Cough and worms are phenomena that seem to be hardly compatible.However, the cause of a dry cough is often helminths that have settled and multiplied in the human body.
Not all helminths are capable of this, but only those that can be found in the respiratory system.
Which worms cause a cough?These are the parasites that originally lived in the intestines, but as a result of rapid reproduction or search for better living conditions, they ended up in the liver and from there, through the general blood flow, they reached the bronchopulmonary tissue.
Types of helminths
Roundworms live and reproduce in the intestines.Infection with them occurs through eggs that enter the body with food or from hands and objects used by an infected person.Soil, fruits, vegetables, poorly cooked meat and fish - all this can introduce helminth eggs into the human body.
To avoid infection you should:
- Avoid contact with infected animals;
- do not use the things of people with helminthic infections.
- keep your hands clean, especially after returning from the road and before eating.
- wash food that is eaten raw (fruits and vegetables) well.
- properly prepare fish and meat dishes.
It's worth getting to know!Roundworms cause a dry cough.Migrating through the circulatory system, their larvae enter the respiratory organs - bronchi, trachea, lungs - irritating the receptors and causing this symptom.The larval migration period throughout the body is one to two weeks.
Giardia are very small single-celled microorganisms that live in stagnant water.The disease caused by them is called giardiasis.Parasite infection mainly occurs in the following ways.
- From an infected person or animal to a healthy one.
- When you eat poorly washed food.
- When drinking raw milk or unboiled water.
Having settled in the small intestine of a person, Giardia within 10 days becomes capable of infecting other people.After some time, yardage becomes chronic.The cause of giardiasis cough is the allergic reactions that occur when the body is intoxicated by parasite waste.For a person infected with Giardia, the issue often results in bronchial asthma.
One of the main risks of giardiasis is the absence in the initial stage of severe symptoms that would allow an accurate diagnosis of the disease.The release of worms from the body is episodic, so it is not always possible to detect Giardia cysts in the feces.You need to take samples for analysis several times before you can confidently diagnose the disease.
In addition to roundworms and lamblia, the symptom can also be caused by tapeworms, which are also called canine worms because of their widespread occurrence in dogs.Having reached the bronchi, the larvae cause allergic reactions.
Types of helminths that affect children
If a child develops a cough and a cold is ruled out, there are good reasons to assume that he may be infected with helminths.Since it can be a reaction to different types of worms, only laboratory tests can determine which specific helminth is responsible for it.
Attention!Most often, helminthic cough is observed in young children.
It is not surprising that parents often confuse it as a symptom of a cold and begin to treat it with generally accepted drugs, which, due to the specificity of their action, practically eliminate the problem.At the same time, however, the reason that caused it, namely the helminthic infestation, remains unsolved.The worms continue to multiply in the child's body and the disease progresses.
Yardiasis and ascariasis
What parasites cause symptoms in a child?Only those that can migrate throughout the body and reach the respiratory tract.These parasites include roundworms and roundworms.Sexually mature individuals live in their intestines, but the parasite larvae have the ability to penetrate along with the blood into the respiratory system, irritating the receptors and causing allergic reactions.
In this case, some of the larvae are thrown out, the others are swallowed and enter the intestine again, where the next life cycle of the parasites begins.Some of the larvae remain in the respiratory system, disrupting its function.
Archer and lungfish
The most dangerous for the respiratory system are flatworms, especially roundworms and roundworms.Having attached to the lungs, they cause paragonimiasis and toxocariasis - serious diseases accompanied by destruction of lung tissue and a progressive inflammatory process.
The penetration of flatworms into the child's lungs causes a cough.If left untreated, the inflammatory process progresses and enters a stage accompanied by mucus formation.Coughing up sputum may contain blood.This alarming manifestation should force parents to urgently consult an infectious disease specialist.
Great!When infected with pustules, sputum with pus and blood is inevitable.
Types of worms that infect adults
Not all patients believe that helminths and cough can be part of the same process, but this is indeed the case.A cough caused by worms is usually dry and can easily be mistaken for a cold.In this case, the absence of other symptoms of ARVI that usually accompany a cold should be alarming.
What explains this situation?There are two reasons for this:
- Mechanical effects of larval helminths on lung tissue.
- Allergies by which the infected body responds to the presence of waste products of worms and the decay of dead individuals.
There are not so many worms and other parasites that affect the respiratory tract.These are:
- Roundworms;
- Giardia?
- fluke;
- Echinococcus film.
Ascariasis
Roundworms are very common, so coughing against the background of ascariasis is a typical phenomenon.Roundworm infection occurs via traditional routes for helminthiasis.These include contact with soil, eating unwashed fruits and vegetables, and dirty hands.
Ascaris larvae cause the problem by mechanically affecting the tissues of the respiratory system.This occurs during the migration phase of the parasite.The mechanism and sequence of the effect of roundworms on the human respiratory system is as follows.
Once they enter the gastrointestinal tract, roundworm eggs, under the influence of their own enzymes and digestive fluid, shed their shell, turning into larvae.The latter are endowed with the ability to penetrate through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream.After that they are carried by the blood throughout the body - reaching the liver, heart, lungs and respiratory tract.
In the mucous membrane of the trachea there are cilia, which carry the larva upwards with their reflex movements.In this case, the receptors are irritated and a cough occurs, throwing helminths into the mouth, from where they are either spat out or swallowed, returning to the intestines.
For your information!Cough with ascariasis is usually a short-term phenomenon.But if the insult is of a recurring nature, it can become almost permanent.
Giardiasis
Despite the fact that Giardia is a tiny creature, it causes very serious damage to the body.Giardia's natural habitat is stagnant water.They enter the human body by consuming dirty or poorly processed food, or by drinking unboiled milk or water.Transmission is possible from infected people and animals.
The primary site of Giardia is the gut.The parasites only need 10 days from the time of infection for the larvae to start hatching from the eggs.Penetrating through the walls of the intestine, they enter the blood and reach with it the organs of the respiratory system, disrupting their function and causing coughing.
Pulmonary lung
The fluke lives in the lungs in pairs, forming cysts in the bronchi.The infestation occurs when we eat crabs and crayfish infected with the parasite.Once it enters the gastrointestinal tract, the pulmonary nodule penetrates the peritoneum and reaches the lungs through the diaphragm, causing the patient to cough persistently.
The small helminth lungworm, which belongs to the class of trematodes, "specializes" in parasitizing especially the lungs.It causes much more serious problems in the respiratory system than roundworms, for example.
Infiltrations and hemorrhages develop at its site, resulting in cavities filled with decaying worm metabolites, dead parasites, and lung tissue.The damage from the lungworm is further aggravated by the fact that it is long-lived and can live in the host's body for up to 20 years.
To deal with this dangerous parasite, treatment is necessary under the strict supervision of a doctor.Only he can choose an effective drug, which should be different for each case.
However, the championship in "harmfulness" does not belong to the lungworm, but to the larvae of alveolococcus and echinococcus.These are small tapes (up to 7 mm long) that are carried by wolves, coyotes, dogs, jackals, foxes, feral and domestic cats without harming themselves.
Helminths of the trematode class (digenetic flatworms) and trichinella cause allergic cough, which can be particularly severe in children.
Runny nose due to helminthiasis and other parasites
Catarrh is caused by the presence of helminths much less often.This manifestation is not at all typical for helminthiasis.However, in some cases, parasites can cause runny nose and nasal congestion.
Sometimes pinworms, in rare cases, with the so-called perverse (random, uncharacteristic) localization, enter the nasal passages and cause a runny nose and nasal congestion.
If we talk about non-helminthic parasitic diseases, then as an example of an infestation that causes a runny nose and abundant secretion of mucus from the nose, we can name nasal myiasis, which is the larvae of flies and flies that have settled in the nasal cavity.
Attention!A runny nose, sometimes caused by Giardia, is a consequence of the body's reaction in the form of an allergic reaction to Giardia waste.
As for roundworms, they do not cause either a runny nose or nasal congestion.
Conclusion
If a cough occurs due to helminthiasis, treatment should include antiparasitic treatment aimed at destroying the worms.Taking cold pills in such cases means directing the treatment not against the disease itself, but against its symptoms.