Cough and worms are phenomena that are poorly compatible.However, the cause of a dry cough is often helminths that have settled and multiplied in the human body.
Not all helminths can do 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 entered the liver and from there they reached the bronchopulmonary tissues through the general blood flow.
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, poorly cooked 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 the things of 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;
- properly prepares fish and meat dishes.
Worth knowing!Roundworms cause a dry cough.Their larvae migrate through the circulatory system and enter the respiratory organs - bronchi, trachea, lungs - irritating the receptors and causing this symptom.The migration time of the larvae throughout the body is one to two weeks.
Giardia are very small single-celled microorganisms that live in stagnant water.The disease they cause is called giardiasis.Infection with parasites occurs mainly in the following ways.
- An infected person or animal becomes healthy.
- When eating poorly washed food.
- When consuming raw milk or unboiled water.
After settling in the small intestine of a person, Giardia becomes able to infect other people within 10 days.After a while, giardiasis becomes chronic.The cause of giardiasis cough is allergic reactions that occur when the body is poisoned by waste products of parasites.In the case of a person infected with Giardia, the case often ends with bronchial asthma.
One of the main dangers of giardiasis in the initial stage is the lack of pronounced symptoms that allow an accurate diagnosis of the disease.The release of worms from the body is episodic, so it is not always possible to detect Giardia cysts in the feces.Several samples must be taken for analysis before you can confidently diagnose the disease.
In addition to roundworms and lamblia, the symptom can also be caused by toxocara, which is also called canine roundworm due to its widespread occurrence in dogs.When the larvae reach the bronchi, they cause allergic reactions.
Types of helminths affecting children
If the child coughs and a cold is ruled out, there are serious reasons to assume that he may be infected with worms.Since it can be a reaction to different types of worms, only laboratory tests can determine which worm is responsible.
Attention!Most often, helminthic cough is observed in young children.
It is not surprising that parents often mistake it for a symptom of a cold and begin to treat it with generally accepted drugs, which, due to the specificity of their effect, really eliminate the problem.At the same time, the reason that caused this, namely helminthic infection, 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 can travel throughout the body and reach the respiratory tract.These parasites include roundworms and lamblia.Their mature individuals live in the intestines, but the larvae of the parasites can enter the respiratory system together with the blood, irritate the receptors and cause allergic reactions.
In this case, part of the larvae is thrown out, the other is swallowed, and it is returned to the intestine, where the next life cycle of the parasites begins.Some of the larvae remain in the respiratory system, disrupting its functioning.
Toxocara and pneumonic plague
The most dangerous for the respiratory system are flatworms, especially flukes and toxocara.Adhering to the lungs, they cause paragonimiasis and toxocariasis - serious diseases accompanied by the destruction of lung tissue and a progressive inflammatory process.
The penetration of flatworms into the child's lungs causes a cough.If left untreated, the inflammatory process progresses and enters a stage accompanied by mucus production.Sputum coughed up may contain blood.This alarming manifestation forces parents to urgently consult an infectious disease doctor.
Important!If it becomes infected, purulent and bloody sputum 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 symptoms of ARVI, which 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 materials of 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;
- luck;
- Echinococcus tapeworm.
Ascariasis
Roundworms are very widespread, so a cough that occurs against the background of ascariasis is a typical phenomenon.Infection with roundworms occurs through the traditional ways of 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 happens 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 shed their shells under the influence of their own enzymes and digestive juices and turn into larvae.The latter are able to enter the bloodstream through the intestinal wall.After that, the blood carries them throughout the body - reaching the liver, heart, lungs and airways.
There are cilia on the mucous membrane of the trachea, which transport the larva upwards with their reflex movement.In this case, the receptors are irritated, coughing occurs, throwing intestinal worms into the mouth, from where they are either spit out or swallowed, returning to the intestines.
FYI!Cough associated with ascariasis is usually a short-term phenomenon.But if the infection is recurrent, it can become almost permanent.
Giardiasis
Even though Giardia is a microscopic creature, it causes very serious damage to the body.The natural habitat of Giardia is stagnant water.They enter the human body by eating dirty or poorly processed food, or by drinking unboiled milk or water.Transmission from infected humans and animals is possible.
The main site of Giardia is the intestine.The parasites need only 10 days from the moment of infection for the larvae to start emerging from the eggs.Penetrating through the intestinal walls, they enter the blood and reach the organs of the respiratory system, disrupting their function and causing a cough.
Pneumonia
The fluke lives in pairs in the lungs, forming cysts in the bronchi.Infection occurs when they eat crabs and crayfish infected with the parasite.Once in the gastrointestinal tract, fluke penetrates the peritoneum and reaches the lungs through the diaphragm, causing a persistent cough in the patient.
A small helminth lung fluke belonging to the class of trematodes is specially "specialized" for parasitizing the lungs.It causes much more serious problems in the respiratory system than, for example, roundworms.
At the site of its localization, infiltrations appear, hemorrhages develop, as a result of which cavities appear, which are filled with decaying metabolites of worms, dead parasites and lung tissue.The damage caused by lung fluke is further aggravated by the fact that it has a long liver and can live in the host for up to 20 years.
To combat this dangerous parasite, it must be treated under strict medical supervision.Only he can choose an effective medicine, which must be different in each case.
However, the champion of "harm" is not lung fluke, but alveococcus and echinococcus larvae.These are small (up to 7 mm long) tapeworms that are carried by wolves, coyotes, dogs, jackals, foxes, wild and domestic cats without causing them much harm.
Helminths belonging to the trematode class (digenetic flukes) and trichinella roundworms cause allergic cough, which can be particularly severe in children.
Runny nose caused by helminthiasis and other parasites
A runny nose is much less often caused by the presence of helminths.This manifestation is not typical of helminthiasis at all.However, in some cases, parasites can cause a runny nose and nasal congestion.
Sometimes fungal worms, in rare cases, enter the nasal passages with a so-called perverse (accidental, atypical) localization and cause a runny nose and nasal congestion.
If we are talking about non-helminthic parasitic diseases, then as an example of infections that cause runny nose and copious discharge of nasal mucus, we can name nasal myiasis, which is the larvae of flies and flies that settle in the nasal cavity.
Attention!A runny nose, sometimes caused by Giardia, is the result of the body's allergic reaction to Giardia waste.
As for roundworms, they do not cause a runny or blocked nose.
Conclusion
If a cough occurs due to helminthiasis, treatment should include antiparasitic therapy aimed at killing the worms.Taking cold pills in such cases means that the treatment should not be directed against the disease itself, but against its symptoms.