What are the names of worms that can live in the human body?

Worms or helminths are parasites that live, feed, grow and reproduce in the human body, in other words, use it to implement their life cycle. According to various statistics, there are from 300 to 500 species of worms in the world that are dangerous to people. Their prevalence differs by country and depends on the level of sanitary culture of the population and the socio-economic development of the region. But even in enlightened European countries, symptoms of helminthiasis are found in a third of the inhabitants. Worm larvae can enter the human body in different ways, depending on their development cycle. The names of worms in humans, their varieties, as well as methods of infection, symptoms and methods of treating helminthiasis are information that is relevant for the majority of the world's population.

What types of worms are there?

Over many years of evolution, parasites have ideally adapted to live at the expense of other living beings, without arousing suspicion in the immune system for a long time, so symptoms of worms in humans do not appear immediately, and may be completely absent or mildly expressed.

Worms are able to penetrate the body unnoticed, camouflage themselves, destroy tissues and organs, and poison the human body with toxins, living in it for a long time.

Some types of worms are dangerous only to humans, while others are parasitic in animals. Their sizes vary from microscopic to gigantic sizes (15 or more meters in length). About three dozen parasites are common, including protozoan single-celled creatures. Among all the diversity, there are 3 main groups of helminths depending on the characteristics of their life cycle:

1. Contact worms- found only in humans, have a simple development cycle that does not require more than one host. Typical representatives are pinworms; these are the most common intestinal worms in children. Infection occurs in families, children's groups, public places through unwashed hands, household items (toys, books, curtains, etc. ) on which mature eggs of these worms have fallen, as well as through inhalation of dust.
2. Group of geohelminths– their eggs must first mature in soil, water or sand. They enter the human body through the mouth with unwashed berries, vegetables or herbs (like roundworms and whipworms) or through the skin (like hookworms).
3. Biohelminths– have a complex life cycle with a change of hosts. These worms appear in humans by eating poorly washed vegetables or raw water (echinococcus), animal meat contaminated with larvae (bovine or pork tapeworm), planed fish and caviar (wide tapeworm), river fish (fluke or liver fluke) or through the bloodstream (filaria).

Types of worms

All types of helminths are divided into 3 classes according to morphological characteristics:

1. Nematode class (roundworms)– roundworms, pinworms, hookworms, whipworms, trichinella. Roundworms are distinguished by the presence of separate sexes and have different sizes - from 1 cm (female pinworm) to 40 cm (ascaris).
2. Class of trematodes (they are usually called flukes)– Siberian fluke (cat fluke), schistosomes. They are always biohelminths and hermaphrodites, equipped with various devices for suction and attachment to organs inside a person.
3. Class of cestodes (type of flatworms)- These are long tape parasites. These include the wide tapeworm, pork and bovine tapeworm - this is the largest worm, capable of growing up to 20 meters in length. Flatworms feed on the entire surface of the body, are hermaphrodites and biohelminths. Echinococcus is considered the smallest representative of cestodes.

What the world of worms is all about is great diversity and exceptional survival. The class of trematodes and cestodes are 100% parasites, but roundworms are heterogeneous, there are several tens of thousands of species, but not everyone likes to parasitize the human body. Most helminths lay eggs that can survive in the external environment for several months, and Trichinella is a viviparous individual.

In the human body, worms live not only in the intestines; some of them prefer to be located in the liver, pulmonary parenchyma, brain, skin, muscle tissue and even in the eyeballs.

Worms can be long-lived; for example, a cysticercus can live in the brain for many years; the growth of an hydatid cyst continues for up to 10 years.

About roundworms

What worms are most common:

1. Pinworms- live in the lower parts of the small intestine and throughout the large intestine of humans; females lay eggs around the anus at night, causing a characteristic sign of enterobiasis in humans - itching. The transmission of worms between people occurs through dirty hands (eggs of these worms under the nails of children are very often found), bedding, and household items. The eggs are very light and can be transmitted through the air with dust; they remain viable for up to six months. These are the least toxic of the worms. Human feces do not contain them; for diagnosis it is necessary to take a scraping from the perianal area.
2. Ascaris- a large worm with a curved, hook-shaped end; a mature individual can reach a length of up to half a meter. The eggs ripen in the soil and enter the stomach and small intestine with unwashed berries, vegetables or herbs. The released larvae gnaw through the intestinal wall, penetrating the venous hepatic vessels, from there, with the blood flow, they rush into the lungs, right parts of the heart, sometimes into the brain and eyes, and inflammation develops in these organs. When coughing, sputum with larvae enters the mouth and is swallowed again into the gastrointestinal tract, where mature individuals develop, laying eggs after a month. These worms are brown or reddish in color because they hijack red blood cells. The lifespan of roundworm is up to 2 years. For diagnosis, stool is tested for worm eggs.
3. Whipworm- a hair-thin worm, about 5 cm long with a pointed end, with which it clings to the inner surface of the intestinal wall. The eggs mature in the soil, from where they penetrate into the intestines, and the larvae emerge here. Whipworms feed on blood and like to stay inside the cecum and appendix, often causing inflammation and anemia. Life expectancy is about 3-4 years. To detect it, you need to test your stool for worm eggs.
4. Trichinella- a small round worm that moves between predators and livestock. A person becomes infected by eating meat with larvae; in the intestines, after a couple of days, a mature individual of Trichinella is formed, which then gives birth to live larvae. Through the blood they can infect the entire body, but they prefer skeletal muscles, where they remain for up to 5 years.

About tapeworms and flukes

What types of worms cause the greatest harm to the human body:

1. Bull tapeworm (popularly called tapeworm)- is considered the largest worm in humans (up to 15-20 meters) with a body in the form of a ribbon of thousands of individual segments, among which the most mature are in the tail and fall off as the eggs in them mature. These fragments are the size of a human fingernail, they fall on the ground, grass, and then end up in the body of cattle. A person becomes infected through the meat of cows. The bovine tapeworm can live in the small intestine of a person for up to 10 years; it feeds through the entire surface of its body. For diagnosis, feces are examined.
2. Pork tapeworm– similar to a bull tapeworm, but shorter in length. If a person becomes infected with larvae, the tapeworm grows in his small intestine; when infested by eggs, the larvae migrate and can infect any organ.
3. Wide tapeworm– their type of worm is flat, more than 12 meters long. A person becomes infected by eating poorly salted caviar, dried or undercooked fish. It can settle in the small intestine for decades, constantly releasing mature segments with larvae into the environment.
4. Echinococcus- the smallest parasite of the class of cestodes. Over the course of several years, its larvae form cysts, which can be located in different organs and reach 10 cm or more in diameter. Infection occurs from dogs or sick livestock. The course is characterized by a pronounced clinical picture and the risk of complications.
5. Feline (liver) fluke- a small worm that enters the human body by consuming poorly cooked freshwater fish, lives in the lumen of the small intestine, inside the bile and pancreatic ducts, can multiply quickly and live up to two decades.

Despite the wide variety of species, it is possible to determine quite accurately which worm lives in the human body using modern diagnostic methods and the old proven test - feces for helminth eggs.

Treatment is carried out after confirmation of the diagnosis and prescription of the attending physician.