Drugs for worms in humans are divided into means of a wide and narrow spectrum of action. They are used for various forms of helminthiases. I must say that earlier, adults and children could get rid of worms only by taking alternative medicines: garlic, pumpkin seeds, extract of male fern, henopodia oil, all kinds of herbs (wormwood, tansy, etc.). Nowadays, the pharmaceutical industry has stepped far forward. Today, a variety of synthetic preparations for worms are produced, which are not only more effective compared to traditional medicine, but sometimes less dangerous.
Which medicine to choose?
The appointment of any anthelmintic medication should be carried out by a doctor, since different drugs for worms have different activity, that is, they affect different groups of parasites. In Russia today more than seventy types of helminths that are capable of affecting the human body have spread. Pinworms are the most common and well-known infestations found in many schoolchildren. Also, ascarids and giardia are often detected in children. When treatment for worms in children is required, drugs are selected taking into account age, type of infestation and available contraindications. In the arsenal of doctors today there are a lot of anthelmintic drugs, but the most commonly prescribed drugs are Vermox, Pirantel, Dekaris, Vormil, Nemozol.
As already mentioned, all parasites are divided into groups. There are three of them: roundworms (nematodes), tapeworms (cestodes) and flatworms (trematodes). Each group is sensitive only to certain medications, therefore, in order to understand which preparations for worms to use, you must first find out the type of affected helminth. The choice in favor of a particular medicine also depends on the general state of human health.
Nematode preparations
This group of parasites includes pinworms, trichinella, roundworm, toxocar and whipworm. Pinworms and roundworms most often affect people; other helminths are much less common. The best drugs for nematode worms are:
- means "Dekaris" (active ingredient - levamisole);
- medicines "Vermox", "Vormin", Vermakar "," Piperazin "," Mebex "," Vero-Mebendazole "(the active substance is mebendazole);
- medicines "Nemozol", Vormil "(the active substance is albendazole);
- preparations “Pyrantel”, “Nemocide”, “Helminthox”, “Combantrin” (the active substance is pyrantela pamoate);
- medicines "Pirivinium", "Pirkon", "Vanquin" (the active substance is pyrrhine embonate);
- Medamine medicines (the active substance is carbendacim).
Extraintestinal nematodoses should be treated with other means: Ivermek (active ingredient - ivermectin), Ditrazine citrate (active ingredient - diethylcarbamazine).
All these preparations for worms in humans act only on adults, but do not have a significant effect on larvae and eggs, as a result of which, even after taking the medicine, repeated self-infection is possible. To avoid this, the course should be repeated two weeks after the initial therapy.
When worms are treated in children , the drugs in most cases are used the same as in adults, but at a lower dosage. For greater efficiency in removing parasites from the body, you can drink a laxative or take enemas along with taking medications.
Drugs from cestodes
This group of helminths includes an extensive list of names: teniarchinoses, cenoroses, sparganoses, dipyliidioses, echinococcoses, hymenolepidoses (dwarf tapeworms), alveococcoses, tenioses and cysticercoses (pork tapeworms), tenidioses (bovine tapeworms), diphyllobotrioses (wide).
The preparations from worms in this group are used as follows:
- Medication "Fenasal" (the active substance is niclosamide). It is used in the presence of any intestinal tapeworms.
- The medicine "Akrikhin" (the active substance is mepacrine). Eliminates infestations with dwarf and bull tapeworm, wide ribbon. Also effective for giardiasis.
- Means "Nemozol" (the active substance is albendazole). We already mentioned about it, it is effective both with nematodoses and with mixed invasions, giardiasis, echinococcus, neurocysticercosis and even extraintestinal cestodoses.
Trematode preparations
This is a very wide class of helminths, including parasites such as clonorchoses (Chinese flukes), opisthorchoses (cat flukes), paraganimoses (pulmonary flukes), fascioliasis (hepatic flukes), watsonioses (liver flukes), cercarioses, dicrocelioses ( lanets) , schistosomiasis, gastrodiscoidosis, nanophytosis, heterophyosis, methorchosis, fasciolopsidosis, eurythremosis.
For parasitic infestations of this group, the following medications are used:
- Means "Biltricid", "Cysticide", "Cesol", "Azinox" (the active substance is praziquantel). They have a wide range of activity and are used to treat many types of worms from the class of flatworms.
- Preparations "Bithionol", "Chloxyl". These agents are intended for the treatment of extraintestinal trematodoses.
Worm tablets for prevention
Many people wonder about the advisability of using anthelmintic drugs for preventive purposes. On this score, the opinions of experts differ. Some believe that worm pills are not necessary for prevention, because the medicine taken today does not protect against the risk of infection, say, tomorrow. To avoid invasion, you must follow the rules of personal hygiene, wash after the toilet and before eating hands, regularly change underwear. This will be the prevention. And in vain taking drugs from worms, which, by the way, are very toxic, a person only loads his body in vain.
Other experts do not agree with this opinion. They say that if there are children of preschool or primary school age in the family, adults and children need to take preventive medication from worms every six months.
Helminths in children
Preschoolers and schoolchildren in our country have a very high level of pinworm infection (enterobiosis). At the same time, scraping often gives a false negative result, and symptoms can be mild. As a result, parents may not even know that parasites live in their body in their child. In this regard, experts say, it is simply necessary to take Pirantel prophylactically every six months, a medicine for enterobiasis. Pinworms are very easy to pick up - they are transmitted by shaking hands, through household items, door handles, clothes, bedding, animal hair. Therefore, children from an early age need to be accustomed to hygiene. If the child does not wash his hands after the toilet, the street and before eating, does not carry out a daily change of underwear, then constant self-infection (reinfestation) can occur.
It happens that a child complains of nausea, itching in the anus and abdominal pain, but at the same time scraping for enterobiosis does not reveal infection with pinworms. In such a situation, parents should insist that the doctor do two repeated tests: the next day and two weeks later. When diagnosing a child's enterobiosis, the whole family should be treated.
Indications for the prophylactic administration of anthelmintic drugs
- Frequent contact with the ground (in children who like to play in the sandbox, among rural residents).
- Presence of pets (for prophylaxis, pets can be given drops from Profender worms).
- The regular presence of the child in a closed children's team.
- Frequent trips to exotic countries.
- Football, beach volleyball.
- Hobbies such as fishing and hunting.
Worm preparations for pregnant women
As it has already become clear, helminths can affect absolutely any person, and especially often they settle in the body of weakened people. A frequent case when parasites are found in pregnant women. However, during the period of carrying the baby, it is forbidden to take funds from worms, because they are so toxic that they can cause more harm to the fetus than the helminthic invasion itself . In exceptional cases, pregnant women are allowed to take the drug "piperazine", but only as prescribed by the doctor and not in the first trimester.
In the presence of pinworms, self-healing is possible, because these parasites live only a couple of weeks, and if hygiene is carefully observed and underwear is steamed every day, the risk of reinvasion is minimized.
Finally
Want to save yourself the trouble of taking toxic anthelmintic drugs? Then do not neglect the basic rules of personal and intimate hygiene, wash your hands regularly with soap after coming from the street, visiting the toilet, and contact with pets. Also, do not forget to wash fruits and vegetables before eating. Be healthy!