Coughing and worms are phenomena that seem to be incompatible.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 located in the respiratory system.
What worms cause cough?These are the parasites that originally lived in the intestines, but due to rapid reproduction or in search of better living conditions, they ended up in the liver and from there, through the general blood flow, they reached the bronchial lung tissue.
Types of helminths
Roundworms, roundworms, live and multiply in the intestines.Infection with them occurs through eggs that enter the body with food or from the hands and objects used by an infected person.Soil, fruits, vegetables, undercooked meat and fish - all these can introduce a whole egg into the human body.
To avoid infection, you need to:
- avoid contact with infected animals;
- do not use objects of people with helminth infection;
- keep your hands clean, especially after coming back from the street and before eating;
- wash foods eaten raw (fruits and vegetables) well;
- properly prepare fish and meat dishes.
Worth knowing!Roundworms trigger a dry cough.Moving through the circulatory system, their larvae enter the respiratory system - bronchi, trachea, lungs - irritating the receptors and causing this symptom.The period of migration of larvae through 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.Parasitic infection mainly occurs 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, within 10 days, Giardia is able to infect other people.After some time, giardiasis becomes chronic.The cause of giardiasis cough is an allergic reaction that occurs when the body is intoxicated by waste products of parasites.For a person infected with Giardia, the case often ends with bronchial asthma.
One of the main dangers of giardiasis is the lack of noticeable symptoms in the initial stages that would allow an accurate diagnosis of the disease.The release of worms from the body is temporary, so it is not always possible to detect Giardia cysts in the stool.You will need to take samples for analysis several times before you can definitely diagnose the disease.
In addition to roundworms and lamblia, symptoms can also be caused by toxocara, which is also called canine roundworm due to its prevalence in dogs.After reaching the bronchi, the larvae cause an allergic reaction.
Types of helminths that affect children
If a child has a cough, and a cold is ruled out, there are serious reasons to believe that he may be infected with a helminth.Since it can be a reaction to different types of worms, only laboratory tests can determine which specific helminth is responsible.
Attention!Most often, helminthic cough is seen in young children.
It is not surprising that parents often mistake 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 helminthic infection, remains unresolved.Worms continue to multiply in the child's body and the disease progresses.
Giardiasis and ascariasis
Which parasites cause symptoms in a child?Only those that are able to move around the body and enter the respiratory system.These parasites include roundworms and lamblia.Their mature individuals live in the intestines, but the larvae of the parasites have the ability to enter the respiratory tract together with the blood, irritate the receptors and cause allergic reactions.
In this case, some of the larvae are thrown out, the rest are swallowed and return to the intestines, where the next life cycle of the parasites begins.Some of the larvae remain in the respiratory system and interfere with its function.
Toxocara and pulmonary effusion
The ones that are the most dangerous for the respiratory system are flatworms, especially flukes and toxocaras.After attaching to the lungs, they cause paragonimiasis and toxocariasis - serious diseases accompanied by the destruction of lung tissue and the worsening of the inflammatory process.
The entry of flatworms into the child's lungs causes him to cough.If left untreated, the inflammatory process continues and enters a phase accompanied by mucus production.Coughed up sputum may contain blood.This alarming manifestation should compel parents to contact an infectious disease specialist immediately.
Important!When infected, 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 this is definitely the case.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 situation?There are two reasons for this:
- Mechanical effects of helminth larvae on lung tissue.
- Allergies in which the infected body reacts to the presence of waste products of worms and the decomposition of dead individuals.
There are not so many worms and other parasites that affect the respiratory system.These are:
- roundworms;
- Giardia;
- wreckage;
- Echinococcus tapeworm.
Ascariasis
Roundworms are very widespread, so a cough against the background of ascariasis is a typical phenomenon.Transmission by roundworms occurs by traditional means of helminthiasis.These include contact with soil, eating unwashed fruit and vegetables and dirty hands.
Ascaris larvae cause the problem by mechanically affecting the tissues of the respiratory tract.This occurs during the parasite's migration stage.The mechanism and sequence of effects of roundworms on the human respiratory system is as follows.
Once in the digestive tract, roundworm eggs, under the influence of their own enzymes and digestive juices, shed their shell and turn into larvae.The latter have the ability to penetrate the intestinal wall into the bloodstream.After that, they travel with the blood around the body - reaching the liver, heart, lungs and airways.
The lining of the trachea has cilia that move 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 either spit out or swallowed, back into the intestines.
Your information!Cough with ascariasis is usually a short-term phenomenon.But if the infection is repeated, it can become almost permanent.
Giardiasis
Despite the fact that Giardia is a microscopic creature, it causes very serious damage to the body.The natural habitat of Giardia is standing water.They enter the human body by consuming unrefined or poorly processed foods or by drinking uncooked milk or water.Transmission from infected people and animals is possible.
The main site of Giardia is the intestine.Parasites need only 10 days from infection for the larvae to start hatching from the eggs.They penetrate the intestinal walls, enter the blood and with it reach the organs of the respiratory system, disrupting their function and causing coughing.
Pulmonary fluctuation
The group lives in the lungs in pairs and forms cysts in the bronchi.Infection occurs when crabs and crabs infected with the parasite are eaten.Once in the gastrointestinal tract, the pulmonary effusion passes through the peritoneum and reaches the lungs through the diaphragm, causing the patient to cough persistently.
The small helminth lung fluke, which belongs to the class of trematodes, "specializes" in parasitizing specifically in the lungs.It causes much more serious respiratory problems than, for example, roundworms.
At the site of its location, infiltrates and hemorrhages occur, resulting in the appearance of cavities filled with decaying metabolites of worms, dead parasites, and lung tissue.The damage caused by pneumonia is further increased 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 is necessary under the strict supervision of a doctor.Only he can choose an effective drug, which should be different for each case.
However, the championship in "harm" does not belong to the pulmonary fluke, but to the larvae of alveococcus and echinococcus.These are small (up to 7 mm long) tapeworms, which carry wolves, coyotes, dogs, jackals, foxes, ferals and domestic cats without much harm.
Helminths of the trematode class (trichinella roundworms) cause allergic cough, which can be particularly severe in children.
Runny nose due to helminthiasis and other parasites
Runny nose is caused by the presence of helminths much less often.This manifestation is not at all typical of helminthiasis.Nevertheless, in some cases, parasites can cause a runny nose and nasal congestion.
Sometimes, in rare cases, with the so-called inverted (random, atypical) location, enter the nasal passages and cause a runny nose and nasal congestion.
If we talk about parasitic diseases that are not parasites, then as an example of an infection that causes a runny nose and a lot of mucus from the nose, we can mention nasal myositis, which is the larvae of gnats and flies that have settled in the nasal cavity.
Attention!A runny nose, sometimes caused by Giardia, is a result of the body's reaction in the form of an allergic reaction to Giardia waste.
As for roundworms, they do not cause a runny nose or nasal congestion.
Conclusion
If the cough occurs due to helminthiasis, treatment should include antiparasitic therapy aimed at eliminating worms.Taking cold pills in such cases means directing treatment not against the disease itself, but against its symptoms.