Such a diversity of species as helminths parasitizing in the human body is difficult to meet anywhere in nature. Some of them can be seen only in a microscope, their dimensions are so small. Other parasites are several times the length of a person's height.
Long worms are parasites that are longer than ten centimeters in length. In appearance, the worms are divided into:
- round;
- ribbon;
- flukes.
The longest worm, a wide ribbon, under favorable conditions can reach 25 meters, but in general its length is 12-15 meters. The ribbons stick to the walls with the help of two furrows. The danger of a broad tapeworm is that it fertilizes itself and does not need additional links for its development. From the detached segments new parasites grow and until the head and all segments are removed from the body, it will not be possible to cope with helminthic invasion.
The next largest are the chains, which are popularly called tapeworms. The length of the worms can vary even within the same species. For example, the longest worm in a man, bovine tapeworm is 15 meters, and dwarf tsepene is 10-15 cm. Their characteristic feature is a ribbon-like, segmented body. Suckers on the head, they are attached to the walls of the intestine, and in the neck that follows the head, new segments are formed.
All nutrients tapeworms absorb the surface of the body. Adult individuals lay to one million eggs a day, and the number of segments can reach two thousand. Treatment of tapeworm is carried out in a hospital and consists of two stages. At the first stage, a three-time intake of special drugs is carried out, and after a break, a single dose is taken. This is due to the need to give the dead parasites time to leave the body.
Among flat long worms, which differ in their large size, in addition to tapeworms, we can name flukes, which in medicine are called trematodes. The longest worm in a man of this species is one and a half meters. In appearance, the squashed, flat body resembles a tongue or sheet. In the human body, they penetrate when using cancers or under-treated fish. Adhering to the walls of the organs, they can be in the most unexpected places - eustachian tubes, conjunctivitis sac or in the excretory ducts. They feed on human blood, intestinal contents, and also epithelium, mucus.
In roundworms, the length of the worms in a person, reaching half a meter, you can note ascarids. They refer to the species of nematodes having a round elongated body. Among the nematodes there are worms 10 cm and above, and also only 1 mm in size. When the eggs of the parasite enter the mouth, they pass into the intestine, where they turn into larvae. Larvae, being carried with blood streams through the body, enter the lungs, infecting the liver along the way. In the lungs, they grow to 2-3 mm, and then through the bronchi, the larvae enter the mouth and are swallowed with phlegm. Development in the adult takes place in the intestine and the length of the worm will increase much. Glistular invasion caused by ascarids changes the structure of the intestinal wall, worsening intestinal microflora, causes deficiency of vitamins A, C, B6.
The complications caused by long worms in a child are especially dangerous. Even relatively small worm sizes of 10 cm can cause asphyxiation when adults enter the respiratory tract. If they have a lot of the child accumulates in the intestine, then the tangle can provoke intestinal obstruction, and when the walls of the intestine are perforated, there is an acute inflammation of the peritoneum( peritonitis).Prevention of helminthiosis in children and adults is the mandatory strict observance of sanitary rules, and rules of personal hygiene, compliance with cooking technology.