Human life is constantly associated with its environment. And it not only provides us with everything necessary for a favorable life, but sometimes it also carries many dangers. And even such a pleasant thing as outdoor recreation, can turn into a completely unexpected ending. Today we will talk about what is necatorosis. Thousands of people are exposed to this disease every day, and therefore it is important to know how it manifests itself and how to protect oneself and loved ones from possible infection.
Nekator
What is necatorosis? This is a helminthic invasion that occurs as a result of the penetration of a helminth - a necator (Necator americanus) into the human body. This parasite is ubiquitous, but it is most often encountered in Africa, Asia and America. The most optimal environment for it is a tropical and subtropical climate. Therefore, if you plan to go on vacation to this part of our planet, you should be careful as much as possible.
Helminth is included in the group of small roundworms (hookworm). Necatorosis caused by the pathogen necator is distinguished by only a slight physiological difference from other small helminths. Its identification and treatment is carried out according to the general principle for all types of parasites of this group. The adult Necator worm reaches a length of 10-13 cm and has a bent head, due to which it is often called the Curved head. The helminth's oral cavity has two cutting inserts that help their owner safely eat at the expense of the owner. The life cycle of the worm is quite long - up to 15 years.
Life cycle
It is important to know how the pathogen develops in order to understand what necatorosis is and how to protect yourself from it.
The larva develops from a helminth egg that has fallen into the soil with feces in a warm and humid environment. Already after 7-10 days, the larva turns into filaria, acquires an esophagus and from this moment it becomes dangerous to humans. It actively moves and can easily get into water or food. But it is possible to become infected with necatorosis through simple contact. The nekator larva, feeling human warmth, will tend to get on the skin and penetrate under it. Once in the human body, the nekator drills its way to the blood vessels.
With blood, it travels through the body, as a result, it enters the lungs, and through them into the throat. The larva with saliva is swallowed into the stomach and from there goes to the duodenum. It is there that the final transformation of the tiny larva into a sexually mature individual takes place. After 8-10 weeks, after penetration into the body, the helminth begins to multiply actively. The eggs laid by him go out with feces, and so begins a new life cycle. You need to know what necatorosis is and understand that it is impossible for them to become infected from a sick person. This happens only if the worm egg fell into the ground, successfully turned into a larva and after it found a host.
How is it detected?
The main difficulty in the treatment is asymptomatic. But if you noted inexplicable changes or a deterioration in your health, then it is entirely possible that necatorosis was the cause. Symptoms are actively manifested only if the body of the affected person is hypersensitive or has undergone mass infection. The incubation period lasts up to 2 months, during this period an allergic or toxicological reaction may occur.
Symptoms at different stages
You should know what nekatorosis is and be mindful of your health, especially if you are at a potential risk zone. Here are a few manifestations that should raise suspicion:
- When the infection occurred through the skin, then at the injection site itching, hives, burning, and any other cutaneous manifestations may appear. With a massive lesion of the limbs, swelling may appear and last for several months. In especially severe cases, Quincke edema occurs.
- When the pathogen moves through the respiratory organs, wheezing, shortness of breath appear. Over time, pleurisy, bronchitis, and pneumonia may develop.
- If it enters the digestive system, heartburn occurs, and appetite increases. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pain in the pancreas and in the liver appear. There are cases of perversion of taste (for example, there is a desire to eat chalk or clay).
- Also causes anemia and necatorosis. Symptoms appear when the worm attaches to the surface of organs and violates their integrity, prolonged bleeding begins. Nekator himself also feeds on the host’s blood, ulcers form in the places of the leeks. There is an iron deficiency, protein is reduced in the blood. A person experiences irritability, fatigue, headaches, sleep problems.
Treatment
After finding eggs in the feces, a diagnosis is made - necatorosis. Treatment is aimed at eliminating the parasite itself and its eggs, as well as raising hemoglobin in the blood. Anthelminthic drugs are prescribed and make up for the lack of iron. Treatment takes only a few days, and in the future it is worthwhile to strengthen your health in every possible way and make sure that the infection does not happen again. Diagnoses and prescribes drugs infectious diseases specialist.
Prevention
People working or relaxing in nature should be careful, especially in hot summers. You must follow the rules of personal hygiene, wash your hands and take a shower more often, carefully process vegetables and drink only boiled water. In places with an increased risk of infection, you do not need to walk barefoot, and it is better to sprinkle fresh fruit with boiling water before eating. In hazardous areas, it is recommended to pour boiling water over it or sprinkle salt on the ground, especially if you have small children, and they need to be given special attention. Kids rarely follow safety precautions, but they will be happy to mess around in the grass.
Enterobiosis, ascariasis, hookworm infection, necatorosis - all these ailments belong to the category of diseases caused by nematodes - roundworms. Even observing all the precautions, one of them can be obtained very simply. The main thing is to comply with prevention and in case of suspicion immediately seek help. Timely treatment will help not only save you from an unpleasant disease, but also protect your health from serious problems in the future.