Hymenolepiasis
The content of the article:
- Causes and risk factors
- Symptoms
- Features of the course of the disease in children
- Diagnostics
- Treatment
- Forecast
- Prevention
Hymenolepiasis is a helminth disease caused by a dwarf tapeworm (a worm that parasitizes the human small intestine). It is found all over the world, but is more often recorded in areas with hot and dry climates, which is associated with the peculiarities of the life cycle of the pathogen.
Children from 3 to 15 years old are most susceptible to this disease - due to the lack of the necessary hygiene skills.
Ways of transmission of hymenolepiasis
Causes and risk factors
The cause of the disease is invasion by a dwarf tapeworm belonging to the class of tapeworms. It is a parasite 1.5 to 3 cm long, whose body consists of 200-300 segments, a movable head with suckers and a proboscis equipped with hooks.
The source of infection is a person in whose body a helminth parasitizes. He is also the main owner (at first intermediate, then - final). The transmission mechanism of infection is fecal-oral. From the moment of infection to the completion of the formation of an adult in the human body, 21 days pass. One generation of helminths parasitizes for 2 months.
Hymenolepiasis is characterized by autosuperinvasion (re-infection, when the person himself acts as a source of infection) and re-infection (helminth eggs enter the human body from the outside).
Symptoms
In the clinical picture of hymenolepiasis, dyspeptic, pain and astheno-neurotic syndromes prevail, expressed:
- headache;
- increased fatigue;
- general malaise;
- violation of the stool (mainly diarrhea);
- pain in the abdomen of various localization and intensity.
With hymenolepiasis, stool disorders and abdominal pain occur
With autosuperinvasion, the following are observed:
- frequent vomiting;
- memory impairment, decreased concentration;
- convulsive readiness;
- insomnia;
- anemia;
- fainting.
Features of the course of the disease in children
The clinical picture of hymenolepiasis in children is characterized by:
- weight loss or too slow an increase in it;
- violation of appetite;
- deterioration in cognitive abilities;
- constant thirst.
Diagnostics
The main diagnostic measure for hymenolepiasis is the identification of helminth eggs in feces. The study is carried out three times with an interval of 5 days.
Helminth eggs are found in feces
Coproovoscopy can be performed in the following ways:
- microscopy by the Kato and Miura method;
- microscopy using sedimentation method;
- microscopy using the flotation method.
Treatment
For the treatment of hymenolepiasis, antihelminthic drugs are used in combination with a diet. Therapy consists of the following activities:
- preliminary preparation for therapeutic measures (the patient is transferred to an easily digestible diet with a minimum content of fat - in the diet mainly puréed vegetables, liquid cereals, jelly, fruit juices), which significantly reduces the risk of autoinvasion;
- cyclically repeated courses, which is associated with the peculiarities of the implementation of the pharmacological action of the drugs - the effect is exclusively on mature tapeworm individuals (the course is repeated after 5 days);
- the use of antihistamines, which reduces the severity of toxic-allergic reactions;
- anti-relapse course without fail 30 days after the completion of the main stage of therapy;
- regular frequent change of underwear and showering during treatment, which prevents re-infection;
- rehabilitation therapy (the use of hepatoprotectors, probiotics), which allows to achieve the resumption of normal functional activity of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract.
Antihelminthic drugs and diet - the basis for the treatment of hymenolepiasis
Forecast
Timely detection and treatment of the disease provide a favorable prognosis for human life and health.
Prevention
Careful adherence to personal hygiene, timely identification and treatment of invasive persons, their subsequent dispensary observation are effective methods of preventing hymenolepiasis.
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The information is generalized and provided for informational purposes only. At the first sign of illness, see your doctor. Self-medication is hazardous to health!
