Signs and symptoms of frequently occurring helminthic invasions in humans depend on which class of parasitic worms the disease is provoked. Depending on their shape, pathways and development cycles, there are three main groups of helminths:
- Contact. These parasites isolate infectious for humans mature eggs. Infection occurs through dirty hands or household items. The most common disease caused by these worms is enterobiosis, the development of which is provoked by pinworms. You can distinguish these worms in a round shape and small in size;
- The group of biogelminthes is characterized by a complex development cycle, in which their representatives parasitize in 2 organisms - intermediate( fish, mollusks, mites) and permanent( man).Infecting them with people from each other is impossible in principle. In some cases, the life cycle of these parasites can occur with the change of 4 hosts;
- The group of geogelminthes is characterized by the fact that in the cycle of their development there is only the main host. Immature eggs, isolated by these classes of worms, ripen in the soil and are mechanically transferred by domestic animals.
For a person, the classification of helminthiases is of great importance. Knowing it helps to presuppose the conditions necessary for the successful existence of certain groups and classes of parasitic worms. Such information will help in a timely manner to prevent a meeting with them.
How to distinguish worms?
In humans, a large number of different helminth groups can parasitize. All of them have different forms, concomitant symptomatology and development cycles. There are 2 main classes of helminths - round and flat worms. They differ in the shape of the body, because of which each class was named. All helminth groups include a huge number of species. When identifying an invasion, a particular class of parasite should be identified. This can be done on the basis of the worm's inherent mode of reproduction and body shape. All helminth groups are divided into several classes:
- Nematodes or roundworms. This variety of parasites, called by its form, most often affects people. They dwell in all places, in the soil, in salty or fresh water. In the body, these worms get alimentary way - through the mouth, where they are brought in from dirty hands or wool of domestic animals. In size, adults can be from 5 mm to 40 cm in length. Helminths belonging to the group of nematodes provoke serious diseases of the internal organs, since they can migrate easily through them due to the possibility of bending in the abdominal plane;
- Flukes, called trematodes, resemble a tongue or leaf. Although they are of fairly small size, they cause significant damage to a person, since these parasites are localized not only in the intestine of the patient. They can settle in any organ, violating its work. The ingress of these worms into the body occurs through fish or crayfish that have undergone inadequate culinary processing, as well as after communicating with infected domestic animals;
- Infection with tapeworms or cestodes belonging to the group of biohelminths also occurs through poorly prepared fish or animal meat. They enter the patient's body in the form of eggs or larvae that have microscopic dimensions, and subsequently grow into huge worms, the length of which can reach tens of meters.
All these types of helminths cause specific harm to the infected person and require special treatment, therefore, before starting the therapeutic measures for the destruction of parasites, it is necessary to determine to which group and type they belong. Only in this case it is possible to select the most effective and adequate treatment, which allows in a short time to save the patient from this scourge. To achieve the greatest effectiveness in the fight against parasites, a set of measures specific for each species is used: medication anthelmintic treatment and devastation, or destruction of their larval stages in the external environment.
For the diagnosis of helminthic invasions, as well as the selection of a medicinal method for the destruction of parasites, the International Classification of Diseases Handbook( ICD 10) is used. Codes for helminthiases in the ICD 10: B65-B83.Each of them considers a certain group of worms, the diseases they cause and the ways of treatment. Such a classification of helminths is necessary in parasitology, since it allows most accurately to identify the causative agents of various ailments and to take appropriate measures to get rid of them. The main codes of parasitic diseases in the ICD 10 are named depending on the species and group of helminths that infect humans.