Cysticercosis: symptoms in humans, treatment, prevention

In the world there are thousands of small, sometimes microscopic, parasites that destroy the strong, intelligent, almost all-powerful creation of nature - man. One of these assassins is a tapeworm called pork thistle. It causes a serious cysticercosis disease, the symptoms and treatment outcome of which depend on the place of substantiation of the worm in the human body. It can be easy to catch, but it is sometimes impossible to cure it. They say that in order to cope with the enemy, you need to know it in person. Let's learn more about the parasite and find out why cysticercosis is so dangerous, or, as they say, pork tapeworm.

The life cycle of the helminth

This tapeworm is also called a pork solitaire. The adult has a tiny head (up to 3 mm) and a very long (up to 6 m) articulate body. The head has suckers and hooks, with which the parasite clings to the host's body. Annually, the worm lays about 600 million eggs, which with faeces can settle on the ground or grass. To develop, they need an intermediate host. When eggs fall into the stomach of a pig (rabbit, hare, dog, wild boar), a larva (oncosphere) hatching out of them resembles a transparent ball with hooks. With the help of these tools, the larvae perforate the walls of the stomach, penetrate the victim into the bloodstream and flow with all the organs. Once in place, onkosfery grow to a pea, called cysticerci. There is liquid inside it. If you look closely, you can see dents on the peas. These are the underdeveloped heads of future worms. All. Next, the tapestry does not develop, waiting for a permanent master, who should become only a man. To him, the parasite "will give" cysticercosis, the symptoms of which at the first stages are not expressed. So the worm has enough time to gain a foothold.

Ways of infection

We often organize picnics in nature, we cook shish kebab. There are few opportunities to observe hygiene. Many of us like half-baked steaks and chops. All this is good, just remember that the easiest way to catch cysticercosis, the symptoms of which are difficult to distinguish from usual irritation and fatigue, is:

1. Dirty hands.
2. Poorly processed pork, rabbit, wild boar meat.
3. Unwashed vegetables, greens (sorrel, dill, parsley).
4. Water from reservoirs.

That is, not to fall ill with a deadly infection, you just have to follow the elementary rules. In addition to personal hygiene, it is advisable to inspect the meat before cooking. The worm's larva can be seen with the naked eye. It is even better to buy meat only with the seal of sanitary epidemiological services.

For vegetables and greens, eggs fall when fertilizing vegetable gardens and fields with manure taken from infected animals.

There is another way of infection with cysticercosis, when the intermediate host of the worm is not an animal, but a man. Such a disease is called a teniosis (shadyozom) and it means that in the intestine of the person there are larvae of the parasite. This happens when a person does not fall into the cysticerci, but the eggs of the worm, that is, only the first stage of his life cycle begins. Teniosis is accompanied by frequent vomiting, during which the larvae exit with vomit masses through the mouth. If the patient swallows them, they fall into his stomach and begin cysticercosis. Therefore, at the first signs of a shadow, and this is a pain in the abdomen, diarrhea, nausea, you should immediately consult a doctor and begin treatment.

Pathogenesis and symptoms of cysticercosis

The disease begins when the cysticercus hits the stomach and / or intestines of the victim. There, the gastric juice dissolves the larval membrane. The head that has been pushed out is protruding outwards. It already has a corolla with hooks and suckers, helping to attach to the walls of the digestive organs, and then to seep through them into the blood. Further, the larvae are carried throughout the body, settling in the lungs, eyes, heart, brain and spinal cord, skin. Symptoms and treatment of cysticercosis depends on which organ the parasites chose by their place of residence. Developing, they increase in size, pressure on neighboring cells, causing the owner tangible pain. The products of their vital activity poison the person. But the death of the worm brings little good. The body of the parasite can dissolve (leasing occurs). In this case, especially dangerous substances are released, often leading to an allergic shock, 20% of cases ending in death. Sometimes the dead worm is calcified (calcified), but the inflammatory processes in the affected organs of the victim continue.

Defeat of the brain

The most dangerous form of the disease is cysticercosis of the brain. Symptoms in the first stages are as follows:

• Light paresis (weakened muscles, sluggish movements);
• Slight difficulty with speech;
• depression;
• Hallucinations;
• Mental fits alternating with enlightenment;
• rave;
• Forgetting current events (the memory of the past is preserved).

In the future, there are:

• Edema of the brain;
• Severe headaches;
• Vomiting;
• Epileptic seizures (followed by calm intervals).

If cysticercises settle in the ventricles of the brain, the symptoms are added:

• Headaches until unconscious;
• Impaired breathing;
• Malfunctioning of the heart.

Larvae of the worm the brain is chosen most often (about 60%). They live there until the age of 18. Parasites are distributed in the surface layers of the cerebral cortex, in the ventricles, in the meninges, and their number may approach hundreds or even thousands. Sometimes the picture of the disease resembles meningitis, brain tumor, epilepsy, neurosyphilis. For accurate diagnosis, the examination of cerebrospinal fluid, MRI, X-ray, RBC, blood test, which determines the presence of eosinophils. Treatment, if the larva in the brain is small, is performed surgically. If there are many of them, then take "Prazikvantel". When lesions of cerebral ventricles and multiple lesions, the prognosis is extremely unfavorable.

Cysticercosis of the spinal cord

The larvae of parasites enter the spinal cord most often from the brain, but they can immediately come from the stomach or intestine, and settle on roots, membranes or in the brain substance itself. This is also a fairly severe cysticercosis, the symptoms of which are as follows:

• Pain in the legs, arms, back;
• Girdle stomach and chest pain;
• Violations of traffic;
• In severe cases, paralysis.

This all happens, because the larvae cause spikes on the roots and membranes, as well as the formation of cysts. The compression of the spinal cord is not excluded.

Diagnosis is performed using a serological reaction, MRI, myelography.

Specific treatment is not.

Worm in the eyes

A very unpleasant disease is cysticercosis of the eye, the symptoms of which are:

• Inflammation of the eye tissues (retinitis, uveitis);
• Dystrophic changes in them;
• conjunctivitis;
• Deterioration of vision until its complete loss.

When the larva enters the person's eyes, she lives and develops in the retina, the eyeball and the vitreous. Periods of deterioration of vision are replaced by remission, the duration of which decreases from time to time. Diagnosis is carried out using:

• Ophthalmoscopy;
• Biopsy;
• RSK blood;
• RSK of cerebrospinal fluid;
• Specific blood test.

Treatment at a surgical opportunity, with impossibility - "Praziquantelom."

Affected skin

It has already been noted above which causes of cysticercosis cause. Symptoms and treatment for lesions of each organ are different. Cysticercosis of the skin, for example, can be called the most successful variant of the disease. It's a pity there are only 6% of infections with pork chain. In this case, the worm larvae are located in the fat layer under the skin. In those places there are small bumps, hollow to the touch. But they are not empty, but filled with liquid, in which the cysticerc swim. Most often, these tubercles occur on the palms, the inner surface of the shoulders, in the muscles, in the region of the thorax. The larva grows from two to ten centimeters in length. Symptoms may not be observed. In some cases, hives occur. Treatment is surgical.

Pulmonary cysticercosis. Symptoms, signs, treatment

Cysticercises settle in the lungs even less often than in the skin, but they also give a lot of unpleasant moments. The largest number of them is collected in the interstitial (interstitial) tissue, less often in the peribronchial tissue. Then they grow up squeezing the lumen and cause inflammation. The dimensions of the larvae in the lungs reach 2 cm. A special capsule is formed around each. This process is accompanied by an inflammatory reaction with symptoms of pneumonia. When the parasite dies, it either dissolves or calcifies. The lungs are deformed. With x-ray, you can see these changes, as well as foci of parasites, similar to shadow spots, ranging from grain to cherry. Strongly expressed symptoms, as a rule, no. The patient can complain about:

• Coughing (sometimes with phlegm or blood streaks);
• Shortness of breath after a load;
• Low temperature;
• Moderate pain in the chest.

Diagnosis includes x-rays, feces analysis for helminths, a specific blood test for the presence of eosinophils.

Treatment is very rare and with single lesions is performed surgically. In most cases, appoint a course of taking Mebendazole or Parasicvantel.

Cysticercosis in pregnancy

In other organs, such as the heart and kidneys, it is extremely rare that cysticercosis, or porcine tapeworm, may also appear. Symptoms and treatment depend on the location of the site. So, with heart damage, the patient has heart rhythm disturbances. A small number of patients can develop heart failure.

Very dangerous is the disease of cysticercosis during pregnancy, since the larvae of the pork chain can penetrate the placenta to the fetus. In such cases, the child is born dead or with significant deviations. In addition, cysticercles affects the uterus (neck, mucosa). As a complication, inflammation of the appendages occurs. If the larvae choose their home by the placenta, a spontaneous abortion may occur. Treatment of pork tartar in pregnant women is complicated by possible side effects that occur when parasites die. Often, doctors recommend interrupting pregnancy, if early in the course of time, cysticercosis of the brain, spinal cord, eyes, uterus or placenta is detected. If the disease is detected at a later date, the decision is made by the attending physician.