Some helminthiases can lead to death. Cysticercosis is one of them. This parasitic disease develops when invasive eggs of pork chopsticks get inside the human gastrointestinal tract. At such a combination of circumstances, the patient becomes an intermediate host. There are no exact statistics on the number of infected people in the world yet. Only one thing is known: the cases of this invasion are recorded where the shadow is widespread. These are the countries of Africa and Mexico, Central and South America, and Asia. In the former post-Soviet space, cysticercosis was recorded most often in Belarus and Ukraine. In Russia the epidemiological focus is the Krasnodar Territory.
Cysticercosis develops only when invasive eggs enter the person( pictured).There are several ways of infection:
- The first way is exogenous - eating dirty products, non-observance of personal hygiene rules. Eggs enter the body from the outside. In the risk group, laboratory assistants working with the study material, rural workers handling contaminated soil, berry pickers harvesting fruits in areas invaded by pork chopsticks eggs.
- The second way is endogenous - the ingress of eggs from the intestine into the stomach during vomiting in persons suffering from shadows. In one segment of the tapeworm contains up to 50,000 eggs. If we take into account that during the vomiting several dozen segments appear in the stomach, tens of thousands of larvae of the chain are released during digestion. In this case, an acute form of cysticercosis develops. It is she who can cause a death of the patient. The endogenous method becomes possible in the case of insertion of the probe into the stomach, in the case of the patient entering the state of anesthesia. Therefore, all who suffer from a shadowy disease - the intestinal form of a parasitic disease, the causative agent of which is pork tapeworm - must be closely monitored by medical personnel. Having eaten infected pig meat or rabbit meat, a person can not get cysticercosis, but he will fall ill with a shadow, and already the intestinal form is the main source of great danger.
What is dangerous cysticerci?
To understand what can be dangerous cysticerci, you need to see what the eggs and larva of the pork chain are. Cysticerca is a transparent bubble, the diameter of which does not exceed 1.5-2 cm. Inside it( in the photo) is filled with liquid, in it floats a scolex - the head of the chain with hooks and suckers. To develop into a mature adult, a cysticerc can only in the body of the final host. Infected with eggs, a man becomes an intermediate master. Inside such an incubator the larvae of the tapeworm do not develop, they live for two years, and then die naturally.
But their presence can cause significant damage to human health. Cysticerci have a pathological effect on the body: being inside an organ, they parasitize, releasing a large amount of toxins into the blood and liquor. By dying, the larva of the pork chain retains a noticeable scar on the fabric, around it the fabric wrinkles and calcifies. In 82% of cysticercosis, the larvae affect the brain. When such processes occur in such an important central organ, the consequences can be irreversible. Another "favorite place" of cysticerc habitat is human eyes, they can settle in the heart, liver, lungs, and under the human skin. Such larval stages can also be dangerous to humans. Let's understand what.
Larvae of pork chopsticks in the brain
Getting into the stomach, invasive eggs of the pork snapper burst, the released embryos armed with hooks( in the photo), easily drill the walls of the stomach and easily enter the blood vessels. Together with the blood they spread throughout all the inner systems of man and settle, anywhere. As already mentioned above, most larvae linger in the brain. The large hemispheres, ventricular systems, the basis of the brain are affected. There are mixed stages, in which several parts of the nervous system are simultaneously affected simultaneously.
The manifestation of symptoms of the disease depends on the location of the finn( cysticerci).So, for example, when the hemispheres are affected, the patient has intracranial pressure, he is suffering from severe headaches, which are paroxysmal, as well as dizziness, constant vomiting. A characteristic symptom of infection of the large hemispheres is the presence of epileptic seizures.
With the defeat of the ventricles, cysticercosis develops rapidly. It begins suddenly and violently with severe vomiting and intolerable headache. There are also Brunskish attacks, they appear after a change in the position of the head. The patient intuitively tends to adopt a certain position of the body, which allows a little to ease the condition. When you change it, the symptoms are abruptly returned. There is a marked deterioration in the condition of the sick person.
The defeat of the base of the brain has slightly different symptoms. Headaches are focused in the occipital-cervical region, the patient's taste changes, he complains of loss of coordination, impaired motor ability. Symptoms of incomplete paralysis of the limbs may be present. One patient of five has mental disorders.
The most dangerous form of cysticercosis is mixed. It almost always has unfavorable prognosis, it is extremely difficult with typical clinical signs. Symptom complex is expanded, there are epileptic seizures, gross disturbances of the psyche, hallucinations. In the cerebral form of cysticercosis, the spinal cord injury in humans is extremely rare.
Cysticercosis of the eyes, heart and lungs
Finns of pork chopsticks easily fall into the eyes( this is how the defeat looks on the photo).There they can be localized in all the anatomical components of the organ described, therefore both symptoms and consequences can be different. That's why patients can complain about the feeling of pressure in the eyes, and the feeling of a permanent presence of a foreign object, as well as pain, for some visual impairment. Cysticercosis of the eye can lead to a complete loss of vision. This he is dangerous.
Another dangerous form of the described disease is cysticercosis of the heart. It develops when the larvae settle in the atrioventricular bundle. As a result of his defeat, the heart rhythm is broken. As a result, discomfort, at least, and constant fainting, as a maximum.
The defeat of the lungs in a person always occurs without severe symptoms. It is detected and diagnosed accidentally, during routine radiography. On the roentgenogram, small round shadows( the size of a pea) are visible, with clear boundaries. The number of them can be different: from several units, to several tens. In this case, the spots are found immediately on both lungs. Forecasts with proper treatment are always favorable.
Cysticercosis of skin
Cysticercosis of the skin is considered less dangerous to humans. It occurs when the Finns of the pork tapeworm are localized in the subcutaneous fat layer. On their presence indicate the formation, similar to a tumor of small size. They clearly rise above the surface of the epidermis. Most often, such formations are located on the surfaces of the shoulders, on the upper chest and on the palms.
Laboratory diagnostics can detect a sharp increase in the amount of eosinophils in the blood( forty percent).The presence of hives makes it necessary to perform one more procedure - histology. It provides an opportunity to take for analysis the fluid that is filled inside the tumor area. Confirm the diagnosis of the presence of the larva of the pork chain inside it. As a rule, the described form of cysticercosis in humans occurs without pronounced symptoms.
How is cysticercosis diagnosed?
Diagnosis of cysticercosis begins with a careful collection of an anamnesis of the disease, determining the characteristics of the clinical picture. And already, based on the data obtained, the range of laboratory studies is determined. Everyone is assigned a blood test for antibodies, he helps determine the stage of the disease. Eye damage is diagnosed on the basis of ophthalmoscopy, lung, radiography, CT and MRI shows brain damage. The treatment plan is based on the data obtained.
Treatment of cysticercosis
The therapy scheme is based on the calculation of the localization of the Finnish pork chopsticks. If they are in soft tissues, if there is no damage to the nervous system and eyes, cysticercosis is not treated. This is due to the fact that any therapy that causes the death of parasites leads to the formation of a large number of toxins that cause severe allergic reactions in a person.
If in the eye or in the brain there is only one Finn of pork snake, treatment is one - surgical removal of the lesion focus. Additionally, the administration of Praziquantel is 50 mg per day. The course of therapy consists of 15 days. Simultaneously with an antihelminthic drug, Dexamethasone is prescribed, a drug that has an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effect. Such a drug scheme is the only treatment option for inoperable cysticercosis of the brain.
A huge role in the prevention of cysticercosis is played by the prevention of such a form of invasion. It consists in the successful treatment of the shadowosis in a sick person. It is important to follow the rules of personal hygiene. Another preventive measure is the treatment of shadows in strictly stationary conditions under the supervision of a doctor. What kind of doctor should I consult when symptoms appear?- To the infectious disease specialist.