Anisakidosis - Treatment And Timely Diagnosis

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Anisakidosis - Treatment And Timely Diagnosis
Anisakidosis - Treatment And Timely Diagnosis

Video: Anisakidosis - Treatment And Timely Diagnosis

Video: Anisakidosis - Treatment And Timely Diagnosis
Video: Anisakis (endoscopy) 2024, March
Anonim

Symptoms of infection and treatments for anisacidosis

Content

  • 1 Morphological features
  • 2 Life cycle
  • 3 Ways of entry of the parasite
  • 4 Symptoms
  • 5 Diagnostics
  • 6 Treatment of anisacidosis
  • 7 Preventive measures

Anisakidosis is a disease caused by the penetration of nematodes from the Anisakidae family into the body. You can catch the parasite if you eat fish and seafood that have not been sufficiently heat treated. Today we will dwell on the disease in more detail and talk about the methods of treating anisacidosis.

Anisakidosis can be caused by three types of larvae Anisakis simplex, Pseudoterranova and Contracaectim, while the first two species are predominantly found in the human body.

Morphological features

Anisakidosis is most commonly caused by a parasite called Anisakis simplex. It is popularly called herring worm, since anisakidosis in this case can be caught if there is a poorly cooked or insufficiently salted herring.

The parasite is not divided into segments; the length of an adult is about 3 centimeters. Has its own digestive tract, mouth and anus.

Life cycle

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The life cycle of the parasite is closed. The eggs of the worm, together with the excrement of large marine fish, enter the water, where they pass the maturation stage. After maturation, a larva hatches from the egg, which is able to move independently in the water column.

Free-swimming larvae are swallowed by plankton and crustaceans, which act as an intermediate host. The infected crustaceans are swallowed by the second intermediate host - sea fish or cephalopods. The cycle is closed.

Ways of entry of the parasite

Human infection can occur if you eat marine fish and cephalopods that have not been processed at a sufficient temperature. Since a person is a random host, the development of the larva into a sexually mature individual does not occur.

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Being in the human body, the larva affects the digestive tract. If the patient has strong immunity and no concomitant diseases, the parasite will die on its own

The larvae of the worm can be detected by visual inspection of the infected fish. They look like dark or light swirling spirals. Below are some pictures showing anisacidosis.

(attached images)

Symptoms

Infection with the larvae of the parasite can manifest itself in two different ways with the corresponding symptoms:

  1. Severe allergies appear in the form of reddened and inflamed foci throughout the body;
  2. Through disturbances in the normal functioning of the digestive tract.

Basically, worms affect the organs of the gastrointestinal tract. The larvae are able to deliver painful discomfort in the abdominal region to a random host, cause acute intestinal obstruction, destroy the walls of the stomach or intestines, and gastric bleeding.

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In the acute stage of the disease, the patient may complain of severe pain in the stomach, upset stools, nausea, vomiting and heartburn, which are in no way associated with food intake. Basically, the symptoms described above are observed in the patient for two days, in rare cases, nausea can last for 5 days.

All the symptoms described above go away on their own after the death of the larva and do not require special treatment and medical intervention.

In the case of an allergic manifestation on the body of a sick patient, focal redness occurs, they are very itchy and inflamed. Allergies can spread to the respiratory system, which is accompanied by the development of respiratory symptoms. Allergy begins within the first 12 hours after infection by the parasite larvae.

Basically, the described symptoms disappear after 6 hours and do not require medical intervention or medication.

Please note that sometimes anisacidosis is accompanied by responses from both the gastrointestinal tract and allergic manifestations. In such cases, the patient may register an increase in temperature.

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In some cases, the larvae are capable of damaging the intestinal wall and penetrating directly into the abdominal cavity and other organs of the gastrointestinal tract. In this case, the patient may have peritonitis or granuloma (sometimes mistaken for a malignant tumor).

The most harmless form of the disease is transit anisacidosis. The larvae are in the body without visible symptoms and come out with a cough.

Diagnostics

The symptomatology of anisacidosis is rather nonspecific, therefore, there are often cases when a patient's disease is diagnosed by chance.

Not so long ago, clinical studies were conducted in Japan, according to the results of which it was found that in 60% of cases anisakidosis is mistaken for another disease - stomach cancer, cholecystitis, appendicitis, peritonitis, pancreatic cancer, Crohn's disease.

To diagnose anisacidosis, it is necessary to undergo a gastroscopic examination, during which the doctor will take a tissue sample with larvae for examination. Detection of the parasite is carried out by histological examination.

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Often, a special immunological examination is used to detect the parasite - when infected, the immune system begins to produce special antibodies that are visible in blood tests.

To identify the disease and draw up a clear treatment regimen, the following activities are carried out:

  • The healthcare professional collects information about whether the patient has recently consumed fish or seafood that has not been sufficiently heat treated. The doctor should remember that if the patient has recently been to countries with endemic foci of the spread of the parasite, the risk of infection increases significantly;
  • At the next stage, a differentiated study of the symptoms found in the patient is carried out;
  • Further, the patient is sent to the delivery of laboratory tests. With anisakidosis, samples of feces and vomit are taken, a general blood test and samples for antibodies are taken;
  • The patient may be offered to undergo the procedure of fibrogastroduodenoscopy, which reveals swelling of the intestinal mucosa, the presence of erosion and damage.
  • Correct diagnosis is the first step towards effective treatment of the problem.

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Treatment of anisakidosis

As mentioned above, the parasites that cause anisakidosis choose a person as a random host, therefore they are not able to develop in the body to a sexually mature individual. Most often, the larvae die on their own some time after infection.

In some cases, especially if there are complications, medication may be required. In advanced cases, the patient is sent for an operation, during which the helminthic invasion is cut out. The choice of the method of treatment lies on the shoulders of the attending physician, who assesses the general condition of the patient and is based on the results of the diagnostic studies.

Treatment of anisacidosis at the initial stage is possible with the help of broad-spectrum antiparasitic drugs. So, Vermox is mainly appointed, which shows good results in the field of destruction of dangerous larvae. Complete recovery of the patient occurs after several doses of the drug.

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Remember that only the attending physician should prescribe a remedy for worms. All antiparasitic agents contain toxic substances that, in the wrong dosage, can worsen the patient's health.

After completing the treatment, the doctor may prescribe the intake of diuretics, which will speed up the process of removing dead worms from the patient's body.

If anisacidosis develops with serious complications, the doctor may prescribe surgical treatment. Modern medicine allows minimally invasive intervention in the body, due to which the process of postoperative recovery of the body does not take much time.

Timely treatment started has a positive prognosis - it will be possible to get rid of the parasites without significant consequences, after which the body will develop a stable immunity, preventing the re-penetration of helminth larvae into the body.

Preventive actions

To exclude infection with parasites, it is worth adhering to simple preventive measures:

  1. Examine marine fish for foreign spiral inclusions in the viscera and tissues.
  2. The larvae of the parasite are quite long, so it will not be difficult to find them;
  3. Sea fish should be prepared at a temperature of at least 60 degrees Celsius;
  4. You can kill the larvae using shock freezing;
  5. The World Health Organization insists that all types of fish and seafood that are allowed to be consumed raw must be pre-frozen at -20 degrees for at least seven days;
  6. Salting and pickling of fish is allowed;
  7. Freshly caught seafood must be immediately cleaned of the viscera, sometimes after the death of the carrier, the larvae migrate from the digestive tract to the surrounding tissues;
  8. Employees of fish processing enterprises must observe the rules of personal hygiene and undergo constant examinations for the timely detection of parasites in the body.

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If the above rules are followed, the risk of anisacidosis is reduced to zero. Simple prevention will avoid costly helminth treatments.

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