Helminthiasis is a lesion of the gastrointestinal tract( sometimes, and other organs and systems) by various kinds of parasites, whose vital functions are realized through the use of useful resources of the human body. Development of the disease leads to exhaustion, a sharp loss of weight, nervousness, and sometimes - and pathological changes in the body, and can even cause death.
Children - one of the most vulnerable categories, prone to the development of helminthiases. This is due to a number of reasons:
- children, due to the peculiarities of mental and physical development, actively interact with the outside world, try to touch everything with their hands;
- hygiene rules are often not adhered to in the right measure or simply ignored - it is not so easy to teach a child to wash his hands regularly after visiting the toilet or before eating;
- a culture of good nutrition in this age group is not yet developed, and it needs to be monitored;
- worms on the hands are especially often transmitted by contact with animals - they are larvae, which then fall into food;
- there are cases of repeated infection, when the eggs of worms from the feces of the child with hands again enter the body.
It should be understood that worms are often a phenomenon in children of different ages and social origins. Regardless of how well parents watch for hygiene at home, outside this safe environment, a child, in contact with hands with many objects and other people, can become infected with helminthiasis. The earlier the fact of infection is detected, the more effective and faster the treatment will be.
Symptoms of worms in children differ, depending on the type of helminths that infected the body. But in general, we can distinguish a range of painful manifestations that indicate the presence of parasites in the gastrointestinal tract. Namely, these are symptoms such as:
- increased irritability;
- anemia;
- a sharp decrease or increase in appetite( with no weight gain);
- pale, sometimes cyanotic color of the skin
- complaints of frequent abdominal pain;
- itching in the anus, reflex combing of this part of the body with hands;
- deterioration of well-being at night.
The most common types of worms, eggs that can be found on the hands of the child, are pinworms and ascarids. Determine the defeat of the organism with pinworms is quite simple - at the stage of intensive development they can be found in feces. These helminths of small size( up to 1 cm long), small, have a whitish color and are very mobile.
Pinworms are transmitted with hands and are considered the least dangerous of the common types of worms, but do not underestimate the impact they have on the body, especially the young and growing. These worms multiply very quickly, their eggs easily fall on the hands of the carrier, and then transferred to the next subject.
Knowing about the presence of worms in a child, it is necessary to protect his contacts with the outside world for some time, until anthelmintic therapy is performed.
A more dangerous helminthic invasion causes ascaris - a contentious dangerous kind of worm that is also transmitted through contact with hands. Infection with this type of worms is manifested by abundant skin rashes resembling hives, increased salivation, frequent neurotic conditions, anxiety.