Helminths or worms are the general name for parasitic worms that live in the human body. Most of them live in the intestinal tract, but some live beyond it. Children are particularly susceptible to infections caused by worms. Due to insufficiently strong immunity, which cannot destroy the parasites, and due to the long latent period of infection, worms can cause serious damage to the child. This is mainly due to severe poisoning, allergic reactions and in some cases organ damage.
In this material, we examine the main causes of helminth infection, their types, and their treatment methods. This applies to both traditional and conventional medicine.
Causes of infection
First of all, it is worth noting that protecting a child from worm infestation seems like an almost impossible task. This applies to geohelminthiasis and is due to their method of infection. However, there are other types of worms that have different infection mechanisms. Below we discuss geohelminthiasis and other types of worms in more detail.
Worms evolvein soil and water, after which they enter the human body and lay their eggs there. They are then returned to the soil or water with the feces and the cycle repeats. When eating dirty fruits and vegetables, there is a very real chance of catching geohelminthic infections. Infection is also possible through dirty hands or the skin of the feet.
Infection throughcontact with animals- not a myth. There is a non-illusory chance of being infected with worms during contact, play and joint activities with an already infected animal. Their eggs land on the skin or clothing, where they continue to mature and eventually enter the body.
It occurs due to infection with biohelminthosesconsumption of underprocessed meat and fish products.Undersalted kebabs, poorly salted lard, sushi, unprocessed milk and insufficiently marinated fish are especially dangerous. In addition to worms, there is also a chance of contracting an intestinal infection when consuming these products.
Infectionthrough insect bites- occurs quite rarely, since in most cases the insects place their larvae under the victim's skin. However, some worms are spread by insects.
With a strong immune system, infection with worms is much less likely. Moreover, over time, a person simply develops a resistance to worms in his area. They don't have time to hatch, or they simply die shortly after hatching. However, when moving to a new area or when the immune system weakens, protection against worms weakens.
Types of worms
There are about 300 species of worms, but 70 species are common. These types can be divided into three large groups:
- Nematodes or roundworms.Children are most often infected with this type of worm. This species includes pinworms, whipworms, trichinella and roundworms.
- Tapeworms or cestodes.Infection with this species occurs through poorly processed meat. This species includes roundworms, tapeworms and echinococcus.
- Trematodes or fluke parasites.Most often, worms of this species cause opisthorchiasis, fascioliasis, schistosomiasis and paragonimiasis.
In the vast majority of cases, the worms live in the intestines, but their eggs can spread throughout the body along with the bloodstream. As a result, worms can begin to multiply in the liver, gall bladder, muscle tissue, lungs, and even the brain.
Symptoms
Given that worms are parasitic organisms, infection with them does not appear immediately. After all, the aim of the parasite is to avoid the host's attention as long as possible. That is why the symptoms appear either in case of multiple infections or after a long latent period.
The first symptoms typically appear only 2-4 weeks after the worm eggs have entered the body. All symptoms are usually caused by poisoning by waste products of helminthiasis. In some cases, namely, when the child's immunity decreases, helminthiasis infection may appear earlier.
BetweenThe main signs of worms in childrendistinguishable:
- Increased appetite without weight gain;
- Increased salivation;
- Pain in the stomach, nausea and unstable stool;
- Dizziness and headache;
- Appearance of allergic reactions;
- Sleep disturbances, worsening sleep and increased irritability;
- Increased hair loss and brittle nails;
- Common inflammatory processes of the nasopharynx and urogenital tract.
In case of prolonged infection, developmental delays, dysfunction of internal organs and neurological disorders can be observed.
It is important to remember that a strange smell coming from the child's mouth, abdominal pain, frequent hiccups and nighttime teeth grinding do not in any way indicate a worm infection. These symptoms are just a myth.
Diagnostic features
Given the variety of symptoms of parasitic infection, establishing an accurate diagnosis is not the easiest task. First, you have to do itstool analysisfor the presence of parasite nests. However, this is not the most reliable method. The situation is that in some cases, the body of the carrier may contain several individuals of the same sex, incapable of reproduction. In addition, some species lay eggs extremely rarely, which makes it difficult to make a clear diagnosis. Therefore, examination of feces for worms should be carried out three times at intervals of several days, since it is necessary to find the exact moment of reproduction of parasites.
A high eosinophil level and a low hemoglobin level can also indicate a parasite infection.general blood test.For the diagnosis, enterobiasis scraping and examination of the abdominal cavity with ultrasound or X-ray are also used. In order to clarify the diagnosis, doctors may resort to biological analysis of urine and feces, as well as immunological tests.
Once the exact type of parasite and the degree of damage caused to the body have been determined, treatment can begin.
Methods of treating worms in children
The main way to treat helminths is, of course, medication. However, in certain cases, the use of traditional medicine is also allowed. It is important to note that in most cases, folk remedies are not strong enough to deal with moderate, let alone severe, infections. These should be used as an aid. Of course, traditional medicine also has many limitations. These and other tools are discussed in more detail below.
Medicines
Drug treatment for helminth infection is aimed at killing the worms and reducing the level of toxins they release. When treating worms, especially in children, it is highly undesirable to use broad-spectrum drugs. The fact is that they are very powerful and their use can lead to serious problems even with the correct dosage. In addition, the wrong medicine can cause more harm than the parasites themselves. That is why it is important to make an accurate diagnosis and determine what type of parasites the child is infected with.
To remove toxins, vitamin complexes containing vitamins B and C, glucose solutions and water-salt solution infusions are used. In some cases, antihistamines and diuretics are also used. And if the heart and liver are damaged, hormone therapy may be necessary. Enzyme products that improve digestion and enterosorbents are often used to enhance the effects, which remove waste products from parasites from the body.
Do folk remedies help?
In general, doctors do not recommend using folk remedies to treat worms. This is primarily due to the fact that the strength of folk remedies is often not sufficient to completely destroy parasites. However, despite the fact that folk remedies cannot become an alternative to traditional means, this does not mean that they should not be used. On the contrary, they will be excellent supplements to medication. Among the most effective and safest folk remedies are the following.
Vegetable oilsan effective method to combat almost all types of helminths. Apricot, cedar and sea buckthorn oils are the most effective, but linseed or hemp oil is a safer solution for children. The oil should be consumed in its pure form, one teaspoon three times a day before meals. If your child refuses to eat it, add it to his porridge or soak the bread in butter. The duration of the oil treatment is one week, after which you must take a two-week break.
Another effective treatment for helminths ispumpkin seeds. This is primarily due to the presence of cucurbitin, a rare amino acid that kills worms. Pumpkin seeds can be eaten raw or prepared with milk. In raw form, 120 grams are consumed for children aged three to seven, 200 grams for children aged seven to eleven, and 300 grams for children under thirteen. You can make milk from the seeds by putting 200 grams of seeds through a meat grinder, pouring two glasses of boiling water over them, and infusing the drink in a water bath for a quarter of an hour. We then strain the broth and feed it throughout the day, before meals.
GarlicIt is also a common remedy for helminthiasis. It is often used to prevent infections caused by parasites and as an adjuvant in enterobiasis and ascariasis. It is used as follows: finely chop two cloves of garlic and pour a glass of milk over it. The obtained drink is consumed twice a day, with a quarter of a glass, for four days.
Medicinal drugs are often used for treatment purposesenemaswith herbal decoctions. This is done to flush the parasites out of the intestinal lumen. Decoctions of wormwood, chamomile and other herbs are suitable for this purpose. You can also use milk garlic enema, the recipe of which is given above. When using an enema, it is important that its temperature is not lower than room temperature and that its volume does not exceed 100 milliliters. It is also important to increase the amount of liquid consumed in the form of mineral water or fruit juices.
Barrier methodIt is most often used to treat helminthiasis caused by worms. Its essence is to block the lumen of the large intestine with special tampons moistened with vegetable oil or vaseline. This is done so that adult worms do not migrate to the surface of the anus and reproduce. The child's anal passage is blocked with tampons for a month. It is important to note that this method is not effective for extraintestinal forms of helminthiasis or severe enterobiasis.
Always consult and get approval from your pediatrician before using any of the above methods.
In addition to the tools directly used to fight against parasites, auxiliary tools can also be used. Any recipe that improves digestion and removes toxins from the body will do. Substances with a high vitamin B and C content are also useful, consult your doctor before use.
Prevention of helminthiasis in children
As we have already learned, the vast majority of worm infections occur through the mouth. Therefore, the prevention of parasite infection is a prioritycompliance with personal hygiene rules. Also, vegetables and fruits should be thoroughly washed before eating, and fish, meat, and dairy products should be properly cooked. If you have pets, preventive deworming should be done. And finally, you need to keep your house clean.
In addition, there is an opinion that to prevent helminthiasis, it is necessary to regularly take anthelmintic drugs. This opinion is very controversial in medicine. Some doctors believe that the prophylactic use of such drugs does not guarantee re-infection and causes additional stress on the body. This group of doctors argues that basic hygiene is enough to reduce the chance of infection. The second group of doctors believes that it is simply impossible without the prophylactic use of such drugs, given the fact that children neglect the rules of hygiene. The issue of prevention is even more acute if the child is constantly in contact with animals visiting the street.
Either way, only you can decide whether it's worth using anthelmintic drugs for prevention. However, it is worth considering if:
- Planning a trip to southern countries;
- The child attends kindergarten;
- There are animals at home that visit the street;
- Children play in the sandbox or often come into contact with the ground;
- Children spend a lot of time in nature.