Children are most susceptible to helminthic infestations. This is because babies do not comply with the rules of personal hygiene in the right amount, and the protective barriers of the child's body are not completely formed.
Child, mastering the world, everything tastes "to taste."Toys, beautiful pebbles on the street, dirty hands - everything falls into your mouth. It is impossible not to say about the love of children to animals, often stray, which are carriers of helminth eggs. These factors explain the high risk of infection of the baby with helminths. At the same time, children not only get helminthiasis themselves, but often transmit the disease to other family members. The child often worms appear if he visits a kindergarten or primary school. In the children's team the likelihood of helminthic invasion increases at times. In this case, not only the possibility of infection, but also relapse is high, since diagnosis and treatment should be carried out simultaneously at all contacting persons.
Which worms often occur in a child?
The most common "children's" worms are round helminths: pinworms and ascarids. Infection of the larvae of these parasites occurs through household items, toys, linen. Experts identified a risk group. It includes children aged 2-7 years who, according to pediatricians, have a bad habit of drawing toys, pencils, licking their fingers, eating unwashed vegetables from the garden, tearing wild flowers, communicating tactilely with animals and other children.
Once in the mouth, a part of the larvae of pinworms and ascarids are killed. The rest penetrate the stomach and intestines. In nine out of ten cases, helminthiosis in children of this age causes pinworms - worms 3-5 cm long milk-white. Pinworms most often live in the upper parts of the large intestine. Often, their number in the acute stage reaches several hundred, in the chronic stage of helminthiosis, there may be thousands in their body.
Why does the child often have worms?
The self-infection process is to blame. Reproduction of pinworms occurs as follows: the worm is crawling out of the intestine and laying larvae in the area of the anus. By themselves, the larvae do not cause unpleasant sensations due to microscopic dimensions. But the liquid released by females provokes the strongest irritation of the skin and mucous, which is accompanied by itching. The patient combs the place of deposition of eggs, bringing the egg of the helminth under the nail plate. Then, at the moment of licking the fingers, the larva enters the mouth and performs the entire path described above.
The night itch of the anus in the baby can be so strong that it wakes up, fits, long can not fall asleep again. Often with worms, children lose appetite, morning sickness and abdominal pain after eating. In children, parents notice increased salivation, vomiting, weight loss. Glaive infestations are often accompanied by an unstable stool. The mood of a daughter or son can change dramatically: he plays cheerfully, then he is capricious and cries. Parents can observe fast fatigue and weakness in children with helminthiasis.
How dangerous are frequent helminthiases?
Any worms parasitizing in the human body, cause significant harm to the entire body, regardless of the location of the localization. They feed on useful substances, provoking deficiency of vitamins and microelements in the carrier even at the balanced diet. Preschool children experience growth retardation, schoolchildren have low physical activity. Chronic helminthiases, caused by the frequent appearance of worms in children, provoke the development of other diseases:
- Toxins secreted by worms in the process of vital activity penetrate into the blood and are spread throughout the body. Frequent helminthiases lead to chronic cell intoxication, the development of allergic reactions, the disturbance of the emotional state and brain activity, hepatitis.
- Worms of some species, for example, ascarids, can migrate from the intestine to the appendix, which leads to peritonitis, and a large accumulation of helminths can cause intestinal blockage.
- When enterobiosis( pinworm) in girls, vulvitis, cystitis or vaginitis, caused by the penetration of worms into the internal and external genitalia, is possible.
- Both in boys and girls, with frequent helminthiasis, pathologies are formed from the nervous system, manifested by prolonged headaches. There are tics and obsessive movements: frequent flashing of eyes, twitching of shoulders, paroxysmal cough. Often with worms on the skin there are rashes.
What should I do if my child often has worms?
If you suspect a son or daughter helminthiasis, you should definitely contact a parasitologist or pediatrician. Self-medication is not permissible, since it is necessary to reveal the degree of helminthic invasion and the type of parasites. Only on the basis of the results of laboratory studies of feces, blood and others can the specialist make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe adequate treatment. Proper treatment in conjunction with sanitary and hygienic measures will help prevent frequent invasion of preschool children and schoolchildren.
Despite the fact that the risk of helminthic invasion is present all year round, special attention to personal hygiene should be given in the warm season. It is at this time that girls and boys spend a lot of time in the open air, at the dacha. Summer and autumn are characterized by the presence of a large number of greenery and berries, which can be consumed by children directly from the bed. At this time, students often participate in hiking or cycling, during which compliance with personal hygiene rules is difficult.
Prophylaxis of frequent appearance of helminths
Is there a prevention of helminthiases? Prevent infection is very difficult, but you can reduce its risks. If the child is very often worms, you should examine all of his surroundings.
To break the chain of self-infection during the treatment of helminthiosis, it is necessary to change bed and underwear every day. The laundry is to be ironed with a hot iron, toys and writing utensils - by disinfecting the solution, personal things - systematic cleaning. This is necessary, since the worm larvae retain their viability for about a month outside the body. Teach the younger generation to wash their hands after games and classes, after coming from the street and "communicating" with pets. Control that the vegetables and fruits are well washed, exclude raw water from open water from the baby's diet. After sleep and before bedtime, children should wash themselves.
It is very important to ensure the proper care of pets and determine the rules of their communication with people. Pets should undergo mandatory veterinary examination, deworming. After walks, dogs should be washed feet, animals should not sleep on the bed of people.