The disease, which is caused by the introduction into the human body of larvae of opisthorchia, is quite widespread in the world. Opisthorchiasis belongs to the type of natural focal helminthiasis. Glistes are inherently very gluttonous, they tear off their oral suckers and suck up cells of mucous membranes, eating them. The sources of their nutrition are the mucus of the bile ducts and the blood that appears on the surface after the organ is damaged by the liver flukes.
Before the causative agent of the opisthorchiasis appears in the body, the development of the parasite passes through several stages of development. At the beginning of the egg, the pathogens of the disease with the feces of the infected fall into freshwater reservoirs. Then through infected shellfish, where eggs mature to larvae with tail, the cercariae transform into megacercariae( larvae) of parasites, in the body of fish.
The absence of symptoms at the onset of the disease is due to the fact that the larva after entering the human body needs time to migrate the megacercaria of the worm-pathogens of the opisthorchiasis through the intestinal tract to the small intestine where their maturation and time for the process of larval transformation into the matured parasite occur. After egg laying, the early or acute phase of the disease begins. Increased vascular permeability, swelling near the vessels, disruption of the normal process of feeding tissues in the initial period of vital activity of parasites create optimal conditions for the development of the next phase of the disease, characterized by functional disorders of organs affected by parasites and their larvae.
The causes of opisthorchiasis for people permanently residing in epidemiologically dangerous areas are a high probability of getting sick in childhood, and therefore a certain level of resistance is produced to the causative agent of the disease. At the same time, for visitors, the possibility to get infected with worms is much higher and the complications caused by parasites are much more serious.
Opisthorchia infection is caused by eating insufficiently processed fish with worms. Turning in the human body into sexually mature individuals, parasites begin to lay eggs, and their vital activity causes significant damage to the body. With the accumulation of a large number of parasites, when the bile ducts are hammered by them and eggs, a fatal outcome is possible. Therefore it is very important to know how you can get sick and in general, whether the opisthorchias are contagious or not, in order to take timely measures to prevent the disease.
Paths of infection with opisthorchiasis
The peculiarities of the spread of the causative agent of opisthorchiasis include the fact that in the early stages of development to the state of megacercaria, the parasite is not able to survive in the body. In order for a person to become infected with this disease, the conditions for finding the eggs of the pathogen in the mollusks must first be observed, and then develop into a larva capable of turning into a body into a sexually mature individual. Therefore, directly infecting this ailment from a person is impossible. However, in some cases it is quite possible to contract opisthorchiasis from the patient. Among the methods of infection, the main is still the contact-household way.
The causes of invasion can be reduced to several:
- Eating low-salted, not sufficiently heat-treated fish or eating raw fish( stroganina), which is common in the diets of the peoples of the far north.
- A source of invasion other than fish may be an invaded patient or an animal that was fed by infected larvae.
- Entry into the outbreaks with a high level of epidemiological risks increases the possibility of infection. Of course, the main method of infection with opisthorchiasis is the use of infected fish, since in the body of freshwater fish the parasite is transformed into a larva capable of further development in the body into a matured individual. Another feature of the causative agent of this disease is that in the human body reproduction before the stage of puberty, when they can cause real harm, is caused only by the condition of preliminary passage of two stages of development.
This ailment is very difficult to identify, since from the moment when the infection occurred the pathogen before the appearance of the parasite in the feces of eggs passes more than a month. And when symptoms of helminthic invasion appear, people often do not associate them with the causes of the disease and with the fact that they once ate infected fish. Among the fish that can be invaded, the carp family comes first:
- rudd;
- bream;
- vobla;
- crucian carp;Roach and other representatives of this family.
Predatory fish( pike, pike-perch) can cause the appearance of opisthorchiasis, but this works if they have previously eaten the infected worm infestation and the larvae have remained in their body.
Ways of transmission of the causative agent of helminthic invasion can be domestic animals, which they fed with infected fish. Another way of transferring the disease and its main cause, there may be accessories that are used for cutting fish. Minimize the risk of infection in this case allows the use of a separate utensil, knife and board, which after the completion of the work must necessarily be treated with boiling water, to exclude a similar cause of the invasion.
Is it possible to catch opisthorchiasis from surrounding people?
The most common types of helminths are contagious and if someone in the family or in a children's institution has helminthiasis, then the probability of transmission of the disease increases at times. However, for opisthorchiasis, this issue is not relevant. This again is due to the peculiarities of its development. Given the serious complications that can cause helminthiasis, the most interesting is whether it is possible to get infected from other people and how the disease is transmitted between them.
Despite the fact that this disease is not transmitted by airborne droplets, opisthorchiasis can be caused by the use of common utensils. In this case it is quite possible to catch opisthorchiasis from the patient, in the saliva of which there are larvae. Another possibility to develop opisthorchiasis is non-observance of personal hygiene. The larvae of the parasite can remain on the inner surface of the lid of the toilet bowl, and thus opisthorchiasis is passed from person to person.
Finding out how the disease is transmitted between people, it is necessary to exclude a direct way and in this case opisthorchiasis is transmitted only indirectly. In the question whether opisthorchiasis is transmitted from a person or not, there are still many vaguenesses, and it has not been sufficiently studied. Some researchers believe that it is enough to hold on to the handrails in public transport, which the patient used before, and then wipe his mouth with dirty hands, then there may be an infection. This applies to contacts with infected animals, especially when a pet lickens your hands, and then you start to eat without washing them.
An ill pregnant woman can not infect her unborn child. At kisses of the kid, the probability of infection grows much. This is exactly the case when the causative agent of the opisthorchiasis is transmitted through saliva. Knowing whether it is possible to catch this disease from people and where the pathogen originates from, will help to avoid a serious danger of parasite damage.