Coughs and worms are phenomena that seem to be poorly compatible.However, the cause of 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.
Which worms cause cough?These are parasites that originally lived in the intestine, but through rapid multiplication or in search of better living conditions, reached the liver and from there reached the bronchopulmonary tissue via the general blood flow.
Types of helminths
Roundworms, roundworms, live and reproduce in the intestines.Infection with them occurs through eggs that enter the body with food or through hands and objects used by an infected person.Soil, fruits, vegetables, poorly cooked meat and fish - all of these can lead to worm eggs entering the human body.
To avoid infection, you must:
- Avoid contact with infected animals.
- Do not use items from people with helminth infections.
- Keep your hands clean, especially after returning from the street and before eating;
- Wash foods eaten raw (fruits and vegetables) well.
- Prepare fish and meat dishes correctly.
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 time it takes for the larvae to migrate through the body is one to two weeks.
Giardia are very small, single-celled microorganisms that live in stagnant water.The disease it causes 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 food.
- When drinking raw milk or unboiled water.
After Giardia establishes itself in a person's small intestine, it can infect other people within 10 days.After some time, giardiasis becomes chronic.The cause of giardiasis cough is allergic reactions that occur when the body is poisoned by waste products of parasites.If someone is infected with Giardia, the disease often ends in bronchial asthma.
One of the main dangers of giardiasis is the lack of pronounced symptoms in the initial stages that would allow an accurate diagnosis of the disease.The release of worms from the body occurs episodically, so it is not always possible to detect Giardia cysts in the stool.Before you can confidently diagnose the disease, you need to take samples for analysis several times.
In addition to roundworms and lamblia, the symptom can also be caused by Toxocara, which is also called dog roundworm due to its widespread occurrence in dogs.Once in the bronchi, the larvae trigger allergic reactions.
Types of helminths that affect children
If a child develops a cough and a cold is ruled out, there are serious reasons to believe that he may be infected with helminths.Since it can be a reaction to different types of worms, only laboratory testing can determine which specific helminth is responsible.
Attention!Most often, helminthic cough is observed in young children.
It is not surprising that parents often mistake it for a cold symptom and begin to treat it with generally accepted drugs that, due to their specific action, actually eliminate the problem.At the same time, however, the cause, namely helminth infestation, remains unsolved.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 capable of traveling through the body and reaching the respiratory tract.These parasites include roundworms and lamblia.Their sexually mature individuals live in the intestines, but the larvae of the parasites have the ability to penetrate the respiratory tract with the blood, irritate the receptors and cause allergic reactions.
Some of the larvae are ejected, the others are swallowed and return to the intestine, where the next life cycle of the parasite begins.Some of the larvae remain in the respiratory system and disrupt its function.
Toxocara and lung fluke
The most dangerous for the respiratory system are flatworms, especially leeches and toxocaras.After settling in the lungs, they cause paragonimiasis and toxocariosis - serious diseases associated with the destruction of lung tissue and a progressive inflammatory process.
Penetration of flatworms into the child's lungs causes coughing.If left untreated, the inflammatory process progresses and enters a stage accompanied by the formation of mucus.Sputum coughed up may contain blood.This alarming phenomenon should force parents to urgently consult an infectious disease doctor.
Important!When infected with a leech, the formation 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 this is actually the case.A cough caused by worms is usually dry and can easily be confused with 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 of worms and the decomposition of dead individuals.
There are not that many worms and other parasites that affect the respiratory tract.These are:
- roundworms;
- Giardia;
- Fluke;
- Echinococcus tapeworm.
Ascariasis
Roundworms are very common, so coughing against the background of ascariasis is a typical phenomenon.Roundworm infection occurs through the traditional routes for helminthiasis.These include contact with the soil, eating unwashed fruits and vegetables, and dirty hands.
Ascaris larvae cause the problem by mechanically attacking the tissues of the respiratory system.This happens during the migration phase of the parasite.The mechanism and sequence of effects of roundworms on the human respiratory system are as follows.
Once in the gastrointestinal tract, roundworm eggs, under the influence of their own enzymes and digestive juices, shed their shell and transform into larvae.The latter have the ability to penetrate through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream.They are then transported through the body in the blood and reach the liver, heart, lungs and respiratory tract.
There are cilia on the mucous membrane of the trachea that move the larva upwards with their reflex movements.In this case, the receptors are irritated and coughing occurs, which propels the helminths into the mouth, from where they are either spit out or swallowed and return to the intestines.
For your information!Cough with ascariasis is usually a short-term phenomenon.However, if the infestation is recurrent in nature, it can become almost permanent.
Giardiasis
Although Giardia is a microscopic creature, it causes very serious damage to the body.Giardia's natural habitat is stagnant water.They enter the human body by eating dirty or poorly processed foods or drinking uncooked milk or water.Transmission from infected people and animals is possible.
The main location of Giardia is the intestines.Parasites only need 10 days from the time of infection until the larvae hatch from the eggs.Penetrating through the intestinal walls, they enter the blood and thereby enter the organs of the respiratory system, disrupting their functioning and causing coughing.
Lung fluke
The fluke lives in pairs in the lungs and forms cysts in the bronchi.The infestation occurs when crabs and crayfish infected with the parasite are consumed.In the gastrointestinal tract, the pulmonary fluke penetrates the peritoneum and enters the lungs through the diaphragm, causing the patient to cough persistently.
The small worm lung fluke, which belongs to the class of trematodes, is “specialized” in parasitizing specifically in the lungs.It causes much more serious problems in the respiratory system than, for example, roundworms.
Infiltrates and hemorrhages occur at the site of localization, creating cavities filled with rotting metabolites of worms, dead parasites and lung tissue.The damage caused by the lung fluke is compounded by the fact that it is a long-liver that can live in the host's body for up to 20 years.
To cope with this dangerous parasite, treatment under strict medical supervision is required.Only he can choose an effective drug, which should vary from case to case.
However, the championship in terms of “harmfulness” does not belong to the lung fluke, but to the larvae of Alveococcus and Echinococcus.These are small (up to 7 mm long) tapeworms that are transmitted by wolves, coyotes, dogs, jackals, foxes, wild and domestic cats without causing much harm to themselves.
Helminths of the trematode class (digenetic flukes) and trichinella roundworms cause allergic cough, which can be particularly severe in children.
Runny nose due to helminthiasis and other parasites
A runny nose is much less often caused by the presence of helminths.This manifestation is not at all typical 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 (accidental, uncharacteristic) localization, enter the nasal passages and cause a runny nose and nasal congestion.
If we talk about non-helminthic parasitic diseases, as an example of an infestation that causes a runny nose and profuse mucous discharge from the nose, we can cite nasal myiasis, which are the larvae of horseflies 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 allergenic reaction to Giardia waste.
Roundworms do not cause a runny nose or nasal congestion.
Conclusion
If a cough occurs due to helminthiasis, treatment should include antiparasitic therapy aimed at killing worms.In such cases, taking cold tablets means that the treatment is not directed against the disease itself, but rather against its symptoms.