Situations in which people have lived with parasites for years are not about the absence of symptoms, but how it relates to a person’s health – many parasitic diseases have characteristic symptoms, but people often do not attach importance to them. This was told to socialbites.ca by a professor from the Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-borne Diseases. EI Marcinov Sechenov University, doctor of medical sciences, parasitologist Yevgeny Morozov.
“If there is a parasite in the body, it will show itself. Every worm that enters the human body is a foreign organism, a foreign protein. This means that there will be allergic reactions and immunity will sag. If it is intestinal helminthiasis, then there will be any gastrointestinal discomfort, from diarrhea, constipation, flatulence, intestinal obstruction. If the parasites have entered the brain (for example, with cysticercosis or echinococcosis), this will lead to neurological complications, and the neurologist will sooner or later discover the focus during examinations. Tissue helminthiases, visceral parasites can be detected by CT, MRI and even a simple X-ray, some of which are available in every clinic,” he explained.
Morozov emphasized that, contrary to popular belief, parasitic diseases are diagnosed quite well. Helminthiasis is the most common in Russia, and most of them can be identified by stool analysis.
“An assay for antibodies to parasites is used as an auxiliary method. “It is not very informative on its own, but may be useful for a more complete assessment of the situation, given the clinical picture, epidemiological history, and results of other investigations.”
Read more about how parasites enter the human body and how you can protect yourself from them – in material “socialbites.ca”.