Today, diseases caused by numerous species of protozoa and helminths are widespread. The danger of such diseases is explained not only by complications and defects in the body, which are caused by protozoa and worms in humans, but also by the complexity of diagnosing the disease due to the similarity of symptoms with various non-parasitic diseases.
Helminths and protozoa cause:
- disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (constipation, diarrhea, vomiting);
- allergic skin reactions;
- general intoxication of the body;
- muscle and joint pain;
- dehydration.
In order to avoid diagnostic error and the appointment of an inadequate course of treatment, which at best will simply be ineffective, and at worst can cause complications, it is necessary to accurately determine the type of helminth and the degree of infection. bodies with them.
Ways of infection with protozoan helminths
All worms enter the body from the outside. The same is true with the simplest helminths. In the environment they live in soil, water bodies. In addition to unwashed hands, eating low-quality products, you can get infected with them at home, by contact with a carrier.
The main mechanism of any infection is usually oral-fecal, ie a person simply swallows worm eggs together with food, water, some helminthic infestations occur less often when bitten by infected insects.
The simplest worms that live in humans belong to the class of unicellular organisms. The infection is called protozoan. Depending on the type and degree of invasion, the course of the disease can be severe, even causing the death of the patient.
Which helminths are called protozoa?
The simplest helminths can have a body of constant shape (ciliates and flagellates) and variable - a bright representative of the amoeba. Their dimensions are very small and range from 4-5 micrometers to 1-3 millimeters. Often the cells of these microorganisms have several nuclei. Pseudopods, cilia, and flagella act as organs of movement. The process of reproduction, depending on the species, takes place by division by sex or by a complex sexual method.
To protect themselves from adverse external conditions, as well as for further spread, the simplest helminths can turn into cysts, cells that are covered with a protective membrane. This allows them to transform from a stationary cyst to an active state if they enter a favorable environment.
There are often situations when the body of the carrier does not notice even the simplest helminths that parasitize in it. In other cases, the invasion leads to the death of the host. For example, some antelope species in Africa are permanent "masters" of trypanosomatids. And the human bite of the fly, which carries these helminths, can infect them and cause sleeping sickness, which is known to be life-threatening.
The most studied protozoan helminths
Parasites in the human body belonging to the class of flagellates:
- Giardia is a parasite that usually lives in the intestines, bile ducts, liver of vertebrates (humans and animals). They can be transmitted through food, water and other factors. This group of protozoa is the cause of diseases such as giardiasis - a functional disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, or small intestine. Many patients infected with Giardia do not experience any obvious symptoms.
- Leishmania are the simplest helminths transmitted by mosquitoes. After an insect bite, a person is more likely to get leishmaniasis. Signs of the disease are damage to the skin, mucous membranes and some internal organs, often fever and anemia become signs of the disease.
- Trypanosomatids are protozoa transmitted by insects. When infected, they cause trypanosomiasis. This disease has a long course. Depending on the type of trypanosomatid, different systems and organs are affected.
- Amoeba dysentery parasitizes in the intestines. The invasion is performed in the form of a 4-nuclear cyst. Although dysenteric amoeba is found almost everywhere, the most common cases of infection are recorded in tropical countries. Amoeba is the cause of such an infectious protozoan disease in humans as amoebiasis. The clinical picture of the disease is ulcerative colitis characterized by recurrences and exacerbations. There are also cases of extraintestinal form of amoebiasis - these protozoan helminths pass from the intestine to other organs, and even to the skin. The last form of the disease is called skin amoebiasis - ulcerative-necrotic signs are obvious on the buttocks and perineum.
- Trichomonas causes trichomoniasis. Several subspecies of Trichomonas are currently being studied. Intestinal, whose area of parasitism is in the colon and helminths do not cause much damage to the intestines. The area of parasitism of genitourinary trichomonas, as the name implies - genitourinary system. The infection is transmitted sexually. This subspecies of protozoa is the cause of diseases such as trichomoniasis. This contagious disease is manifested by inflammation in the genitourinary system. Oral trichomonas parasitizes in the oral cavity, does not pose a danger to humans.
The sporophytic species of protozoa are Plasmodium falciparum and coccidia:
- Plasmodium falciparum, which is transmitted by mosquitoes and causes malaria, is the simplest microorganism. It parasitizes in the blood. Malaria in an infected person with this parasite is manifested by the following symptoms: hypochromic anemia, fever attacks, enlargement of organs such as the liver and spleen.
- Coccidia are protozoa that live in the intestinal epithelial tissue of many animals. Numerous types of coccidia are the cause of such diseases as coccidiosis. In humans, this disease occurs with mild intoxication and the appearance of gastroenteritis or enteritis.
Ciliates: balantidia. This separation of protozoa living in the large intestine is the cause of such diseases as infusor dysentery (balantidia).
Diagnosis and treatment of protozoan helminths
Very often, when the presence of helminths in the body takes place without symptoms, the disease is not diagnosed for a long time. The invasion can be suspected by specific symptoms, and it can be detected only with the help of laboratory tests of feces, urine, blood, fluids obtained by puncture from various organs and systems.
In medical practice, there are general principles for the treatment of protozoan invasion:
- antiparasitic drugs;
- nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- detoxification drugs;
- with the manifestation of secondary bacterial infection, narrowly targeted antibiotics.
Specific treatment is prescribed by a doctor, based on the type of helminth protozoa and the degree of invasion.