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Types of worms in humans: symptoms and diagnosis

Various scientific studies have confirmed the connection of many human pathological conditions with parasitic diseases. Worms in humans often do not show characteristic symptoms of the disease, so they can exist in the body for many years, provoking dangerous complications and pathologies. Sometimes black dots in the stool or light-colored worm eggs and worms in the stool can be the only symptom of an infestation. To find out whether there are worms in the human body, it is necessary to conduct a diagnosis. First of all, they conduct an examination of the 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 describes the symptoms of worms in humans and methods for diagnosing a parasitic disease.

Symptoms of worms in humans

Worms in the body provoke general weakness and fatigue

From the photo it is easy to understand what the eggs of worms in the feces and the worms themselves look like. Different worms in one person in the photo can vary significantly. The size of some eggworms or adults is very small, other parasites in feces 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 what worms live in a person.

Eggs in feces 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 turns pale;
  • itching in the anal area.

However, the patient does not even associate some of the symptoms of the disease, which are caused by worm larvae or adults, with worms. These symptoms include:

  • gas, diarrhea and constipation;
  • nausea and vomiting;
  • Pain in the navel and right hypochondrium.

When such symptoms appear, it is first necessary to conduct an examination of the stool masses. In this case, the smallest worm eggs can be detected in the faeces. Since self-determination of worm eggs is difficult, it is better 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 feces, but the patient has signs of general intoxication. When parasite toxins affect the human nervous system, the following symptoms of the disease appear:

  • Dizziness;
  • Fatigue;
  • Headache;
  • increased irritability;
  • Sleepiness;
  • Depression;
  • Cramps;
  • temperature rise.
A sign of worms in a child is allergic urticaria

When worms and their eggs are found in a child's feces, the symptoms of the disease are often complemented by various allergic manifestations:

  • urticaria, dermatitis;
  • skin irritation;
  • 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 even then not always. For this reason, knowing what parasite larvae look like is not so important, since it is necessary to understand the symptoms of a specific parasitic disease:

  1. Pinworms that cause enterobiasis usually cause severe itching in the anal area, which gets worse at night. This is because these nematodes (roundworms) lay their eggs on the perianal folds and crawl out of the anus.
  2. A characteristic symptom of ankylostomiasis, diphyllobothriasis and trichuriasis is anemia and beriberi.
  3. The symptomatology of ascariasis depends on the stage of development of the worm. At the migratory stage, the clinical picture is manifested by a complex of symptoms from the respiratory system (shortness of breath, cough, bronchitis, pneumonia). At the intestinal stage, symptoms characteristic of gastrointestinal diseases appear. In this case, black spots may appear in the stool.
  4. Fever, facial swelling, and muscle pain occur with trichinosis.
  5. When trematodes have settled in the liver, pancreatitis develops, yellowing of the sclera and skin occurs, and the spleen enlarges. With this form of the disease, black threads and dots may be absent in the stool masses.
  6. Schistosomiasis provokes bleeding in the genitourinary system, so urine can mix with blood. Often the parasite causes indigestion.

types of worms

Types of worms in the human body

In the photo, worms in a person can differ dramatically depending on belonging to a particular species. This is how tapeworms and roundworms parasitize in the human body. Helminths of the same variety may also differ in the photo. Thus, pinworms, nematodes, trichinella, roundworms, hookworms belong to the roundworm order. There are two classes of flatworms:

  • cestodes (this is pork and beef tapeworm, echinococcus, broad tapeworm, alveococcus);
  • Trematodes (these include schistosomes, opisthorchis, paragonim).

How this or that helmet looks, you can see from the photo. We will describe the features of the existence of the main parasites of the human body:

  1. Pinworms provoke enterobiasis, the symptoms of which appear on the third day after infection. Eggs enter the body with unwashed hands, fruits and herbs.
  2. Vlasoglav causes a disease called trichuriasis. The first symptoms 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 and abdominal pain. It could be appendicitis.
  3. The culprit of diphyllobothriasis is a broad tapeworm. The disease manifests itself in 2-5 weeks from the moment of infection. The parasite enters the body with infected poorly fried fish. This worm can live in the human body for decades, causing anemia, beriberi, intestinal obstruction, allergies and poisoning.
  4. Roundworms are the culprits of ascariasis. When infected with these worms, black dots can appear in the feces of an adult and a child. Up to three months elapse between the time of invasion and the onset of a clinical picture. The parasite enters the intestines with plant food.
  5. Roundworm - hookworm provokes hookworm. Infection can occur if you work in the ground and walk barefoot on the floor. The disease manifests itself 5-8 days after infection. First there is itching and swelling at the site of penetration of the parasite, then cough with profuse sputum, dizziness, weakness.
  6. The giant liver causes fascioliasis. The parasite enters the body with contaminated water and plant food. The first signs of the disease can be seen 0. 5-1 month after the start of the invasion. The disease is manifested by a dry cough, fever, abdominal pain and loss of appetite.
  7. A worm called Trichinella is the culprit of trichinosis in humans. Helminth can get into the human body with poorly processed meat and fat. The first symptoms appear two days after infection. Usually the patient is tormented by diarrhea, heartburn and nausea.

Diagnosis of worm diseases

Blood test to diagnose worm disease

When diagnosing many helminthiases, a fecal examination is first performed. If you find black dots in the stool or white worms in the stool, this analysis should be done as soon as possible.

But not only faeces with black dots is an indication of a co-program. Eggs that are invisible to the eye can often be easily identified under a microscope. A more accurate diagnosis of stool masses for the detection of helminth DNA particles is carried out using the PCR technique.

If a person has a lot of black dots in the feces, then, among other diagnostic methods, it is worth noting:

  1. scratching from the area near the anus;
  2. blood test by ELISA, PCR, RNGA and other methods;
  3. Be sure to do blood biochemistry and KLA;
  4. In some cases, ultrasound, MRI and CT are performed to identify the localization sites of parasites;
  5. To diagnose the migratory stage of helminths, an X-ray examination is indicated.

In certain forms of worm infections, sputum, rectal mucus, urine, and gallbladder contents may be examined. Endoscopic examination is also sometimes used in diagnosis.