In the world there are thousands of small, sometimes microscopic, parasites that destroy the strong, intelligent, almost omnipotent creation of nature - man. One of these killers is a tapeworm called pork tapeworm. It causes a severe disease of cysticercosis, the symptoms and treatment outcome of which depend on the location of the worm in the human body. You can pick it up as simple as possible, but sometimes it is impossible to cure it. They say that to deal with the enemy, you need to know him by sight. Let's learn more about the parasite and find out why cysticercosis is so dangerous, or, as they say, pork tapeworm.
Helminth life cycle
This tapeworm is also called pork tapeworm. An adult has a tiny (up to 3 mm) head and a very long (up to 6 m) jointed body. On the head there are suckers and hooks with which the parasite clings to the body of the host. Every year, the worm lays about 600 million eggs, which with feces can settle on the ground or grass. To develop, they need an intermediate host. When eggs enter the pig’s stomach (rabbit, hare, dog, wild boar), a larva (oncosphere) hatches from them, looking like a transparent ball with hooks. With the help of these tools, the larvae drill the walls of the stomach, penetrate the victim into the bloodstream and with its flow are distributed to all organs. Once in place, the oncospheres grow to a pea called a cysticercus. There is fluid inside it. If you look closely, you can see dents on the peas. These are the underdeveloped heads of future worms. Everything. Then the tapeworm does not develop, it is waiting for a permanent owner, which only a person should become. A parasite "gives" cysticercosis, the symptoms of which are not expressed in the first stages. So the worm has enough time to gain a foothold.
Infection pathways
We often arrange picnics in nature, prepare barbecue. There is little room for hygiene. Many of us love half-baked steaks and chops. All this is good, only you need to remember that the easiest way to catch cysticercosis, the symptoms of which are difficult to distinguish from ordinary irritation and fatigue, is:
- Dirty hands.
- Poor heat-treated pork, hare, wild boar meat.
- Dirty vegetables, greens (sorrel, dill, parsley).
- Water from ponds.
That is, in order not to get sick with a deadly infection, you just need to follow basic rules. In addition to personal hygiene, it is advisable to inspect the meat before cooking. Worm larvae can be seen with the naked eye. It is even better to buy meat only with the seal of sanitary surveillance services.
Eggs get to vegetables and greens when fertilizing gardens and fields with manure taken from infected animals.
There is another way of infection with cysticercosis, when the intermediate host of the worm is not an animal, but a person. Such a disease is called teniosis (teniodosis) and it means that the parasite larvae are in the human intestines . This happens when the worm’s eggs, not the cysticerci, enter the person, that is, only the first stage of his life cycle begins. Teniosis is accompanied by frequent vomiting, during which the larvae exit with vomit through the mouth. If the patient swallows them, they enter his stomach and cysticercosis begins. Therefore, at the first signs of teniosis, and this is abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, you should immediately consult a doctor and begin treatment.
Pathogenesis and symptoms of cysticercosis
The disease begins when the cysticercus enters the stomach and / or intestines of the victim. There, gastric juice dissolves the larval membrane. The previously pressed head protrudes outward. It already has a nimbus with hooks and suction cups that help attach to the walls of the digestive organs, and then seep through them into the blood. Further, the larvae spread throughout the body, settling in the lungs, eyes, heart, brain and spinal cord, skin. Symptoms and treatment of cysticercosis depend on which organ the parasites chose as their place of residence. Developing, they increase in size, put pressure on neighboring cells, causing tangible pain to the host. The products of their vital activity poison a person. But the death of the worm brings little good. The body of the parasite can dissolve (leasing occurs). In this case, especially dangerous substances are released, often leading to allergic shock, 20% of which end in death. Sometimes a dead worm is calcified (calcified), but the inflammatory processes in the affected organs of the victim continue.
Brain damage
The most dangerous type of disease is cysticercosis of the brain. Symptoms in the first stages are as follows:
- light paresis (weakened muscles, sluggish movements);
- minor difficulties with speech;
- depression;
- hallucinations;
- Mental seizures, alternating with enlightenment;
- rave;
- forgetting current events (memory of past is preserved).
In the future appear:
- cerebral edema;
- severe headaches;
- vomiting
- epileptic seizures (followed by calm intervals).
If the cysticerci settle in the ventricles of the brain, the following are added to the symptoms:
- headaches before unconsciousness;
- respiratory failure;
- malfunctions of the heart.
The worm larvae are most often chosen by the brain (approximately 60%). They live there until the age of 18. Parasites are distributed in the superficial layers of the cerebral cortex, in the ventricles, in the meninges, and their number can approach hundreds or even thousands. Sometimes the picture of the disease resembles meningitis, a brain tumor, epilepsy, neurosyphilis. For an accurate diagnosis, a study of cerebrospinal fluid, MRI, X-ray, CSC, a blood test, in which the presence of eosinophils is determined, is performed. Surgery is performed if the larvae in the brain are few. If there are a lot of them, then they take Praziquantel. With damage to the ventricles of the brain and multiple lesions, the prognosis is extremely unfavorable.
Cysticercosis of the spinal cord
Larvae of parasites enter the spinal cord most often from the brain, but can immediately from the stomach or intestines, and settle on the roots, membranes, or in the brain itself. This is also quite severe cysticercosis, the symptoms of which are as follows:
- pain in the legs, arms, back;
- girdle pain of the abdomen and chest;
- violation of the functions of movement;
- in severe cases of paralysis.
This all happens because the larvae cause adhesions on the roots and membranes, as well as the formation of cysts. Spinal cord compression is not ruled out.
Diagnosis is carried out using a serological reaction, MRI, myelography.
There is no specific treatment.
Worm in the eyes
A very unpleasant disease is eye cysticercosis, the symptoms of which are:
- inflammation of the eye tissues (retinitis, uveitis);
- dystrophic changes in them;
- conjunctivitis;
- visual impairment up to its complete loss.
When a larva enters the eyes of a person, it lives and develops in the retina, eyeball and vitreous. Periods of visual impairment are replaced by remission, the duration of which decreases from time to time. Diagnosis is carried out using:
- ophthalmoscopy;
- biopsies;
- Blood CSC;
- CSC of cerebrospinal fluid;
- specific blood test.
Surgical treatment if possible; Praziquantel if impossible.
Affected skin
It has already been noted above what causes cysticercosis. Symptoms and treatment for damage to each organ are different. Cysticercosis of the skin, for example, can be called the most successful variant of the disease. It is a pity, it happens only in 6% of infections with pork tapeworm. In this case, the worm larvae are located in the fat layer under the skin. In those places, small tubercles appear, hollow to the touch. But they are not empty, but filled with liquid, in which the cysticercus floats. Most often, such tubercles occur on the palms of the hands, on the inner surface of the shoulders, in the muscles, in the chest area. Larva grows from two to ten centimeters in length. Symptoms may not be observed. In some cases, hives appear. Surgical treatment.
Pulmonary cysticercosis. Symptoms, signs, treatment
Cysticerci settle in the lungs even less often than in the skin, but also deliver a lot of unpleasant moments. The greatest number of them is collected in the interstitial (interstitial) tissue, less often in the peribronchial. Then they, growing, squeeze the lumen and cause inflammation. The size of the larvae in the lungs reaches 2 cm. A special capsule is formed around each. This process is accompanied by an inflammatory reaction with symptoms of pneumonia. When a parasite dies, it either dissolves or calcifies. The lungs are deformed. With x-rays, you can see these changes, as well as foci of parasites, similar to shadow spots, ranging in size from grain to cherry. There are usually no pronounced symptoms. The patient may complain of:
- cough (sometimes with sputum or streaks of blood);
- shortness of breath after exercise;
- low temperature;
- moderate chest pain.
Diagnosis includes x-rays, feces for helminths, a specific blood test for the presence of eosinophils.
Treatment is very rare and with single lesions is performed surgically. In most cases, a course of administration of Mebendazole or Parasiquantel is prescribed.
Cysticercosis during pregnancy
In other organs, such as the heart and kidneys, cysticercosis, or pork tapeworm, is extremely rare. Symptoms and treatment depend on the location. So, with heart damage in a patient, heart rhythm disturbances are noted. A small number of patients may develop heart failure.
A disease of cysticercosis during pregnancy is very dangerous, since larvae of pork tapeworm can penetrate the placenta to the fetus. In such cases, the child is born dead or with significant deviations. In addition, the uterus (cervix, mucous membrane) is affected by cysticerci. As a complication, inflammation of the appendages occurs. If the larvae choose the placenta as their place of residence, spontaneous abortion may occur. Treatment of pork tapeworm in pregnant women is complicated by possible side effects that occur with the death of parasites. Doctors often recommend terminating a pregnancy if cysticercosis of the brain, spinal cord, eyes, uterus, or placenta is found in the early stages. If a disease is detected in the later stages, the decision is made by the attending physician.