Ascaris In The Lungs: Symptoms, Multiply, Treatment And Photos

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Ascaris In The Lungs: Symptoms, Multiply, Treatment And Photos
Ascaris In The Lungs: Symptoms, Multiply, Treatment And Photos

Video: Ascaris In The Lungs: Symptoms, Multiply, Treatment And Photos

Video: Ascaris In The Lungs: Symptoms, Multiply, Treatment And Photos
Video: Trichinosis (Trichinellosis) Worm Infection 2024, March
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Page content

  • How roundworms end up in the respiratory system
  • What harm do roundworms do to the respiratory system
  • The clinical picture of ascariasis lesions of the lungs
  • Diagnosis of ascariasis in the lungs
  • Treatment
  • Complications
  • You can defeat parasites!

Ascariasis is known as the most common human helminthiasis in the world, and even people far from medicine are aware that its pathogens - roundworms - live in the intestines. Nevertheless, few people know that before entering the gastrointestinal tract, the larvae travel with the bloodstream to almost all the main organs, creating infiltrates in them, provoking inflammation and allergic reactions.

In this case, the larvae do the maximum damage not to the liver or heart, but to the respiratory system. Let's try to figure out how dangerous roundworms are in the lungs and whether it is possible to destroy them even at the larval stage, preventing the development of parasites to a sexually mature state.

What to do in such a situation? To get started, we recommend reading this article. This article details the methods of dealing with parasites. We also recommend contacting a specialist. Read the article >>>

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How roundworms end up in the respiratory system

The larvae of this type of worms are characterized by an unusually complex migration path, due to which roundworms - normally exclusively intestinal parasites - have time to damage many host organ systems.

Once in the human oral cavity, the eggs of the worms are swallowed with saliva. In the upper parts of the intestine, larvae emerge from them. Through the mucous membrane, they penetrate into the smallest capillaries and enter the liver with blood flow. From there, along the inferior vena cava, they reach the right heart and, "reseeding" into the pulmonary artery, swim to the lungs. There, the larvae rupture the capillaries and find themselves in the lumen of the alveoli - vesicular structures involved in the act of respiration.

The ciliated (i.e., covered with moving cilia) epithelium of the bronchial tree raises helminths into the larynx, and they find themselves where they have already been - in the pharynx and then in the oral cavity. A person swallows them a second time, but this time without the shells they had discarded long ago.

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What harm do roundworms do to the respiratory system

Young parasites cause the main damage mechanically - by breaking the capillaries in the lungs. If, when infected by several individuals, these injuries remain unnoticed, and their diagnosis is possible only through radiography, then with intensive invasion, hemorrhages become so extensive that blood is released along with sputum when coughing.

The bleeding itself is the cause of further inflammation of nearby tissues and the formation of the so-called. eosinophilic infiltrates - accumulations in the parenchyma of an organ of atypical cellular elements (in this case, blood).

The second most important factor of harm is sensitization (i.e., increased sensitivity) of the organism by the products of the larvae's vital activity. Their metabolites are strong allergens, which provoke skin rashes, fever and a number of other hypersensitivity reactions.

The third factor of harm manifests itself very rarely, and it is not the larvae that are responsible for it, but the adult worms. The lungs are not a cavity organ, but a parenchymal organ: in other words, they consist of a relatively dense tissue without significant cavities, therefore, an adult ascaris, reaching 6 mm in thickness, cannot penetrate into it with all the desire. However, they easily make their way from the intestine to the stomach and up the esophagus into the pharynx.

For all the disgusting situation of such a situation, there is no particular harm from the ascaris penetration there, however, a mortal danger lies in wait for a person if the helminths decide to crawl out of the esophagus not into the mouth, but into the lower (larynx and trachea) or upper (nasopharynx and oropharynx, nasal cavity) Airways.

If, when it enters the nose, a person still has the ability to breathe through the mouth (and vice versa - although it is already noticeably more difficult, because the helminth will partially block the air access), then the penetration of ascaris into the child's trachea and blockage of both bronchi can cause suffocation and sudden death. Sometimes people die not from asphyxia, but because of the shock provoked by a reflex from the laryngeal nerve.

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It should be noted that such cases are extremely rare and are usually provoked by vomiting, high body temperature, taking too low doses of anthelmintics and using a number of drugs for general anesthesia that are not tolerated by roundworms.

One such case was documented by Indian surgeons in 2014, when a 10-year-old girl, after being put into anesthesia, lost her ascaris from her mouth (pictured).

The clinical picture of ascariasis lesions of the lungs

As mentioned above, when viable eggs enter the human body, the larvae that emerged from them will inevitably parasitize for some time in the respiratory system.

Ascariasis of the lungs is characterized by the following symptoms:

  1. Eosinophilia 35 to 60%.
  2. Hives.
  3. Acute pneumonia:
  • cough;
  • dyspnea;
  • fever;
  • increased sweating at night;
  • respiratory failure.

Bronchitis:

  • malaise;
  • heat;
  • feeling tired;
  • apathy;
  • migraine;
  • dry, and after a few days - wet cough.

Pleurisy:

  • pain when breathing;
  • low-grade fever in the evenings;
  • sweating.

Bronchial asthma:

  • suffocation;
  • wheezing;
  • chest congestion;
  • dyspnea.
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Diagnosis of ascariasis in the lungs

When the first symptoms of the disease appear, you must definitely consult a doctor who can diagnose and determine the presence of worms in the body.

The main diagnostic techniques include:

  • X-rays of light;
  • sputum analysis;
  • stool analysis;
  • general blood analysis.

A sudden cough, wheezing when listening to the lungs and shortness of breath may become a reason to see a doctor.

These signs can disappear in just a few days, however, this does not mean at all that you can not carry out therapy.

Parasites in the patient's body continue to move through the bloodstream for several more months. Periodic discomfort in the sternum may indicate the presence of ascariasis occurring in the pulmonary stage.

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Treatment

There is no specific treatment for ascariasis, leaking lungs. Basically, therapy is targeted at combating worms, with the help of standard medications used for various types of ascariasis.

If the ascaris parasitizes in the lungs of a person, you need to use such means as:

  • Nourished;
  • Pirantel;
  • Mebendazole;
  • Albendazole and others.
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Release form

Before starting to treat the disease with such drugs, symptomatic therapy is performed, which is required to improve the patient's condition, normalize body temperature, and improve the activity of the stomach and intestines.

In weakened people and children, therapy should be carried out against the presence of concomitant diseases that can form against the background of the course of the pulmonary form of ascariasis, in particular, such as pleurisy, bronchitis and pneumonia.

The peculiarity of the treatment is determined exclusively by the attending doctor, since many anthelmintic drugs are quite toxic. In the complex, means can be selected that help maintain the natural intestinal microflora, and also protect the liver from damage.

After the end of the treatment, it is imperative to do a control study of the feces and an x-ray of the sternum. If, after the therapy, the larvae of the worms remain in the body, then the treatment is carried out again with other drugs.

The choice of the drug, its dosage and duration of administration is determined exclusively by the doctor. This takes into account the age, weight of the patient, as well as the complexity of the pathology. In exceptional cases, just one dose of the medicine is enough, and sometimes for the therapy, you need to take the drugs for several days.

Sometimes the treatment of pulmonary ascariasis is carried out with the help of traditional medicine, however, these funds are used as an auxiliary technique and cannot replace traditional medications.

Sometimes it is not possible to quickly cure ascariasis of the lungs, which makes this disease especially dangerous. With a severe course of pathology, the patient needs an operation, which is aimed at restoring the existing damage that provoked worms in the body.

Complications

Mild cases of pulmonary ascariasis often do not provoke any complications at all.

In a severe course of the disease, various problems and pathologies may arise, in particular such as:

  • lack of nutrients;
  • intestinal obstruction;
  • blockage of the bile ducts.

A deficiency of nutrients is observed mainly in children with ascariasis. They often have a loss of appetite, a violation of the absorption process, which leads to a lack of vitamins, trace elements and other useful substances.

If there is a large accumulation of worms, then they can block a specific area of the intestine, provoking severe vomiting and pain. Such obstruction can provoke rupture of the intestinal walls or appendicitis, which is why surgery is required.

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