Cough and worms are phenomena that seem to be loosely 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 localized in the respiratory system.
What worms cause a cough?These are the parasites that originally lived in the intestines, but as a result of rapid reproduction or in search of better living conditions, they got into the liver, and from there, through the general blood flow, they reached the bronchopulmonary tissue.
Types of helminths
Roundworms, roundworms, live and reproduce in the intestine.Infection with them occurs through eggs that have entered the body with food or from hands and objects used by an infected person.Soil, fruits, vegetables, poorly processed 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 things on people with helminth infections;
- keep your hands clean, especially after returning from the street and before eating;
- wash food eaten raw (fruits and vegetables) well;
- proper preparation of fish and meat dishes.
Worth knowing!Ascaris provoke a dry cough.Migrating through the circulatory system, their larvae enter the respiratory organs - bronchi, trachea, lungs - irritate the receptors and cause this symptom.The larval migration period in 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.Infection with parasites occurs mainly in the following ways.
- From an infected person or animal to a healthy one.
- When eating poorly washed foods.
- When you drink raw milk or unboiled water.
After settling in a person's small intestine, Giardia within 10 days becomes capable of infecting other people.After some time giardiasis becomes chronic.The cause of giardiasis cough is allergic reactions that occur when the body is intoxicated by waste products from parasites.For a person infected with Giardia, the matter often ends with bronchial asthma.
One of the main dangers of giardiasis is the lack of pronounced symptoms in the initial stage 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 find 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 provoked by toxocarriae, which are also called canine roundworms due to their widespread distribution in dogs.Reaching the bronchi, the larvae cause allergic reactions.
Types of helminths that affect children
If the child develops a cough and a cold is ruled out, there are strong reasons to believe 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 take it as a symptom of a cold and begin to treat it with commonly accepted drugs, which, due to the specificity of their action, actually eliminate the problem.But at the same time, the reason that caused it, namely the helminthic invasion, remains unresolved.The worms continue to multiply in the child's body and the disease progresses.
Giardiasis and ascariasis
What parasites cause symptoms in a child?Only those that are able to migrate through the body and reach the airways.These parasites include roundworms and roundworms.Their sexually mature individuals live in the intestines, but the larvae of the parasites have the ability to penetrate together with the blood into the respiratory system, irritating the receptors and causing allergic reactions.
In this case, part of the larvae is expelled, the other is swallowed and again enters the intestine, where the next life cycle of the parasites begins.Some of the larvae remain in the respiratory system, disrupting its functioning.
Toxocar and lung fluke
The most dangerous for the respiratory system are flatworms, especially flukes and toxocars.Once attached to the lungs, they cause paragonimosis and toxocarosis - serious diseases accompanied by destruction of lung tissue and a progressive inflammatory process.
The penetration of flatworms into the lungs of the child causes a cough.If left untreated, the inflammatory process progresses and passes into a stage accompanied by mucus formation.Sputum coughed up may contain blood.This alarming manifestation should force parents to urgently consult an infectious disease doctor.
important!When infected with fluke, the discharge of 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 it really is.A cough caused by worms is usually dry and can easily be mistaken for a cold.In this case, the absence of other ARVI symptoms that usually accompany a cold should be alarming.
What explains this condition?There are two reasons for this:
- Mechanical effects of helminth larvae on lung tissue.
- Allergies with which the infected body reacts to the presence of waste products from worms and the decomposition of dead individuals.
There are not so many worms and other parasites that affect the respiratory tract.These are:
- roundworms;
- Giardia;
- randomness;
- Echinococcal tapeworm.
ascariasis
Roundworms are very widespread, so coughing on the background of ascariasis is a typical phenomenon.Infection with roundworms occurs through traditional routes for helminthiasis.These include contact with soil, eating unwashed fruits and vegetables, and dirty hands.
Ascaris larvae cause the problem by mechanical impact on 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 in the gastrointestinal tract, roundworm eggs, under the influence of their own enzymes and digestive juice, 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 spread with the blood throughout the body - reaching the liver, heart, lungs and respiratory tract.
There are cilia on the lining of the trachea, which transport 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 spit out or swallowed, returning to the intestines.
For your information!Cough with ascariasis is usually a short-lived phenomenon.But if the infection is of a recurring nature, it can become almost permanent.
giardiasis
Despite the fact that Giardia is a microscopic creature, it causes very serious harm to the body.Giardia's natural habitat is standing water.They enter the human body by eating dirty or poorly processed food, or by drinking raw milk or water.Transmission from infected humans and animals is possible.
The primary location of Giardia is the gut.The parasites only need 10 days from the time of infection for the larvae to start emerging from the eggs.Penetrating through the walls of the intestine, they enter the blood and together with it reach the organs of the respiratory system, disrupt their functioning and cause coughing.
Pulmonary fluke
Methyl lives in the lungs in pairs, forming cysts in the bronchi.Infection occurs by eating crayfish and crayfish infected with the parasite.Once in the gastrointestinal tract, the lung fluke penetrates through the peritoneum and reaches the lungs through the diaphragm, causing persistent coughing in the patient.
The small helminth lung fluke, belonging to the class of trematodes, is "specialized" in parasitizing especially the lungs.It causes much more serious problems in the respiratory system than roundworms, for example.
At the site of its localization, infiltrates appear and hemorrhages develop, as a result of which cavities appear, filled with decaying metabolites of worms, dead parasites, and lung tissue.The damage caused by the lung fluke 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 under the strict supervision of a doctor is necessary.Only he can choose an effective medicine, which must be different for each case.
However, the championship in terms of "harm" belongs not to the lung fluke, but to the larvae of alveococcus and echinococcus.These are small (up to 7 mm long) tapeworms that are carried by wolves, coyotes, dogs, jackals, foxes, feral and domestic cats without much harm to themselves.
Helminths from the class of trematodes (digenetic flukes) and trichinella ascaris cause allergic cough, which can be especially severe in children.
Runny nose due to helminthiasis and other parasitosis
Much less often, a runny nose is caused by the presence of helminths.This manifestation is not at all characteristic of helminthiasis.However, in some cases, parasites can cause a 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-helmintic parasitic diseases, then as an example of an invasion that causes a runny nose and copious discharge of mucus from the nose, we can name nasal myiasis, which is the larvae of water 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 cause neither runny nose nor nasal congestion.
Conclusion
If the cough appears due to helminthiasis, treatment should include antiparasitic therapy aimed at destroying worms.Taking cold pills in such cases means directing the treatment not against the disease itself, but against its symptoms.