Today, diseases caused by various types of protozoa and helminths are widespread.The danger of such diseases is explained not only by the complications and dysfunctions of the body that protozoa and worms cause in humans, but also by the difficulty of diagnosing the disease due to the similarity of symptoms with a number of non-parasitic diseases.
Helminths and protozoa cause:
- gastrointestinal tract disorders (constipation, diarrhea, vomiting);
- allergic skin reactions;
- general intoxication of the body;
- muscle and joint pain;
- dehydration.
To avoid misdiagnosis and prescribing inappropriate treatment, which at best will simply be ineffective, and at worst can cause complications, you must 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 applies to protozoan helminths.In the environment, they live in the soil and in bodies of water.In addition to not washing your hands and consuming low-quality food, you can become infected 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 infected insect bites.
Protozoan worms that live in humans belong to the class of unicellular organisms.The infection is called protozoosis.Depending on the type and degree of invasion, the course of the disease can be serious and even cause the patient's death.
Which helminths are called protozoa?
Protozoan helminths can have a constant (ciliated and flagellated) and variable body shape - 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 in half or by a complex sexual method.
To protect themselves from unfavorable external conditions, as well as for further dissemination, protozoan helminths can transform into cysts, which are cells covered with a protective membrane.This allows them to go from an immobile cyst to 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 antelope species in Africa are permanent “hosts” for trypanosomatids.And a person being bitten by a tsetse fly, which carries these helminths, can infect them and cause sleeping sickness, which is known to be fatal.
The most studied protozoan helminths
Parasites of the human body that belong to the class of flagellates:
- Giardia is a parasite that generally 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, particularly the small intestine.Many patients infected with Giardia do not experience 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 protozoa 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-core cyst.Although amoeba dysentery is found almost everywhere, the most common cases of infection are recorded in tropical countries.The amoeba is the cause of an infectious protozoal disease in humans such as amoebiasis.The clinical picture of the disease is ulcerative colitis, characterized by relapses and exacerbations.There are also cases of extraintestinal amoebiasis – these protozoan helminths pass from the intestine to other organs and even the skin.The most recent form of the disease is called cutaneous amoebiasis - obvious ulcerative necrotic signs are seen on the buttocks and perineum.
- Trichomonas causes trichomoniasis.Currently, several subspecies of Trichomonas have been studied.Intestinal, whose parasitic area is in the large intestine and the helminth does not cause any special damage to the intestine.The area of parasitism for 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.
Sporozoal species of protozoa are represented by malaria plasmodia and coccidia:
- Plasmodium falciparum, transmitted by mosquitoes and causing malaria, is a protozoan microorganism.Parasite in the blood.Malaria in a person infected 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 epithelial tissue of the intestines of many animals.Several species of coccidia are the causative agents of the disease coccidiosis.In humans, this disease occurs with mild intoxication and symptoms of gastroenteritis or enteritis.
Ciliates: balantidy.This order of protozoa living in the large intestine is the cause of a disease such as ciliary dysentery (balantidiasis).
Diagnosis and treatment of protozoan helminths
Often, when the presence of helminths in the body occurs without symptoms, the disease takes a long time to be diagnosed.Invasion can be suspected by specific symptoms and detected only through laboratory tests of feces, urine, blood and fluids obtained by puncture of various organs and systems.
In medical practice, there are general principles for the treatment of protozoan invasion:
- antiparasitic medicines;
- nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- detox medications;
- when a secondary bacterial infection occurs, narrowly targeted antibiotics.
The doctor prescribes specific treatment according to the type of protozoan helminth and the degree of infestation.