Many people are interested in the question of what worm eggs look like, because cases of parasitic infection are not uncommon. Infection usually occurs through the penetration of worm eggs into the human body. This can happen from dirty hands, food, and contact with pet feces and hair. If a parasitic infection is suspected, a person will try to detect worm eggs in the stool themselves. But eggs cannot be seen with the naked eye, they are extremely small and can only be detected when analyzing feces.
Roundworm infection
Roundworm infection occurs when eating unwashed vegetables and fruits, meat and fish that are not thoroughly fried. Infection can be transmitted through dirty hands, especially in children. The worm's habitat is the human intestine
Ascaris eggs can only be seen under a microscope. They are very small in size (about 0. 07 mm). Adult worms are also difficult to see in stool. Only after taking anthelmintic medication do the dead worm particles escape from the intestines. They look like translucent elongated inclusions.
Only microscopic examination of the stool will help determine the presence of roundworm eggs. The eggs have a yellow appearance with a shell covered with tubers. Sometimes an embryo can be seen in a fertilized egg. They are very resistant to environmental impacts and can survive outside the human body for many years.
Roundworm eggs
Because it is difficult to detect traces of roundworms in the body, you need to pay attention to the symptoms of invasion: sudden increase in body temperature;
- dermatitis;
- choking and coughing (sometimes with blood);
- muscle spasms;
- athritis.
These manifestations are related to the allergic effects of roundworms on the body. If such symptoms are detected, it is necessary to test the stool for worm eggs.
Where to go if you suspect worms?
If you suspect a helminth infection, you must make an appointment with an infectious disease specialist. In the early stages, helminth disease has no specific symptoms, so it is quite difficult to suspect that you or a loved one is infected with worms. As a rule, patients complain of mild discomfort: indigestion, headache, lethargy.
If your symptoms do not go away within a week or the condition recurs periodically (for example, you feel unwell every 3-4 months), you should consult your doctor. Attacks due to poor health may be related to parasite migration.
Pinworm infection
Pinworms can be transmitted through normal contact with an infected person (through shared utensils, shaking hands). People are often infected with worms from dogs and cats, and worm eggs live on pet fur. Children are especially susceptible to this disease. A child can become infected with these parasites in kindergarten or from animals. Pinworm eggs can be found on any object the patient has come into contact with. They can be found under fingernails, on toys, bedding and underwear. Therefore, it is very easy to get infected with pinworms.
Pinworm eggs
Pinworms lead to the development of a disease called enteropathy. Signs of insect infection are as follows:
- itching in the anal area;
- diarrhea;
- nausea;
- sudden weight loss;
- flatulence.
Pinworm eggs are not excreted in the stool. Parasites multiply in the anal area, where they lay eggs, causing itching. To detect the presence of these worms in the body, people will scrape the anal skin and conduct a microscopic examination of the collected material. Such an analysis is often required when a child enrolls in kindergarten. Scraping is done in the morning before bathing the child so as not to wash away parasite eggs. Conduct the analysis three times over several days. Pinworm eggs under a microscope look like oblong white grains.
Adult pinworms can be found in the stools of children and adults. These are small white worms about 0. 5-1 cm long, with one end of the body pointed.
Folk remedies to treat helminths
For diphtheria, folk remedies should be used only after consulting a doctor. They should not replace medical treatment but can only complement it. The most commonly used recipe is with pumpkin seeds.
Pumpkin seeds have a detrimental effect on many types of helminths, including tapeworms. They contain cucurbitin, a substance that kills parasites. The seeds are ground with a coffee grinder or blender, then diluted with water to a paste. For adults, you will need 300 g of seeds, and for children - from 50 to 100 g. The prepared product is consumed in the morning on an empty stomach for 1 hour. You should not eat breakfast later. After 3 hours you need to drink a laxative, and after another 30 minutes take an enema.
When the parasite appears in the stool, it should be tested. You should pay attention to whether one end of its body has a head or not. If it is not there, then this means that only the passages escape and the parasite can reproduce in the body and release eggs. In this case, the treatment course must be repeated.
roundworm
This type of parasite is quite rare in the Central region of our country. Roundworms often live in southern regions because the eggs of this worm like to be warm. Most infections are observed in rural areas.
Worm eggs live in soil. Infection occurs through hands, contaminated soil particles, and washed fruits and vegetables.
As a result of infection, a disease occurs - trichocephalopathy. Roundworms are parasitic in the intestines. This type of worm causes anemia because it feeds on human blood and causes severe abdominal pain.
Roundworm eggs
Parasite eggs are excreted in the stool, but they are very small and cannot always be seen even under a microscope. Only when the worm infection is very severe can eggs be detected in a stool test. They are shaped like a barrel and have a yellow-brown color. There are holes on both sides of the egg.
What do worms look like in stool? It is difficult to detect them alive in feces, because whipworms cannot live long outside the human body. Only when treated with anthelmintics can you notice dead white worms in the stool.
To diagnose hirsutism, the rectum and sigmoid colon are examined with a special device (sigmoidoscopy). In this way, the accumulation of parasites in the intestines is detected. Treating the infection takes a long time because the worm eggs are protected by a dense shell.
Diagnosis of helminths
When diagnosing many helminth infections, a stool examination is performed first. If you find black dots in the stool or white worms in the stool, this test should be done as soon as possible.
However, it is not only stool with black spots that is a sign of coprogram. Often, even eggs that are invisible to the naked eye can be easily identified under a microscope. More accurate fecal diagnosis by detection of helminth DNA particles is performed using the PCR technique.
If a person has many black spots in the stool, other diagnostic methods include:
- Scrape from the area near the anus;
- Blood testing by ELISA, PCR, RNGA and other methods;
- Be sure to get a blood chemistry test and CBC;
- To determine the location of the parasite, in some cases ultrasound, MRI and CT are performed;
- To diagnose the migratory stage of helminths, x-ray examination is indicated.
For certain forms of helminths, examination of sputum, rectal mucus, urine, and gallbladder contents may be performed. Endoscopic examination is also sometimes used for diagnosis.
Trichinella
This is one of the most dangerous types of roundworms. Trichinella parasitizes human muscles. Severe infections sometimes lead to death.
Trichinella enters the body by consuming poorly processed meat from wild and domestic animals. Threadworms are destroyed at very high temperatures (about 80°C). Worms can be found in cured or smoked meats; Such treatment does not kill their larvae.
Infection is possible from undercooked meat
Parasitic eggs cannot be detected in the human body. Female Trichinella carries eggs inside her body and then larvae are born. These are worms that reproduce by ovulation. Trichinella cannot be detected in stool. Newborn larvae immediately enter the blood and lymph, bypassing the intestines. The larvae quickly die in the feces.
Usually the disease is diagnosed when the parasite has penetrated the muscle. In this case, a person is bothered by the following symptoms: muscle pain;
- swelling;
- febrile state (high temperature, pain, discomfort);
- Irregular bowel movements accompanied by constipation or diarrhea.
To detect invasion, a blood test with serological tests is performed. This is the only method to detect Trichinella in the body.
An article for patients with a medical condition diagnosed by a doctor. Does not replace a doctor's appointment and cannot be used for self-diagnosis.
Broad tapeworm
The human body only contains immature tapeworm eggs. They are excreted in feces and enter the external environment. With untreated wastewater, the eggs will drift into water bodies and begin to develop there. They first enter the bodies of freshwater crustaceans. Fish from reservoirs become infected with tapeworms when eating small crustaceans. And a person will become infected with helminths by eating infected, poorly fried fish from freshwater areas or raw caviar.
Broad tapeworm eggs
Diphyllobothrosis occurs, manifested by the following symptoms: abdominal pain;
- nausea and vomiting;
- intestinal problems (constipation or diarrhea);
- loss of appetite or excessive hunger.
What do tapeworm class worms look like? This is a large parasite that can grow up to 10 m long. In feces, only individual living parts (segments) of worms can be found, which look like long white ribbons (from 30 cm to 3 m). They must be removed from the stool with tweezers, transferred to a clean container, and taken to a parasitologist or infectious disease specialist for analysis.
Microscopic examination of stool can detect tapeworm eggs. Their size is about 0. 07 mm. The eggs look like yellow oval masses covered with a thick shell. One end of the egg is covered with a cap, and the other end has a bulge.
Worm larvae can be excreted in the stool but are not dangerous. Diphyllobothrosis cannot be transmitted from infected people or animals. Infection occurs exclusively through fish consumption.
Harmful to the body
When broad tapeworms invade the intestines, diphtheria develops. Helminths mainly affect the digestive tract. Inflammation and ulcers form on the intestinal wall where the worms attach. If there are not one but many parasites in the body, they can clog the intestinal lumen, leading to obstruction. Helminths continuously irritate the digestive tract wall, leading to disturbances in the digestive process. In addition, it also poisons the human body with waste products, causing allergies. When the parasite stays in the body for a long time, it will cause severe anemia and vitamin B12 deficiency.
Beef and pig tapeworms
People become infected with these parasites by eating poorly prepared meat from domestic animals. Worm segments are excreted in the patient's stool. In the external environment, the segments move through the soil and lay eggs with larvae inside. These eggs are then ingested by pets. When a person eats contaminated beef or pork, they become infected with beef or pork tapeworms. To kill tapeworms, you need to boil or stir-fry the meat for at least 30 minutes.
Beef tapeworm
Beef tapeworms cause tapeworm disease, pork tapeworms cause tapeworm disease. Symptoms of these diseases are the same: abdominal pain;
- constant feeling of hunger;
- nausea and vomiting;
- weak;
- losing weight;
- diarrhea;
- itching in the anal area as the segments peel off.
Worms in the patient's stool are segmented. They look like bright stripes about 1-2 cm long. The segments of the pork tapeworm are longer and consist of 3 segments.
When analyzing stool, tapeworm eggs (oncospheres) were detected. They are round masses with a dense shell, inside there is an embryo.
Pork tapeworm infection can occur through dirty hands, without an intermediate host. The fractions excreted in the patient's stool are very dangerous. They can enter the human body from contaminated soil. In this case, pork tapeworm larvae multiply in the human body and cause a serious disease - helminthiasis. This is a very dangerous invasion. The larvae invade the brain, spinal cord, eyes, heart and lungs, causing serious damage. With helminthiasis, segments and eggs are not excreted in the stool. The disease can only be detected through serological testing and cerebrospinal fluid analysis.
Classify
Modern medicine classifies parasitic worms on the human body as follows: Luminal. Such worms live in the intestinal lumen. These include broad tapeworms, dwarf and bull tapeworms, hookworms, pinworms, roundworms, roundworms, etc. v. .
Cloth. Such worms choose muscle and lung tissues, as well as organs such as the pancreas, liver, brain, etc. v. as their living environment.
Depending on the exact location of the tissue helminth, the invasion may have the following names:
- Filariasis. Parasites live in lymph nodes
- Cysticercosis. Brain areas affected by helminths
- Echinococcosis. Helminth infections are diagnosed in the liver
- Paragonimiasis. Parasites live in the lungs
Fluke
Among the worms in the trematode class, cat flukes (liver flukes) are the most common in humans. The habitat of worm eggs is fresh water. From there, the parasite enters the body of the shellfish and then into the fish. Cats and people become infected with trematodes by eating poorly prepared freshwater fish as well as through contaminated water. A sick cat is not dangerous to humans.
Burbot's liver has parasites
Most often, fish of the carp family are infected. Salt or smoking does not lead to the death of the parasite. A long heat treatment is required for the product. You can become infected with trematodes by accidentally swallowing water from a pond or river. There are cases of invasion after irrigating beds with contaminated water.
Cat flukes attack the liver. There is pain in the right abdomen, nausea, vomiting, fever. During the medical examination, enlargement of the organ was discovered.
Adult worms are not excreted in feces. What do helminth eggs look like under a microscope? When examining stool, you may see transparent ovals with yellow shells. One side of the egg has a latch that opens when the larva hatches. For diagnostic purposes, blood tests are additionally performed for antibodies or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
How to know if there are worms?
It is not possible to independently determine the presence of helminth infection. In the early stages, the disease may have virtually no symptoms. The patient does not feel pain, the immune system is able to suppress the pathogenic effects of toxins and allergens for some time. As a rule, exacerbation begins during the period of larval migration or when the number of worms increases. The stronger the infestation (i. e. the more parasites present), the more symptoms appear.
However, the asymptomatic invasive process is dangerous - the patient infects others and his health gradually deteriorates. To detect the disease, regular preventive examinations at the hospital are needed. As part of prevention, the therapist prescribes tests for worms at least once a year. If you live in an endemic area - every six months.
What can be seen with the naked eye?
Since some parasites are very small in size, their presence in the body cannot in any case be detected solely by the presence of eggs in the stool. Some parasites are extremely small and live hidden in the body without revealing their presence. Additionally, they are not always localized in the intestines and can move throughout the body. Therefore, to diagnose parasitic infections, serological tests based on antigen-antibody immune reactions are used.
All parasites look different, have specific growth cycles, different symptoms of parasitic infection, and different treatment regimens. However, there are some symptoms that may indicate a person is infected with parasites:
- rapid weight loss;
- intestinal disorders: diarrhea replaces constipation;
- severe itching in the anus;
- skin rash of unknown cause;
- stomach-ache;
- bloating;
- loss of appetite;
- inexplicable cravings for sweets;
- sometimes uncontrollable appetite in adults;
- Frequent colds due to reduced body defenses.