Worms in children: symptoms, treatment, prevention

Helminth invasion infection is a widespread problem in all countries of the world. Almost every third inhabitant of the planet carries worms, and worms in children are even more common. If one only takes into account the statistics of one country, more than two million cases of worms have been recorded. In fact, however, these numbers are much higher since people often do not seek help from doctors, but instead try to get rid of worms themselves.

And some of the patients just don't know about their condition because the disease is almost asymptomatic. If one draws a parallel between the annual sales of anthelmintics and the population of the country, then there are approximately 22 million patients, nearly 80% of whom are young children.

To date, the medicine is known for more than three hundred species of worms. Worms, the symptoms of which depend on the type of parasite and the number of larvae that have invaded, affect the body and do not always give a vivid picture indicating the nature of the disease. To suspect helminth infection, you need to know the signs of worms and their manifestations, which may indicate the introduction of parasites into the child's body.

Types of worms

All known worms are usually divided into three main groups, these are:

• Nematodes (roundworms). . . The class of parasites that is most commonly diagnosed in children. The group is represented by such types as:
  • Roundworms,
  • Pinworms,
  • Trichinella,
  • whipworms.
• Cestodes (ribbon parasites), are represented by such types as:
  • wide band
  • Echinococcus (pork tapeworm),
  • Dwarf tapeworm (rat),
  • Beef tapeworm (tapeworm).
• Trematodes (sucking parasites), the most important representatives of this class:
  • Liver fluke,
  • Siberian (cat) fluke.

According to another classification, worms are divided into intestinal and extraintestinal parasites. The first group parasitizes only in the intestinal cavity, the second prefers other organs of the human body, for example, liver, heart, lungs, muscles, brain. Extraintestinal worms have the ability to enter the bloodstream, gnaw their way through the walls of the intestines and blood vessels, and use the blood flow to reach their preferred habitat.

Factors contributing to the infection of children with nematodes

• Lack of habit of constantly washing your hands after going to the toilet, after walking, before eating. Even cookies and candy shouldn't be given to a child without first asking them to wash their hands.
• Infrequent change of underwear. Especially in summer, it is important to ensure that the child changes clean laundry at least twice a day. It is important to teach him to do the bathroom in the morning after sleep and in the evening before bed.
• The habit of putting everything in your mouth, sucking your fingers, licking toys, pencils and felt-tip pens.
• The presence of pets in the house walking in the street. Even if the dog is kept on a leash and closely monitored so that it does not take anything in its mouth, the eggs of the worms can adhere to its fur.
• Poorly washed vegetables and fruits before serving.
• Low standard of living, lack of cleanliness in the house, the presence of flies, bed bugs and cockroaches.

Causes and mechanism of infection in children with worms

Of all kinds of worms that can inhabit the human body, nematodes are predominant. Basically, worms in children, the symptoms of which are easily distinguishable, pinworms and roundworms, whipworms are diagnosed much less often. Infections with other species account for no more than 3%. This is because leeches and tapeworms are more common in tropical climates and the infestation occurs primarily when visiting countries in the tropics or subtropical areas.

Since ribbon parasites can withstand quite high temperatures, they are mainly infected by lovers of raw or raw meat and fish dishes. And, of course, it is easy to catch worms if the rules of hygiene and the rules of personal hygiene are not followed.

The mechanism of infection with roundworms and pinworms is much simpler, but also more common. Disregard of regular hand washing, careless handling of raw vegetables, herbs and berries. Likewise, direct contact with stray animals or a worm carrier.

The pinworm species also has increased reinvasion. This often leads to re-infection, which is carried out in this way:

• Pinworms cause severe itching of the anus,
• Child combing itchy skin,
• while pinworm eggs fall on the patient's fingers and underwear,
• In addition, when the patient touches doorknobs, faucets and other surfaces, the patient leaves pinworm eggs on them,
• Eggs freely penetrate the body of people living with the carrier and back to the patient himself.

The most dangerous places to get infection with roundworms and pinworms are:

• Kindergartens,
• Playgrounds,
• Entertainment centers for children.

There is no escaping the fact that every child tries to try almost everything in the first few years of life. This is a natural process of perceiving the surrounding world. And when touching surfaces in crowded places, the baby will certainly pull his hands into his mouth, which will allow the worms to invade the body.

In addition, an incompletely developed child's immune system and weak protective barriers of an immature digestive tract contribute to infection. The only way to reduce the risk of infection is to force your baby to constantly wash hands, as this can only become a habit in a child from the age of four, and even then not in everyone.

The increased morbidity in children is in large part favored by a vague manifestation of symptoms and complex diagnostic procedures. The clinical picture of the disease can be unclear, short-term or completely absent. If a child notices mild discomfort, few parents suspect worms and seek medical advice immediately. Most will decide that they know enough to diagnose and prescribe treatment on their own, which ultimately leads to the widespread spread of parasites and the infection of others.

Even analyzing feces for worm eggs and scraping for enterobiasis do not always give a real picture of the disease. Helminth eggs can be unevenly located in the feces, and in order to capture them it is necessary to follow the rules for taking analytical materials, which not everyone is familiar with. The scraping can also show a negative result as females do not lay eggs every day and to get a safe picture the scraping must be done at least three times at regular intervals.

Common symptoms and signs of all helminths

The penetration of helminths into the body is not always accompanied by external symptoms. And in most cases, up to a certain point, a person does not even notice the presence of parasites in the body. Some types of worms can live in a person for years without affecting his well-being, and activate their vital activity only under favorable conditions. It can be:

• Weakening of the body from other diseases,
• a decrease in the activity of the immune system due to the negative impact of the environment,
• poor diet.

Not so long ago there was a scientific theory about the effect of worms on the occurrence of many internal diseases. Which, however, did not find the right support, but was not refuted either.

Today, however, it has been reliably established that every person is a carrier of a certain amount of bacteria, viruses and fungi, including helminths. And parasites are not always good neighborly towards their owner. The constant release of their waste products, which are toxic to humans, gradually leads to the deterioration of the condition and the development of various diseases.

Indicators of suspicion of active activity of worms are symptoms such as:

• Increased appetite with significant weight loss or loss of appetite and persistent attacks of nausea.
• Recurring abdominal pain, violation of stool formation manifested as constipation or diarrhea, nausea attacks ending with vomiting, headache and dizziness that are constant or intermittent.
• Hypersensitivity of the body to various substances and products.
• Deterioration in the condition of teeth and nails, increased hair loss due to iron deficiency anemia and chronic B vitamin deficiency_12th. . .
• Low resistance to respiratory diseases (adenoids in children) and inflammatory processes of the genitourinary system.
• Increased irritability and tears, insomnia and restless interrupted sleep, nightmares and baseless outbursts of anger, distracted attention and constant fear - all these indicate the entry into the blood of a large amount of toxic substances produced by worms.
• Persistent anemia (low hemoglobin) and high eosinophil counts on a clinical blood test should alert the parents and force them to check the child for worms. One of the most dangerous negative manifestations of the disease is developmental delay.
• Increased allergic reaction to prophylactic vaccinations.

Specific symptoms of pinworms

Small, but very quickly multiplying and persistent worms - pinworms - provoke the development of enterobiasis in a child. This is an unpleasant disease, the main symptom of which is a strong, unbearable itching in the anus, which intensifies at night.

When a child gets sick, pinworm eggs quickly spread to surrounding objects, getting onto toys, clothes, dishes, and anything the baby touches. Pinworms are comfortable outside the human body and can withstand the effects of many disinfectants. It is guaranteed that pinworm eggs are destroyed only by cooking and exposure to ultraviolet rays.

Enterobiasis infection occurs through the mouth only when a child puts dirty hands in their mouth or licks infected surfaces. Pinworms quickly penetrate the intestine through the esophagus, settle there and grow into adult, sexually mature individuals within two weeks.

Severe itching, characteristic of enterobiasis, occurs due to irritation caused by pinworm eggs. Its nocturnal strengthening is explained by the fact that in the dream the anal sphincter muscles relax a little and are not an insurmountable obstacle for an adult female who only lays eggs that crawl to the surface. If it fails, the pinworm can leave up to 5, 000 eggs on the skin of the anus.

Pinworms irritate the skin, forcing the skin to comb, and at this point penetrate under the nails, on the skin of the hands, on clothes and bed linen. In addition to severe itching, the symptoms in children with an infection with pinworms are as follows:

• Disturbed, restless sleep, often insomnia, nightmares.
• Stops growth and weight gain or even weight loss.
• Increased tiredness, nervousness, overexcitation.
• Decreased attention and poor absorption of new things, resulting in a delay in learning.
• Girls can develop enuresis with irritation of the urethra. This leads to involuntary urination at night.
• In addition, pinworms can invade the internal genital organs, colonize the vaginal cavity (vulvovaginitis), even reach the uterus and fallopian tubes, causing infections and inflammation.
• The accumulation of a large colony of pinworms in the cavity of the appendix can cause appendicitis.
• An unconfirmed symptom is nocturnal teeth grinding.
• The multiplication of pinworms contributes to the development of diseases such as:
  • Intestinal dysbiosis,
  • Enterocolitis,
  • Abdominal pain of unclear etiology,
  • Diarrhea,
  • Constipation.
• Due to the constant intoxication, the intestinal walls usually do not absorb nutrients, vitamins and other substances, which ultimately affects the decrease in the function of the immune system. For this reason, children with pinworms get sick not only frequently, but also seriously.

Specific symptoms of Ascaris (Ascariasis)

According to statistics from current surveys, the picture of an infection with worms is very worrying. The results show that more than 80% of preschool children have become infected with different types of worms at least once.

Unfortunately, many parents do not perceive worms as a serious disease and are extremely careless about them. However, the sedentary parasites not only remove essential nutrients from the body, they are also able to infect many internal organs.

Representatives of such parasites are roundworms that cause ascariasis, the symptoms of which are much more severe than those of pinworms. Although roundworms and pinworms belong to the same class of worms, roundworms can invade not only the intestines but also other organs and cause serious damage, for example:

• on the liver,
• in the pancreas,
• at heart,
• in the tissue of the brain,
• in the gallbladder,
• in the lungs.

Roundworms get into the body only from the ground, but the provoking factors remain the same as in pinworms:

• Non-observance of hygiene regulations,
• carefree processing of vegetables, berries and herbs,
• Failure to comply with safety regulations when working on private property,
• unsanitary living conditions.

Roundworms adapt for a long time (3 months) after entering the body, mature into motile larvae, gnaw through the walls of the small intestine and blood vessels, and only then begin their migration to the favorite organs of the human body.

This time is marked by such manifestations as:

• an increase in body temperature in the evening to 37. 5 ° C;
• frequent weakness and malaise;
• dry cough, sometimes accompanied by poorly separated sputum streaked with scarlet blood;
• Development of obstructive bronchitis, bronchial asthma, pneumonia, or pleurisy is possible;
• Swelling of the lymph nodes;
• Enlargement of the pancreas and liver.

And the main symptom of primary ascariasis is a rash such as urticaria, localized on the hands and feet.

The further development of the disease, in which roundworms return to the intestines, is characterized by such disorders as:

• Diarrhea or constipation
• cramping abdominal pain,
• frequent bouts of nausea, sometimes causing vomiting
• Flatulence,
• Irritation of the anus,
• significant weight loss.

At this stage, against the background of general intoxication, stomatitis and purulent lesions of the skin and mucous membranes often appear. Long-term poisoning from Ascaris processed products leads to disorders of the nervous system and psychological disorders, these are:

• Insomnia,
• Nightmares,
• epileptic seizures,
• Hypotension.

As a complication of ascariasis, such severe and dangerous pathologies develop as:

• Intestinal obstruction,
• acute appendicitis,
• Obstructive jaundice
• Peritonitis.

Specific signs of damage from other types of worms

1. Vlasoglav (trichocephalosis)- characterized by mild symptoms. Signs of infection include diarrhea with blood streaks, persistent constipation, frequent vomiting, which often leads to dehydration and anemia. Children with such lesions usually lag significantly behind in terms of growth and mental development.

2. Toxocariosis- In most cases, babies up to 4 years of age with frequent contact with infected dogs or cats will be picked up. Allergic reactions manifest as itchy formations on the skin, fever and chills, allergic cough (to the point of suffocation), swollen face, masses of the lungs, swollen lymph nodes and eye diseases.

3. Dwarf tapeworm (rat)- causes hymenolepiasis, which is characterized by a latent course without symptoms. With the development of helminth colonies, the child develops dyspeptic disorders, pain syndrome, increased salivation and frequent headaches. All of this gradually leads to diseases such as:

   • Hives,
   • vasomotor or allergic rhinitis,
   • Bronchospasm.

4. Siberian (cat) leech- Opisthorchiasis, characteristic symptoms: fever, swollen lymph nodes, rashes, pain in the right hypochondrium and joints. Complications: dystrophic myocarditis, hepatitis, pneumonia, pancreatitis, severe gastritis.

5. Broad band- Diphyllobothriasis, a disease caused by infection with tapeworms, whose eggs or larvae can stay alive in raw meat or undercooked meat. It is characterized by bowel disease, pain syndrome and B_12th- Deficiency anemia.

Methods for removing worms in children

The pharmaceutical industry today supplies pharmacies with a large number of different types of antihelminthics. These can be targeted or broad-spectrum drugs. Unfortunately, most of them have a long list of negative side effects on the body. Therefore, if worms are found in a child, then only a parasitologist should prescribe treatment, after a thorough examination and all the necessary tests.

In addition, the treatment of most diseases caused by worms requires not only the treatment of worms in children with anthelmintics, but also the appointment of a course on antihistamines, vitamin therapy and probiotics.

Antihistamines are needed to normalize the immune response. Vitamins and probiotics restore the loss of essential acids and normalize the intestinal flora.

Of the drugs with the least toxic effect, one drug is isolated with hexahydropyrazine. Therefore, it is recommended more often when the question is how to get rid of worms in young children. The drug is specially produced not in tablet form, but in the form of a suspension or syrup.

Many parents prefer traditional medication. In fact, pumpkin seeds and garlic enemas have an anthelmintic effect and are often used to treat ascariasis, for example. However, their use does not guarantee a complete cure. Therefore, in order to exclude relapse, it is better to take a drug prescribed by a doctor and correct the result with any folk anthelmintic, otherwise the question of how to remove the worms will keep repeating.

Preventive measures against infection with worms

The inevitability of the penetration of worms into the child's body cannot be considered an axiom. There are a number of worm prevention rules that can easily keep your baby safe from this infection:

• Rinse raw vegetables, berries, herbs and fruits thoroughly under running water and pour boiling water over them.
• Subject fish and meat dishes to prolonged heat treatment.
• Do not let flies, cockroaches, bedbugs and mosquitoes appear in the apartment or house.
• All pets should receive regular anthelmintics for prophylaxis.
• Ask the child to wash their hands after all contact with animals.
• Let the child play and only use treated toys and objects.
• From the very beginning, teach the child to wash their hands with soap and water after using the toilet, after walking, after playing outdoors, and before each meal.
• Never put toys or other objects in your mouth or lick your fingers.
• Monitor the condition of the child's nails.
• Put your baby on tight sleepwear at night to prevent pinworms from spreading.
• It is advisable not only to boil children's underwear, but also to iron them on both sides.
• Teach your baby to change underwear mornings and evenings. It is advisable that the child have a separate shelf in the closet where only their belongings are kept.