Worms are more or less present in the body of any person, but when they accumulate a critical amount, their presence becomes harmful to health. In a difficult period of bearing a child, a woman fears any complications, and the detection of worms in pregnant women is an additional source of concern. Worms are dangerous during pregnancy for a child, for a woman in a position is the main issue. The fact is that during the child's birth the absolute majority of antihelminthic drugs, and folk remedies should be taken with great care.
The causes of helminthic invasion can be:
- unwashed vegetables and fruits;
- insufficient heat treatment of meat and fish products;
- contaminated open water bodies;
- pets.
By the method of penetration of helminths during pregnancy, they are divided into:
- alimentary;
- contact-household;
- penetrating through blood-sucking insects.
The main symptoms of worms in pregnant women are:
- itching in the anus;
- burning and itching in the vagina;
- indigestion, pain;
- weakening of the body, appetite;
- nausea, vomiting, dizziness.
Are helminths dangerous for pregnant women?
Against the backdrop of helminthiasis, a woman in an "interesting position" can get fever, there is irritability, a tendency to emotional outbursts.
It should be noted that the signs of worms in pregnant women are not sufficiently pronounced and may be symptoms of another disease. Therefore, an accurate diagnosis can be established only after the analysis of feces for eggs of worms. For a more accurate determination of the presence of parasites in a woman during gestation, it is necessary to take a blood test. In addition, an additional ultrasound or X-ray examination is possible.
The most common parasites are of two kinds: ascarids and pinworms. Getting into the digestive tract, the eggs of ascaris are introduced into the walls of the intestine and through the blood enter the lungs. Then, the caked sputum with eggs of ascarids enters the digestive tract, where they turn into long round worms, and lay eggs that are excreted from the body with feces. The second common type of worms during pregnancy are pinworms, thin small worms. At night, they crawl out of the anus and lay eggs in the anus.
If a woman is "in position" worms, it is dangerous to get larvae with blood flow to the fetus, which can cause serious damage to the lungs and brain. In the first trimester, when only organs are formed, and the use of any anthelmintic medication is categorically contraindicated, the presence of worms during pregnancy is dangerous. Another dangerous disease is helminthiasis during gestation in that parasites are colonized by the lungs of the embryo. As a result, already in infancy, a child is constantly ill with bronchitis or pneumonia, diseases that are not treated with standard antibiotic therapy. Worms during pregnancy( pinworms, roundworms) cause diseases of enterobiasis and ascariasis.
Do worms affect pregnancy?
Helminths there are many species, but worms of only type of pinworms or ascarids strongly affect pregnancy. When infected with helminths, the absorption of nutrients decreases, worsening the nutrition of the fetus, which slows down its development. In addition, evidence of the presence of worms, there may be a woman developing a strong toxicosis. Constant discomfort and insomnia cause pinworms, penetrated into the female genital organs. Damage by the parasites of the intestinal walls causes a slight bleeding, which assumes a permanent character. As a result of blood loss, iron deficiency anemia develops, which also negatively affects normal bearing.
In case of contamination with microscopic parasites by toxoplasmosis, infection of the fetus occurs, which can cause death in the womb of the mother or death immediately after birth. Even if the infected child survives, there is a very high risk of developing cerebral palsy or epilepsy. In any case, he will lag behind in development from his peers. Whether worms are dangerous in the second trimester depends on the type of parasites.
If worms are found before pregnancy, it is necessary to take urgent measures to eliminate them, so that later there would be no big problems. In this regard, prevention is an effective method of preventing the appearance of parasites in the body of a woman preparing to become a mother.
For the prevention of worms during pregnancy, it is necessary to systematically follow certain procedures, consisting in the following measures:
- After each visit to the toilet and before eating, wash hands thoroughly.
- Daily change of tight-fitting linen from natural fabrics.
- Use of personal hygiene items individually.
- Thorough treatment before consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs.
- Restriction in consumption of dried, slightly salted fish, not enough thermally processed meat, fish.
- Eliminate the habit of gnawing nails.
If there is an older child in the family who can bring parasites from the street, a kindergarten, regularly conduct a wet cleaning of all rooms and especially the bathroom and toilet. If a child sleeps with a soft toy, then along with bed linens, towels, nightgowns, it must also be washed. In general, gynecologists recommend conducting a test for the presence of parasites even when a woman is just planning a pregnancy in order to start treatment in time before conception.
If the tests confirm the presence of worms in a pregnant woman, what to do depends on the length of the pregnancy, the extent of the lesion and the type of parasites. The main thing is not to panic, but to contact your doctor or parasitologist for recommendations on therapeutic measures. Starting with the second trimester of pregnancy, there is a fairly wide range of drugs and folk remedies that can be used without threatening harm to the future child. The main thing is not to engage in self-medication.