A person is attacked by various pathological microorganisms. Some are transmitted by airborne droplets, others through the blood. How to deal with blood infections, and what are the reasons for their occurrence?
What is a blood infection?
This is an infectious disease that occurs when pathogenic microflora enters the body through the blood. Recently, such microorganisms often affect human health. The causative agents of blood infections are viruses, protozoa, bacteria and rickettsia. They are constantly in the circulatory system, that is, in a confined space, and cannot freely leave the human body.
These include especially dangerous infections such as plague, yellow fever, malaria, and typhoid. These diseases are most often carried by insects: ticks, fleas, lice. Such a blood infection is transmitted through the saliva of an insect from one person or animal to another at the moment when this insect bites them. This type of disease also includes HIV infection and viral hepatitis. They can enter the human body through infected tools, through sexual contact.
What types of these diseases are there?
There are two types of blood infection: transmissive and non-transmissible. Transmissible blood infections are transmitted by living things. These include plague, malaria, hemorrhagic fevers, typhus. The source of such infections can be a sick person or animal, and insects can transmit.
Pathogens while in the body of parasites are constantly multiplying. Pathogenic microorganisms can be found not only in the saliva of an insect, but also in its body, or on its surface. A person can be infected not only with a bite, but with crushing a parasite.
Non-transmissible blood infections are transmitted directly from person to person during contact.
Infectious processes in the blood can be bacterial and viral. Blood viral infections occur when a pathogen of the corresponding type enters the human body. It can be a human immunodeficiency virus or viral hepatitis. Bacterial blood infections occur when a bacterium, such as the causative agent of malaria, enters the body.
Blood Transmission Routes
Among the ways of transmitting blood infections , there are:
- transmissible;
- natural;
- artificial.
A blood-borne infection transmitted by a vector-borne transmission, that is, when infected through blood, occurs when some insects bite.
The natural route of transmission of this pathology occurs from mother to fetus, during breastfeeding, during sexual intercourse.
Artificially, a person can become infected if the pathogen enters the damaged skin and mucous membranes during medical procedures and operations through poorly processed instruments. A person can be infected by blood transfusion by transfusion of infected blood. Injecting drug addicts can infect each other when using two or more people using the same syringe.
The role of parasites in transmission
Several types of parasites, such as lice, can transmit infection. They parasitize only in humans, therefore they can carry infectious diseases, such as typhoid fever.
A disease such as malaria can only occur if the malarial plasmodium undergoes a developmental cycle in the female Anofeles mosquito.
In the outbreak of the plague, rodents such as rats play a huge role. Tick-borne encephalitis can be transmitted by ticks that are carriers of this infection.
Therefore, as a preventive measure of blood infections, the leading role belongs to such measures as disinfection (control of pathogenic organisms), disinsection (control of insects that spread pathogenic microorganisms), and deratization (control of wild rodents).
Signs of a blood infection in humans
When the causative agent of the infectious process enters the human body, its enhanced reproduction occurs. This is reflected both in the well-being of a person, in his appearance, as well as in laboratory and clinical indicators.
All infectious diseases transmitted through the blood have their own manifestations, but there are those that are common to all these pathologies. Symptoms of a person having blood infections are:
- rapid pulse;
- increase in body temperature;
- pain in the head area;
- weakness;
- lethargy;
- decreased appetite;
- the skin becomes pale;
- diarrhea or vomiting may occur.
Diagnostics for blood infections
If an infection is suspected in the patient’s blood, he is prescribed a clinical analysis of this biological fluid. If there is an infectious focus in the analysis results, an increase in the number of leukocytes, sticks will be noted, and ESR will increase. If you suspect malaria, make a blood smear on a thick drop.
Be sure to examine the urine for a general analysis. With far-reaching processes, renal function is impaired, which will also affect laboratory indicators.
Mandatory for suspected infectious blood processes are biochemical blood tests. At the same time, blood is tested for HIV and syphilis (these tests are mandatory for any hospitalization and preventive medical examination).
If bacterial infections are suspected, bacteriological culture is performed.
Treating such an infection
Most blood infections are life-threatening conditions. Therefore, all patients suspected of this disease are hospitalized. For each infectious disease - its own specific treatment. But almost everyone requires the appointment of antibiotic therapy, a large number of vitamins and minerals that help the body cope with the disease.
Detoxification therapy is also prescribed in the form of intravenous drip infusions of glucose, Ringer's solution, physiological saline.
Prevention of such diseases
To protect yourself from infections transmitted through the blood, you must follow the rules of personal hygiene. After visiting the toilet, be sure to wash your hands with soap. Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly with warm water before eating. Keep clean bedding, personal hygiene. It is important to ensure a constant cleanliness of the body, man’s clothes, his shoes. This is to prevent infection in the house.
Blood infections are also prevented at the state level, with the help of certain programs for draining wetlands, examinations, and so on. In order to get rid of overweight in medical institutions and various organizations, a medical check is periodically conducted. After resting in the forest, it is important to examine yourself and children in order to avoid ticks getting under the skin. From pathogens on the skin, constant hand washing will help. It is important to fight lice, to destroy mosquitoes and various rodents. On the windows in the summer, you should hang a mosquito net.
Also, to prevent viral blood infections, promiscuous sexual contact should be avoided. For medical procedures, use only sterile instruments and gloves.