In summer, the risk of helminth infection increases as most of the parasites are in the soil. This was told socialbites.ca by Andrey Pozdnyakov, candidate of medical sciences, specialist in infectious diseases, head of the clinical diagnostic laboratory of INVITRO-Siberia LLC.
According to the expert, only a few symptoms characteristic of a number of other diseases can make you suspect that you have parasites, so only a doctor can determine the presence of parasites based on blood and stool tests.
“It is worth checking only if there is a certain symptom complex and whether there is eosinophilia, that is, if there are reasonable suspicions of parasitosis. If there are no symptoms and nothing bothersome, then there is no point in being checked, ”the doctor emphasized.
Patients are equally susceptible to parasitic invasions, regardless of age and background pathology. It all depends on who follows the hygiene rules or the use of potentially infected products. Professional activity is very important.
“For example, a person who usually eats brackish river fish will be more susceptible to opisthorchiasis. This will also include stroganina and other types of raw meat. A person whose job is connected to the world is more at risk of contracting helminthiasis than an office worker. Many parasites there is an infestation, there are also opportunities to become infected, when parasite eggs enter the mouth through dirty hands or in another way, for example through food, most of the time the transmission route is faecal-oral. Young children put their hands in their mouths too often and are at risk of contracting infections such as pinworms, roundworms higher for them than for an adult,” he added.
Any parasite infestation leads to certain consequences for the body. They consume some nutrients, vitamins, micro and macro elements that we can use for ourselves. Thus, all parasitoses lead to a certain deficiency in a person of substances necessary for him, and often to damaged organs, especially the gastrointestinal tract.
“Life-threatening situations can also occur in mass invasions. For example, a roundworm ball can cause inflammation of the appendix, intestinal obstruction that can be fraught with surgery if many of them are swallowed and multiply in the intestines. The same opisthorchis, living in the biliary tract for up to 25 years, increases the risk of developing malignant tumors, especially cholangiocarcinoma (biliary tract cancer) – this is a rather dangerous oncology, which often leads to a fatal outcome. Chains can lead to severe anemia, a pronounced lack of iron and other trace elements, vitamins, cause cachexia, that is, a person is depleted before our eyes. Therefore, the severity of any parasite infestation depends on the parasite mass and time of detection,” cautioned the infectious disease specialist.
Formerly socialbites.ca Wrote about why unclean dog feces on the street are dangerous to humans.