Since self -identification of worm eggs is difficult, it is best to refer the feces to a laboratory for analysis. Only experts know 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 disease symptoms appear:
- dizziness;
- fatigue;
- Headache;
- increased irritation;
- sleepy;
- depression;
- seizures;
- temperature rise.
If worms and their eggs are present in the feces of children, then often the symptoms of the disease are compounded by various manifestations of allergies:
- urticaria, dermatitis;
- skin rash;
- itchy skin, redness.
Worms in the feces of adults or children can be detected only at certain stages of the disease, and that is not always the case. That is why it is not so important to know the appearance of parasitic larvae, because it is necessary to understand the symptoms of certain parasitic diseases:
- Pinworms that cause enterobiasis usually trigger severe itching in the anal area, which worsens at night. This is due to the fact that these nematodes (roundworms) lay eggs on the perianal folds, crawling out of the anus.
- The characteristic symptoms of ankylostomiasis, diphyllobothriasis and trichuriasis are anemia and beriberi.
- The symptomatology of ascariasis depends on the stage of development of the helminth. At the stage of migration, the clinical picture is expressed by a complex of symptoms of the respiratory system (shortness of breath, cough, bronchitis, pneumonia). At the intestinal level, symptoms appear which are characteristic of gastrointestinal pathology. In this case, black spots may appear in the stool.
- Fever, swelling of the face and muscle aches occur with trichinosis.
- If the trematode has settled in the liver, then pancreatitis develops, yellowing of the sclera and skin appears, and the spleen enlarges. With this form of the disease, black threads and dots in the fecal mass may not be present.
- Schistosomiasis causes bleeding in the genitourinary system, so there may be urine mixed with blood. Often parasites cause digestive disorders.
Types of worms
In photos, the worms in a person can differ dramatically depending on their belonging in a particular species. So, tapeworms and ringworms are parasitic in the human body. In the photo, helminths from the same variety may also be different. So, pinworms, nematodes, trichinella, roundworms, hookworms belong to the order of ringworms. There are two classes of flatworms:
- cestodes (these are pig and cattle tapeworms, echinococcus, broad tapeworms, alveococcus);
- trematodes (these include schistosomes, opisthorchis, paragonim).
What this or that helminth looks like, you can find out from the photos. We will describe the characteristics of the existence of the main parasites of the human body:
- Pinworms trigger enterobiasis, a symptom that appears on the third day after infection. Eggs enter the body with unwashed hands, fruits and herbs.
- Vlasoglav causes a disease called trichuriasis. The first symptoms can be seen 21-35 days after the invasion. Infection occurs when cooking in unclean conditions. Usually patients are tormented by diarrhea, loss of appetite, abdominal pain. It can be inflammation of the appendix.
- The cause of diphyllobothriasis is tapeworm. The disease manifests itself in 2-5 weeks from the time of infection. Parasites enter the body with badly infected fried fish. These helminths can live in the human body for decades, causing anemia, beriberi, intestinal obstruction, allergies and intoxication.
- Ringworm is the cause of ascariasis. When infected with this worm, black spots can appear in the feces of adults and children. From the moment of invasion to the appearance of the clinical picture, it takes up to three months. Parasites enter the intestine with plant foods.
- Hook worms - hook worms give rise to hook worms. 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 parasite penetration, then cough with copious phlegm, dizziness, weakness.
- Giant liver flukes cause fascioliasis. Parasites enter the body with contaminated water and plant food. The first signs of the disease can be seen after 0. 5-1 months from the onset of invasion. The disease is manifested by tuberculosis, fever, abdominal pain and loss of appetite.
- A worm called trichinella is the cause of trichinosis in humans. Helminths can enter the human body with poorly processed meat and fats. The first symptoms appear two days after infection. Usually patients are tormented by diarrhea, heartburn and nausea.
Diagnosis of helminthiases
When diagnosing many helminthiases, a stool study is done first. If you find black spots in the stool or white worms in the stool, then this analysis should be done as soon as possible.
However, not only stools with black dots are clues to coprograms. Often, eggs that are invisible to the naked eye can be easily identified under a microscope. A more accurate fecal mass diagnosis for the detection of helminth DNA particles was performed using PCR techniques.
If a person has a lot of black spots in the stool, then among other diagnostic methods it is worth mentioning the following:
- Scraping from the area near the anus;
- Blood tests by ELISA, PCR, RNGA and other methods;
- Make sure you do blood biochemistry and KLA;
- In some cases, ultrasound, MRI and CT are performed to identify the site of parasite localization;
- To diagnose the migratory stage of helminths, X-ray examination is indicated.
In certain forms of helminthiases, sputum, rectal mucus, urine, and gallbladder contents can be examined. Also, endoscopic examination is sometimes used in diagnosis.