Today, diseases caused by numerous types of protozoa and helminths are widespread.The danger of such ailments is explained not only by the complications and malfunctions in the body that protozoa and worms lead to in humans, but also by the difficulty of diagnosing the disease due to the similarity of symptoms with various non-parasitic ailments.
Helminths and protozoa cause:
- disruptions in the gastrointestinal tract (constipation, diarrhea, vomiting);
- skin allergic reactions;
- general intoxication of the body;
- muscle and joint pain;
- dehydration.
To avoid diagnostic errors and prescribing an inadequate course of treatment, which, at best, will simply be ineffective, and at worst can cause complications, you should accurately determine the type of helminths and the degree of infection of the body with them.
Routes of infection by protozoan helminths
All worms enter the body from the outside.The same is true for protozoan helminths.In the environment, they live in soil and water bodies.In addition to unwashed hands and eating low-quality foods, you can become infected with them at home, through contact with a carrier.
The main mechanism of any infection is most often oral-fecal, that is, a person simply swallows worm eggs along with food, water, and less often, some helminthic infestations occur from the bites of infected insects.
Protozoan worms that live in humans belong to the class of single-celled organisms.Infection is called protozoosis.Depending on the type and degree of invasion, the course of the disease can be severe and even cause the death of the patient.
What helminths are called protozoa?
Protozoan helminths can have a body of a constant shape (ciliates and flagellates) and a variable one - a clear representative of the amoeba.Their sizes are very small and range from 4-5 micrometers to 1-3 millimeters.Often the cell of these microorganisms has several nuclei.The organs of locomotion are pseudopods, cilia and flagella.The reproduction process, depending on the species, occurs by halving or a complex sexual method.
To protect themselves from unfavorable external conditions, as well as for further spread, protozoan helminths can turn into cysts, which are cells that are covered with a protective membrane.This allows them to transform from a motionless cyst into an active state if they enter a favorable environment.
There are often situations when the host’s body does not even notice the protozoan helminths parasitizing in it.In other cases, the infestation leads to the death of the host.For example, some species of antelope in Africa are permanent “hosts” of trypanosomatids.And a bite of a person by a tsetse fly, which is a carrier of these helminths, can infect him and cause sleeping sickness, which is known to be life-threatening.
The most studied protozoan helminths
Parasites in the human body that belong to the class of flagellates:
- Giardia is a parasite that usually lives in the intestines, bile ducts, and liver of vertebrates (humans and animals).They can be transmitted through food, water and other factors.This group of protozoa is the cause of a disease such as giardiasis, a functional disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, namely the small intestine.Many patients infected with Giardia do not experience any obvious symptoms.
- Leishmania is a protozoan helminth transmitted by mosquitoes.After an insect bites a person, there is a high probability of contracting leishmaniasis.Signs of the disease include damage to the skin, mucous membranes and some internal organs; fever and anemia are often signs of the disease.
- Trypanosomatids are protozoans transmitted by insects.When the body becomes infected, the disease causes trypanosomiasis.This disease has a long course.Depending on the type of trypanosomatids, various systems and organs are affected.
- Amoeba dysentery parasitizes the intestines.Invasion occurs in the form of a 4-nuclear cyst.Although dysentery amoeba is found almost everywhere, the most common cases of infection are recorded in tropical countries.Amoeba is the cause of such an infectious protozoal disease in humans as amoebiasis.The clinical picture of the disease is ulcerative colitis, which is characterized by relapses and exacerbations.There are also cases of extraintestinal amebiasis - these protozoan helminths pass from the intestines to other organs and even to the skin.The latest form of the disease is called skin amoebiasis - obvious ulcerative-necrotic signs are observed on the buttocks and perineum.
- Trichomonas cause trichomoniasis.Currently, several subspecies of Trichomonas have been studied.Intestinal, the parasitizing area of which is in the large intestine and the helminth does not cause any particular harm to the intestines.The area of parasitism of genitourinary Trichomonas, as the name suggests, is the genitourinary system.Infection occurs through sexual contact.This subspecies of protozoa is the cause of a disease such as trichomoniasis.This infectious disease is manifested by inflammatory phenomena in the genitourinary system.Oral Trichomonas parasitizes the oral cavity and does not pose a danger to humans.
The sporozoan species of protozoa is represented by malarial plasmodium and coccidia:
- Plasmodium falciparum, transmitted by mosquitoes and the cause of malaria, is a protozoan microorganism.It parasitizes in the blood.Malaria in a person infected with this parasite is manifested by the following symptoms: hypochromic anemia, attacks of fever, enlargement of organs such as the liver and spleen.
- Coccidia are protozoa that live in the epithelial tissue of the intestines of many animals.A number of species of coccidia are the causative agents of the disease coccidiosis.In humans, this disease occurs with slight intoxication and symptoms of gastroenteritis or enteritis.
Ciliates: balantidia.This order of protozoa living in the large intestine is the cause of a disease such as ciliate dysentery (balantidiasis).
Diagnosis and treatment of protozoan helminths
Very often, when the presence of helminths in the body occurs without symptoms, the disease is not diagnosed for a long time.Invasion can be suspected by specific symptoms, and detected only through laboratory tests of feces, urine, blood, and fluids obtained by puncture from various organs and systems.
In medical practice, there are general principles for the treatment of protozoal invasion:
- antiparasitic drugs;
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- detoxification drugs;
- when a secondary bacterial infection occurs, narrowly targeted antibiotics.
The doctor prescribes specific treatment based on the type of protozoan helminth and the degree of infestation.