Children's bodies are quite easily affected by parasites, because children have weaker immunity. In addition, the child's body cannot produce a special digestive enzyme that can destroy the worm larvae; a person acquires this ability with age.
It is impossible to visually observe worm eggs, their size is microscopic, but they are present almost everywhere. The danger of infection arises in the period when the child begins to understand the world by touching various objects. In addition, the baby tries not only to touch objects, but sometimes also to taste them. A great danger is represented by boxes with sand in yards, which street animals often use as a toilet. If we take into account the weak natural defense of the baby's organism against helminthic infestations, then it is not difficult to understand how great the chances are for parasites to invade the child's intestines. Here are the main ways in which worms enter the child's body:
- through unwashed hands;
- after contact with animals;
- through poorly cooked meat and fish;
- insects are also often a source of helminthic infestation, as they carry worm eggs on their legs;
- unwashed vegetables and fruits;
- through dirty water accidentally swallowed while swimming in an open body of water.
An important factor is the ability of worms to be the source of re-infection of the child, despite all the efforts of the parents. The fact is that helminths occasionally crawl through the child's anus, laying eggs in the immediate vicinity, which causes severe itching in the baby. The child itches, and the small worm eggs, in turn, end up under his fingernails, from where they easily enter the mouth, then travel down the gastrointestinal tract and end up in the intestines again. After two weeks, the larvae grow into adults, which are capable of laying eggs.
Worm infestation in children, symptoms
There are about 300 types of parasites that can infect the human body, however, pinworms and roundworms are more often diagnosed in children. Both types of worms affect the small intestine; The symptoms of damage to both types of parasites are quite similar:
- Loss of appetite, pale facial skin, dark circles under the eyes.
- Restless sleep; sometimes a child may grind his teeth in his sleep.
- Headache, dizziness, lethargy and weakness occur.
- Sometimes worms are present in the child's feces and can be seen with the naked eye.
- The baby feels itchy in the area of the genitals and anus.
- There is a disturbance in the digestive system, constipation can be replaced by diarrhea, abdominal pain and nausea are noticed.
- The general indicators of the blood count may change, i. e. a decrease in hemoglobin and an increase in the level of eosinophils and ESR.
- The vital activity of worms becomes the cause of general poisoning of the organism, manifested by the appearance of allergic reactions, urticaria and atopic dermatitis.
- Increased body temperature for no good reason.
- Constant itching can cause inflammation of the genital mucosa.
- Worms not only poison the child's body with the products of their vital activity, but also actively consume vitamins and minerals, nutrients that the child's body needs so much, which often leads to a lack of vitamins and a decrease in the level of hemoglobin in the blood.
Folk remedies against worms
Admittedly, folk remedies are the most suitable for treating helminthic infestations in children, and the symptoms disappear quite quickly. However, before using them, you must definitely consult a doctor, because the child's organism is very vulnerable not only to the effects of parasites, but also to the unprofessional use of medicines, even folk remedies. Here are the most popular folk anthelmintic drugs:
- Enema with garlic. Garlic is an antiseptic given to man by nature, and it can also be used against worms. A glass of cow's milk is mixed with one head of chopped garlic, boiled, cooled and filtered through a double layer of cheesecloth. At night, the child is given an enema from the obtained milk, for which a third of the received medicine is taken, and the child is treated in this way for at least a week.
- Chamomile decoction. Another natural antiseptic used to treat a wide range of ailments. To prepare the decoction, take a tablespoon of dry chamomile plant and pour boiling water over it, leave it until it cools and give the child to drink during the day instead of water or tea. Duration of treatment is 5 days.
- Onion medicine. Chop a small onion, add milk and boil the resulting mixture, then cool and filter. The resulting product is given to the baby three days in a row, 100 ml each.
Simple folk recipes that will help cure a child of worms, watch the video:
Causes of helminthiasis
Almost 400 types of helminths can parasitize the human body, of which 70 are the most common in our country. As a rule, these are roundworms and tapeworms. Diseases caused by the penetration of flukes (cat fluke or liver fluke) are often detected.
The disease develops when the eggs or larvae of the parasite enter the stomach. During the period of development from egg to sexually mature individual, tapeworms can change several hosts. You can also get infected if you eat meat (beef, pork, game), unfiltered water, dirty vegetables and fruits.
Helminths parasitize organisms of mammals, fish, molluscs and amphibians. To avoid infection, you should avoid eating them raw and do not buy smoked or salted fish of unknown origin.
Symptoms of worms
Different types of worms can parasitize in the digestive tract, respiratory organs, lymph nodes, bone and muscle tissue. Their vital activity affects the host organism in different ways. They can produce toxins, cause the development of inflammatory processes, allergic reactions, anemia, metabolic disorders, and have a traumatic effect on organs and tissues.
You should contact the clinic to identify or rule out helminthiasis if you have the following symptoms in an adult:
- Increase in temperature. It can rise sharply up to 38°C and decrease briefly after taking anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drugs. Sometimes the temperature stays high for 2-3 months.
- Dull or cutting pain in the stomach, frequent bowel movements (diarrhea or constipation), nausea.
- Itching in the anal region, worse in the evening.
- Frequent colds or respiratory diseases - when infected with helminths, immunity decreases.
- Loss or increase in appetite, sudden weight loss.
- Bronchospasm, cough, difficulty breathing, other breathing disorders, pallor of the skin and mucous membranes.
- Itchy rash.
- Insomnia, frequent headaches, anxiety, irritability, depression.
- Joint and muscle pain.
- Inflammation, enlarged lymph nodes.
- Edema.
In the absence of adequate treatment, helminths can cause the development of chronic pancreatitis, hepatitis, cholecystocholangitis, cause irreversible changes in tissues and even lead to death.
Diagnostics
Infection with certain types of helminths gives a characteristic clinical picture. When a patient first contacts a doctor, they can guess the diagnosis. When examining the stool, eggs and other traces of the vital activity of roundworms, pinworms and other roundworms that parasitize the intestines are revealed. Sometimes worms are visible on ultrasound. But some small parasites are very difficult to identify. The diagnosis is made on the basis of a combination of symptoms and the results of instrumental and laboratory tests.
If helminthiasis is suspected in adults and children, the following should be done:
- Stool analysis. It allows you to accurately detect the presence of common parasites in the body. However, some of them lay eggs only in certain stages of their life cycle, so it is recommended to test several times with an interval of 3-4 days.
- General clinical blood test. It does not indicate the presence of larvae, eggs, adults, but it gives a lot of information about the intensity of the inflammatory process, the number of leukocytes, etc.
- Biochemical analysis. It provides detailed information on protein metabolism, identifies abnormal loss or increased protein synthesis, and allows to rule out or suspect infection with certain helminths.
- Analysis of liver function indicators (bilirubin, pancreatic alpha-amylase, alkaline phosphatase, AST, ALT). Diagnosis of the liver and pancreas indicates an infection with helminths.
- Urinalysis, blood test with glomerular filtration. They give the doctor information about the condition of the kidneys and the possibility of their damage from parasites.
Studies of bile, sputum and duodenal contents may also be prescribed.
In order to clarify the localization of parasites and assess the extent of damage, ultrasound diagnostics can be prescribed. If the presence of helminths in the brain or eyes is suspected, computed tomography is performed. In order to diagnose helminths in the lungs, X-rays are taken, and in the stomach and intestines - endoscopy.
A comprehensive examination enables a quick and precise determination of the cause of the disease and the prescription of adequate treatment. Do not refuse the review. The more precisely the doctor determines the cause of ill health, the faster he can help.
Which doctors should I contact?
If you suspect a helminth infection, you should contact a therapist who will conduct an initial examination and prescribe laboratory and instrumental tests. After the examination, the therapist will prescribe treatment or refer you to a specialist doctor.
Treatment
With timely diagnosis, helminthiasis can easily be eliminated with anthelmintic drugs. The doctor determines the dose depending on the patient's age, weight, degree of parasite damage, their type and location. To get rid of most worms, it is enough to take the medicine 1-3 times. Along with anthelmintic drugs, vitamin-mineral complexes are often prescribed to strengthen the immune system.
In case of severe intoxication, allergic reactions, infection on the background of severe chronic diseases, hospitalization in a hospital may be required. Doctors will not only rid the human body of parasites, but will also carry out detoxification therapy and vitamin therapy.
Damage to organs and tissues by helminths requires surgical treatment. A large number of roundworms sometimes leads to obstruction of the intestines and bile ducts. Their accumulation is removed surgically. The decision on the need for surgical treatment is made by the doctor after a comprehensive examination. The complexity and duration of the operation depend on the location of the parasites, their size and quantity.
Complications
Heartworm infections caused by common types of parasites can be treated with medications prescribed by your doctor. But if you do not pay attention to the alarming symptoms, health deterioration, weakness, causeless fatigue, decreased immunity, the disease can lead to serious complications.
If the parasites enter the lungs, and the patient does not consult a doctor with complaints of cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, shortness of breath, pneumonia or even bronchial asthma may develop.
Parasites found in the organs of the digestive system can cause cirrhosis, liver abscess, hepatitis, bowel cancer, gastrointestinal bleeding, accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity (ascites) and peritonitis. They often provoke the development of chronic kidney diseases, meningoencephalitis and vision loss. Some cestodes (tapeworms) grow more than 1 meter in length, and the small round worms can form dense balls. This disrupts the normal functioning of the body, which leads to severe intoxication and severe allergic reactions. Without emergency medical help, death is possible.
Classification of parasites
Different types of worms affect the body differently, and have their own characteristics both in the development cycle and in appearance and damage caused. There are three most common groups of worms: nematodes, cestodes and trematodes.
The first group are protocavitary worms. They live in the ground and water, so they can easily get infected in the sandpit and in general while walking. This group includes the most common pinworms and roundworms, and also includes hookworms, trichinella and guinea worms. Depending on which parasite caused the infection, ascariasis, enterobiosis, trichuriasis, etc. are distinguished.
Cestodes are tapeworms that can live both in the intestines (the most common variant is tapeworms) and in organs (usually the larvae of tapeworms, echinococcus and alveococcus live there). According to which of these types of worms are found in children, echinococcosis, taeniasis, hymenolepiasis, etc. are distinguished.
And the last of the three popular groups are trematodes caused by trematodes. These are several types of flatworms - schistosoma, cat/liver fluke, leucochloridium. They cause opisthorchiasis (transmitted by fish from the carp family) and fascioliasis (damage to the liver and biliary system, infection through plants or water).
Symptoms
There are many symptoms, and individual manifestations depend on which helminth eggs have entered the body. Then we will talk about the general symptoms for all parasitic infections, and then about enterobiosis, ascariasis and 5 other types of infections.
- increased irritability, restless sleep, decreased persistence and attention, frequent hysterics and anger;
- increased appetite associated with active weight loss;
- symptoms from the digestive system - diarrhea, constipation, nausea, pain in the right hypochondrium;
- dizziness and headache;
- food allergies;
- nasal discharge;
- diseases and infections of the reproductive system;
- brittle nails/hair;
Enterobiasis is a helminthiasis in which the body is infected with pinworms. The larvae hatch from the eggs within 4-6 hours, and in 2-4 weeks they become adults - grayish or white round worms 5-10 mm long. They settle in the cecum and appendix, and lay eggs outside the anus - at night, female pinworms come out into the air for this purpose. This reproduction mechanism leads to severe itching at night – hence restless sleep, tossing and turning, and screaming.
Additional special symptoms:
- nocturnal urination;
- teeth grinding;
Ascariasis is a helminthiasis in which the body is colonized by roundworms. These worms are already larger - the average length of an adult is 25-30 cm. Larvae and eggs enter the body with insufficiently disinfected fresh fruits and vegetables. The period of development takes place in the intestines, after which they pass into the lymphatic and blood vessels, and through the flow of blood and lymph, they are distributed throughout the body - in the liver, heart, lungs. Then they enter the oral cavity and are swallowed again. From this moment, adult roundworms begin to develop. This takes about 3 months.
How to suspect the presence of worms in children:
- the liver, spleen, lymph nodes increase;
- the temperature rises, sometimes up to 38 degrees;
- malaise and weakness appear;
- respiratory pathologies develop - pneumonia, bronchitis and bronchial asthma;
- pressure drop;
- Gastrointestinal symptoms appear - constipation, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, pain in the form of contractions;
- fear of light;
- nightmares at night;
- dry cough - sputum with an orange hue and blood spots.
It is more difficult to breed roundworms than pinworms, because the female lays almost 250 thousand eggs every day. In no case should you rely on traditional methods or buy the first medicine you come across in a pharmacy - be sure to consult a specialist.
Infants may experience symptoms after only a few weeks of life if they have received worm eggs and larvae from their mother, for example during childbirth. As a rule, the symptoms are manifested in the form of lack of weight gain, excessive drooling, rashes, pallor, blueness under the eyes, constipation. The child is constantly worried, screams, sleeps and eats poorly. Screaming can be unbearable and the baby will turn blue.
Worms are often the cause of the development of lung pathologies and are diagnosed by ultrasound or X-ray. Parasites, especially Echinococcus tapeworms, can damage not only the respiratory system, but also the brain and heart. In the areas where helminths develop in the lungs, scars and adhesions appear, and the shape of the lungs begins to change. Such changes cause a wide range of diseases - asthma, fibrosis, bronchitis, pleuritis, emphysema, etc. When the tapeworm enters the lungs, echinococcosis occurs, when the parasite develops in the form of a cyst.
Symptoms will largely depend on which helminth entered the body, but the child's anxiety and the presence of the above general symptoms should alert parents. If signs of worms appear, make an appointment with a pediatrician or gastroenterologist to get tested in time.
Diagnostics
The diagnosis of worms in children is carried out in different ways - depending on which worms the child is infected with, the habitat, the location of the eggs and the toxins found in the body.
The following may be prescribed for diagnosis:
- blood test - shows anemia, hemoglobin and eosinophil levels;
- parasite analysis - in 99% of cases it helps to detect helminthiasis, and in most cases it helps to accurately determine the species (biomaterial for research - blood from a vein);
- stool examination - there may be no eggs in the stool, even if there is an infection, to ensure the presence of worms, this diagnosis should be carried out 3 times, which takes time;
- smear - especially effective in case of pinworm infection, because their eggs are located just outside the anus;
- stool analysis for dysbacteriosis;
- if there is a suspicion of infection of internal organs, not only the gastrointestinal tract - CT, X-ray, ultrasound.
Diagnostics allows you to accurately identify the type of parasite and prescribe a specific treatment. The doctor prescribes medicines, diet, additional support procedures and gives recommendations for care and hygiene.
In some cases, parents pay increased attention to helminthiasis and are constantly worried about not infecting their child. This leads to regular "preventive" courses of serious anthelmintics, which do not bring any benefit to the baby's body. If your child is not losing weight, feels well, eats well, has a healthy complexion, and is not itching in the anal area, he is probably healthy. If you want to see for yourself, it is better to test yourself than to take an unnecessary course.
Treatment
The course of worm therapy in children includes several stages - preparation, therapy and cleaning. During the entire treatment, it is necessary to carry out general preventive measures and carefully monitor hygiene in order to avoid re-infection or infection of a family member. Some types of worms, such as tapeworms and echinococci, can only be removed surgically.
The preparatory phase includes taking various sorbents that absorb toxins and cleanse the body. They are accompanied by antihistamines, relieve general itching and prevent the development of allergic reactions to drugs.
Treatment of helminthiasis in children in the main stage is direct administration of anthelmintic drugs in the form of tablets, suppositories or suspensions. Medicines are selected depending on the type of helminth, individual indications and contraindications. Some anthelmintics work in 2 doses:
- the first course kills already developed individuals;
- the second course helps to deal with larvae and eggs (prescribed 2 weeks after the first).
Cleansing is designed to rid the body of the remains of dead parasites; in this phase, sorbents, enemas and choleretics are used. You can help your baby by adding raw carrots, dairy products, wholemeal bread, fruits, vegetables, fish oil, nuts, especially walnuts and peanuts.
Additionally, vitamin complexes, iron, minerals and a special diet can be used to restore the body in case of serious damage, which will increase hemoglobin, restore liver function and strengthen the body as a whole. The doctor describes the treatment plan in detail, avoiding side effects. Control tests are mandatory. Self-medication and deviation from the plan are not allowed.
Consequences of untreated parasitic infestations
Helminthiasis is a serious danger, without treatment it can lead to death or significant health problems. An infected child is a danger to the whole family and the environment, because it spreads the disease.
Complications of worms in children:
- inflammatory exacerbation of appendicitis;
- epileptic seizures;
- visual impairment of several types;
- allergic reactions with abundant nasal discharge;
- developmental lag behind peers;
- sexually transmitted infections, the most common in girls is vulvovaginitis;
- various types of pulmonary manifestations, including bronchial asthma;
- in severe cases - brain and heart damage.
Prevention
In order to ensure that the treatment of worms in children is not necessary at all, it is necessary to actively engage in prevention, which consists of daily precautions and hygiene procedures, as well as taking medication.
How to protect your baby from parasitic infection:
- Maintain hygiene - regularly wash the child's hands and bathe him;
- take care of toys regularly - washing and cleaning (after diagnosis, all toys must be disinfected);
- cut your nails as often as possible, clean them every day;
- iron clothes after washing;
- get rid of bad habits - sucking fingers, pencils, biting nails;
- give only boiled water to drink and explain the reasons;
- avoid swimming in natural bodies of water;
- use repellants (insects often carry worm eggs), destroy all insects that enter the house;
- regularly check pets for parasites;
- Wash fruits and vegetables well, heat meat and fish sufficiently.
Some types of helminthiasis are difficult to cure, so we recommend preventive measures to avoid infection. When contacting the clinic, parents will receive full advice on how to properly implement prevention to avoid problems in the future.