Worms in children: symptoms, treatment, prevention

Invasive helminth infections are a fairly common problem in all countries of the world. Almost every third inhabitant of the planet carries worms, and worms in children are even more common. If we take into account only the statistics of one country, more than two million cases of worm infections have been registered. But in reality, these numbers are much higher, as people often do not seek help from a doctor but try to deworm on their own.

And some patients are simply unaware of their condition, as the disease has almost no symptoms. If we calculate the parallel between the annual sales of anthelmintics and the national population, there are about 22 million patients, of which nearly 80% are children.

To date, medicine is known for more than three hundred types of worms. Affecting the body, the worms, the symptoms of which depend on the type of parasite and the number of invading larvae, do not always give a vivid picture indicating the nature of the disease. To suspect a helminth infection, you need to know the signs of worms and their symptoms, which can indicate the introduction of parasites into the child's body.

Types of Worms

All known worms are generally classified into three main groups, which are:

• Nematodes (roundworms). . . The class of the parasite is most often diagnosed in children. Groups are represented by categories such as:
  • roundworm,
  • pinworm,
  • trichinella,
  • flagellate.
• Cestodes (flat ice parasite), represented by types like:
  • broadband
  • echinococcus (swine tapeworm),
  • dwarf tapeworm (mice),
  • beef tapeworm (tapeworm).
• Tapeworms (sucking parasites), the main representatives of this class:
  • liver fluke,
  • Siberian fluke (cat).

According to another classification, worms are divided into intestinal parasites and extra-gastrointestinal parasites. The first group is only parasitic in the intestinal cavity, the second group likes other organs of the human body such as liver, heart, lungs, muscles, brain. Gastrointestinal worms have the ability to enter the bloodstream, gnawing on the intestinal walls and blood vessels, following the bloodstream to their preferred habitat.

Factors that contribute to childhood roundworm infection

• Lack of habit of regularly washing hands after going to the toilet, after walking, before eating. Even cookies and sweets should not be given to children without asking them to wash their hands first.
• Rarely change underwear. Especially in the summer, it is necessary to make sure that the children change the clean sheets at least twice a day. It is important to teach your child to use the toilet in the morning after bed and at night before going to bed.
• Habit of putting things in mouth, sucking fingers, licking toys, pencils and markers.
• The presence of domestic pets walking on the street. Even when the dog is leash outside and closely monitored so that it doesn't put anything in its mouth, worm eggs can still cling to its fur.
• Wash vegetables and fruits lightly before using.
• Living standards are low, the house is not clean, there are flies, bed bugs and cockroaches.

Causes and mechanism of infection with worms in children

Of all the worms that can live in the human body, roundworms are predominant. Basically, worms in children, with easily distinguishable symptoms, are pinworms and roundworms, and whipworms are much less commonly diagnosed. Cases of infection with other species account for no more than 3%. This is because flukes and tapeworms are more common in tropical climates, and infection mainly occurs when visiting countries located in the tropics or subtropics.

In addition, because ice parasites are quite resistant to high temperatures, they are mainly infected by people who love uncooked or raw meat and fish dishes. And of course, it is very easy to get infected with worms if the rules of hygiene and the rules of personal hygiene are not observed.

The mechanism of infection with roundworms and pinworms is much simpler but also more common. Disregard for frequent hand washing, careless handling of raw vegetables, herbs and berries. As well as direct contact with stray animals or worm carriers.

Pinworm species also increase re-invasion. This means that reinfection often occurs, which is done this way:

• pinworms cause severe anal itching,
• children, anti-itch skin,
• while pinworm eggs fall on the patient's fingers and underpants,
• further, when touching doorknobs, faucets and other surfaces, patients leave pinworm eggs on them,
• eggs freely enter the body of people living with the carrier and the patient himself.

The most dangerous places to get roundworms and pinworms are:

• kindergarten,
• playground,
• Children's entertainment centers.

There's no escaping the fact that every child in his early years tries to taste almost anything. This is a natural process of perceiving the world around. And touching surfaces in crowded places will inevitably put your hands in your mouth, causing worms to enter the body.

In addition, the child's immune system is not fully formed and the weak protective barrier of the immature digestive tract contributes to infection. The only way to reduce the risk of infection is to repeatedly force children to wash their hands, as this can only become a habit in children by the age of four and even not for everyone.

To a large extent, the increase in morbidity in children is facilitated by the fuzzy presentation of symptoms and complex diagnostic methods. The clinical picture of the disease may be ambiguous, short-term or completely absent. Noticing that the child is a little uncomfortable, a few parents suspect a worm infection and immediately consult a doctor. Most will decide that they know enough to independently diagnose and prescribe treatment, which ultimately leads to widespread spread of the parasite and infection to others.

Even stool analysis for worm eggs and bowel scraping for filariasis do not always give a realistic picture of the disease. In feces, helminth eggs can be unevenly located, to catch them need to follow the rules of taking materials for analysis that not everyone knows. Scrapes can also give negative results, as females do not lay eggs every day, and to obtain a reliable image, scraping must be done at least three times at regular intervals.

Symptoms and signs common to all helminths

The penetration of helminths entering the body is not always accompanied by external symptoms. And in most cases, up to a certain point, a person does not notice the presence of parasites in the body at all. Certain types of worms can live inside a person for many years without causing any negative effects on the person's health and only activate their life activity under favorable conditions. This could be:

• weakening of the body due to other diseases,
• decreased activity of the immune system due to negative environmental influences,
• poor nutrition.

Not so long ago, there was a scientific hypothesis about the effect of worms on curing many internal diseases. However, did not find the appropriate support, but also not rejected.

But today it has been reliably established that each person is a carrier of a certain amount of bacteria, viruses, fungi, including helminths. And the parasites do not always behave well with the owners. The constant discharge of wastes is toxic to humans, which gradually leads to deterioration and the development of various diseases.

Signs to suspect the active activity of worms are symptoms such as:

• Increased appetite accompanied by significant weight loss or persistent loss of appetite and nausea.
• Recurrent abdominal pain, violation of stool formation, manifested by constipation or diarrhea, nausea, ending with vomiting, headache and dizziness, continuous or intermittent.
• Hypersensitivity of the body to various substances and products.
• Impaired condition of teeth and nails, increased hair loss due to iron deficiency anemia and chronic vitamin B deficiency_twelfth. . .
• Low resistance to respiratory diseases (adenoids in children) and inflammatory processes of the genitourinary system.
• Increased irritability and watery eyes, insomnia and disrupted sleep, unfounded nightmares and tantrums, persistent loss of concentration and anxiety - all of these indicate aggression. enter the bloodstream of a large number of toxic substances produced by worms.
• Persistent anemia (low hemoglobin) and high eosinophil counts on clinical blood tests should alert parents and compel them to examine the child for worms. One of the dangerous negative manifestations of the disease is growth retardation.
• Increased allergic reaction to prophylactic vaccination.

Specific symptoms of pinworms

Worms are small, but multiply very quickly and are tenacious - pinworms, which provoke the development of intestinal worms in children. This is an unpleasant disease, the main symptom of which is unpleasant itching in the anus, which is worse at night.

When a child has the disease, the pinworm eggs will quickly spread to surrounding objects, clinging to toys, clothes, dishes and everything that the child comes in contact with. Pinworms feel great outside of the human body and can withstand the effects of many disinfectants. Make sure to kill only pinworm eggs by boiling and irradiating with ultraviolet light.

Intestinal infections occur only through the mouth, when children put dirty hands in their mouths or lick infected surfaces. Through the esophagus, the pinworm quickly enters the intestines and settles there, developing in two weeks into a sexually mature individual.

Severe itching, characteristic of filariasis, occurs due to irritation of the pinworm eggs. Its enhancement at night is interpreted as in a dream the anal sphincter relaxes a little and is not an insurmountable obstacle for an adult female, who lays eggs, only crawlsonto the surface. In a single occurrence, pinworms can leave up to 5, 000 eggs on the skin of the anus.

Causes skin irritation, pinworms are forced to brush the skin, penetrate at this time under the nails, skin of hands, on clothes, bedding. In addition to intense itching, when infected with pinworms, symptoms in children are as follows:

• Confusion, restless sleep, frequent insomnia, nightmares.
• Stop growth and gain weight, or even lose weight.
• Increased fatigue, nervousness, overexertion.
• Reduced attention and poor receptivity to new things, leading to lagging behind in learning.
• Girls may experience bedwetting due to irritation of the urethra. This leads to urinary incontinence at night.
• In addition, pinworms have the ability to penetrate the internal genitalia, penetrate the vaginal cavity (vulvaritis), even reach the uterus and fallopian tubes, carrying infection and causing inflammation.
• The accumulation of a large colony of pinworms in the cecum cavity can cause appendicitis.
• An unconfirmed symptom is teeth grinding at night.
• The reproduction of pinworms contributes to the development of such diseases as:
  • intestinal dysbiosis,
  • enteritis,
  • pain of unknown origin in the abdomen,
  • diarrhea,
  • constipation.
• Due to constant drunkenness, the intestinal wall can no longer absorb nutrients, vitamins and other substances normally, which eventually affects the decrease in the activity of the immune system. For this reason, children infected with pinworms not only get sick often, but also very badly.

Specific symptoms of roundworm (ringworm)

According to statistics from recent surveys, the picture of worm infection is quite alarming. The results showed that more than 80% of preschool children had been infected with worms at least once.

Unfortunately, many parents do not consider heartworm disease a dangerous disease and take it seriously. But settled parasites not only deprive the body of essential nutrients, but also have the ability to infect many internal organs.

Representatives of such parasites are roundworms, which cause ascariasis, the symptoms of which are much more severe than pinworms. Despite the fact that roundworms and pinworms both belong to the same class of worms, roundworms can invade and cause serious damage not only in the intestines but also in other organs, for example:

• on the liver,
• in the pancreas,
• on the heart,
• in the tissues of the brain,
• in the gallbladder,
• in the lungs.

Roundworms only enter the body from the soil, but the triggers are the same as in pinworms, which are:

• non-compliance with hygiene rules,
• careless processing of vegetables, berries and herbs,
• failure to observe safety rules when carrying out a personal plot,
• unsanitary living conditions.

After entering the body, roundworms adapt for a long time (3 months), mature into mobile larvae, gnaw the walls of the small intestine and blood vessels, and then begin to migrate to the organs. favorite of the human body.

This stage is marked by manifestations such as:

• an increase in body temperature in the evening up to 37, 5 ° С;
• frequent weakness and instability;
• dry cough, sometimes accompanied by sputum poorly dissociated into bright red streaks of blood;
• may develop obstructive bronchitis, bronchial asthma, pneumonia or pleurisy;
• swollen lymph nodes;
• Enlarged pancreas and liver.

And the main symptom of ringworm is initially a urticaria-like skin rash, localized to the hands and feet.

The further development of the disease, in which the roundworm returns to the intestines, is characterized by such disorders as:

• diarrhea or constipation
• stomach cramps,
• frequent nausea, sometimes leading to vomiting,
• flatulence,
• anal irritation,
• significant weight loss.

At this stage, for general intoxication, stomatitis and purulent lesions of the skin and mucous membranes often occur. Long-term poisoning by products made from roundworms leads to nervous system disorders and mental disorders, which are:

• insomnia,
• nightmare,
• epilepsy,
• low blood pressure.

As a complication of roundworm disease, serious and dangerous diseases such as:

• bowel obstruction,
• acute appendicitis,
• congestive jaundice
• peritonitis.

Specific signs of being harmed by other pests

1. Vlasoglav (trichocephalosis)- characterized by mild symptoms. Signs of infection are bloody diarrhea, persistent constipation, and profuse vomiting, often leading to dehydration and anemia. Children with such injuries often lag significantly behind in growth and intellectual development.

2. Canine roundworm disease- in most cases, infants under 4 years of age are welcome in frequent contact with an infected dog or cat. Allergic reactions manifest as itching on the skin, fever and chills, allergic cough (up to choking), swelling of the face, lung mass, swollen lymph nodes, and eye diseases.

3. Dwarf tapeworm (mice)- causes hypohidrosis, which is characterized by a latent process without any symptoms. With the development of helminth colonies, the child develops digestive disorders, pain syndrome, increased salivation and frequent headaches. And gradually all this translates into diseases such as:

   • hive,
   • vasomotor or allergic rhinitis,
   • bronchospasm.

4. Siberian fluke (cat)- Stone disease, characteristic symptoms: fever, swollen lymph nodes, skin rash, pain in the right hypogastrium and joints. Complications: dystrophic myocarditis, hepatitis, pneumonia, pancreatitis, severe gastritis.

5. Wide ribbon- diphyllobothriasis, a disease caused by infection with tapeworms, the eggs or larvae of which can be still alive in raw or undercooked meat. It is characterized by intestinal disturbances, pain syndrome and_twelfth- anemia due to anemia.

Deworming method for children

Today's pharmaceutical industry offers pharmacies a wide variety of dewormers of different types. These can be targeted or broad-spectrum drugs. Unfortunately, most of them have a long list of negative side effects on the body. Therefore, if worms are detected in children, appoint a parasitologist for treatment, after a thorough examination and do all the necessary tests.

Moreover, the treatment of most diseases caused by worms requires not only treating the child's worms with dewormers, but also prescribing a course of antihistamines, vitamin therapy, and probiotics.

Antihistamines are needed to normalize the immune response. Vitamins and probiotics restore the loss of essential acids and normalize the intestinal microflora.

Among the drugs with the least toxic effect, one drug with hexahydropyrazine was isolated. Therefore, it is often more advisable when the question of how to deworm young children. The drug is specially produced not in the form of tablets, but in the form of a suspension or syrup.

Many parents prefer traditional medicines. Indeed, pumpkin seeds and garlic have deworming effects and are often used to treat ringworm. But their use does not guarantee a complete cure. So, in order to exclude recurrence, it is better to take the drug prescribed by the doctor and fix the result with any folk dewormer, otherwise the question of how to deworm will constantly repeatagain.

Preventive measures against worm infections

Inevitability of the entry of worms into the child's body as an axiom. There are a few rules for the prevention of worms, following which you can easily protect your child from this infection:

• Thoroughly rinse raw vegetables, berries, herbs, and fruits under running water, then pour boiling water over them.
• For fish and meat dishes for prolonged heat treatment.
• Do not let flies, cockroaches, bed bugs and mosquitoes appear in apartments and houses.
• All pets should be regularly given a deworming medication for prophylaxis.
• Have children wash their hands after each contact with animals.
• Allow the child to play and use only toys and objects that have been handled.
• From the very first steps, teach children to wash their hands with soap and water after going to the bathroom, after going for a walk, after outdoor games, and before each meal.
• Never pull toys or other objects into your mouth, or lick your fingers.
• Monitor the child's nail condition.
• At night, dress your baby in tight pajamas to prevent the spread of pinworms.
• Not only should children's underwear be boiled, but both sides should be ironed.
• Teach your baby to change his underwear in the morning and at night. Children should have a separate shelf in the closet where only their things are stored.