Echinococcosis: what is it? Diagnosis and treatment of echinococcosis

Surely many people have heard of such a disease as echinococcosis. What it is? What are the causes of the disease? What symptoms are accompanied and with what danger is it conjugated? This information will be interesting for many readers.

Echinococcosis - what is it?

Parasitic diseases can hardly be considered a rarity in the modern world. And often in medical practice they face a disease called echinococcosis. What it is? In fact, this is a relatively rare ailment that develops against the background of penetration into the body of the larvae of the Echinococcus glanulosus chain echinococcus.

The disease is accompanied by the formation of cysts inside the human body, which spread, damaging certain organs, which, accordingly, leads to a violation of their work. In the absence of timely and proper treatment, the ailment leads to severe, dangerous complications.

Epidemiology of the disease

As already mentioned, to date, echinococcosis is considered a relatively rare disease. On the other hand, in some countries and regions it is extremely common. For example, outbreaks are often observed in South American countries, including Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina. Disease is also often diagnosed among residents of North Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Southern Europe, India, Japan and some others.

As for Russia, here the outbreaks of echinococcosis are mainly recorded in regions where livestock farming is developed. These are the Samara, Orenburg, Volgograd and Rostov regions, as well as Stavropol, Altai, Khabarovsk, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and some other areas. On the territory of Ukraine, the disease is spread, mainly in the southern regions.

Description of the adult form of the pathogen

Echinococcus granulosis is the causative agent of a disease called echinococcosis. The photo shows the adult form of the parasite. In fact, this is the smallest tapeworm, whose body length does not exceed 8-9 mm. The sexually mature form of the worm has a head, neck and body, consisting of 3-4 segments. The head of the parasite is "equipped" with four suckers and two rows of hooks.

Getting into the body of the final host, echinococcus with the help of suckers and hooks is fixed on the mucosa of the small intestine, where it reaches sexual maturity and begins to multiply. As a rule, the last segment on the body of the parasite contains eggs. These segments from time to time come off, resulting in eggs fall into the external environment, together with the feces of the animal.

Echinococcal cyst and its vital functions

Man is an intermediate host for echinococcus - in his body the parasite does not reach sexual maturity and does not multiply. That is why in modern medicine the defeat of a person by this parasite is a kind of biological impasse.

After penetration into the body, the development of the worm larva begins. By the way, echinococcosis is most often diagnosed in children, as the likelihood of infection increases with non-compliance with hygiene rules, which is not uncommon in young patients. Under the influence of digestive juices, the embryo is released from the membrane and penetrates into the mucous tissues of the gastrointestinal tract. Already from here, it easily enters the blood and lymph, along with the current which quickly spreads to different organs. Most often, the liver and lungs, although it is possible to defeat any other structure. Here the transformation of the embryo into a larva of a bubbly form occurs, which is called a cyst.

How does the infection occur?

As already mentioned, the final owners of echinococcus are dogs, less often - cats. Eggs of mature chains are excreted together with feces, then fall into the external environment: to the ground, grass, vegetables, fruits, etc. Of course, you can catch the infection by using unwashed food products that somehow contacted the infected calves.

In addition, the pathogen penetrates into the human body together with insufficiently roasted or boiled meat. And the infection is transmitted by physical contact with infected dogs. By the way, this is why echinococcosis in children is quite common, because they often forget to wash their hands.

The main symptoms of the disease

Most often, echinococcosis in children is diagnosed, although the likelihood of the disease appearing in a more adult age is also quite high. To date, it is common to distinguish four stages of the disease:

• Latent stage, on which subjective symptoms are practically absent. At this time, there is a person's infection, localization of the oncosphere and its gradual growth. It should be noted that the duration of this stage largely depends on the location of the cyst - in some people the disease does not make itself felt for many years.
• At the second, initial stage of echinococcosis, there are subjective symptoms. It can be from time to time, emerging soreness, discomfort or weakness. Most often, patients write off everything for general malaise, inaccuracies in nutrition, etc.
• The third stage is accompanied by severe symptoms, which is associated with a significant increase in the size of the cyst. Education begins to squeeze adjacent tissues, including vessels, nerve endings, bile ducts, etc.
• The fourth stage is said in cases where complications are observed in patients. The most dangerous is the rupture of the cyst.

Hepatic form of the disease

Most often, echinococcosis (pictured above) affects the liver. According to statistics, in more than 70% of cases oncospheres of the pathogen are localized in the liver tissues. At the first stages the disease proceeds without any symptoms.

In the second stage, there are signs such as nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite. Patients also complain of persistent weakness and decreased performance. From time to time, there are stitching pains in the region of the right hypochondrium. Sometimes the soreness also extends to the epigastric zone. There are also changes in the stool, which is associated with a violation of the normal processes of digestion.

At the third stage, the patient's state of health deteriorates significantly. Perhaps the development of an abscess, severe pain in the upper abdomen, as well as an increase in temperature. Cyst rupture is the most dangerous complication to which liver echinococcosis can lead. Treatment in this case should be carried out immediately, since the ingress of the contents of the cyst into tissues and blood is fraught with an intense allergic reaction up to the development of anaphylactic shock.

Pulmonary form of echinococcosis

Echinococcosis of the lungs is the second most widespread form of this disease. As in the previous case, cysts of small size can not create any inconvenience. But as this structure grows, the tissues of the lung, bronchial tubes, and vessels are squeezed.

At the initial stages, echinococcosis of the lungs is accompanied by problems with breathing. In particular, patients often complain of shortness of breath and occasional pain in the chest. In addition, there is a cough. At first, he is dry and worries the patient mainly at night. But then, during a cough, purulent sputum begins to be released.

The rupture of the cyst is extremely dangerous and is accompanied by a severe cough, cyanosis, aspiration pneumonia and severe allergic reactions. If the cyst breaks through the pleura, there is a high probability of anaphylactic shock and instant death.

Echinococcosis of animals

As already mentioned, the intermediate hosts for echinococcus are ungulate animals, but in the role of the final appear most often dogs, wolves, less often - foxes. Echinococcosis of animals can look different - it all depends on the number of cysts in the body, as well as the quality of care for pets.

In the initial stages, as a rule, gradual depletion develops, which is associated with a violation of the digestive process. Herbivorous hoofed animals often have symptoms of liver and lung damage. As for the final hosts of the parasite, they can note the appearance of signs of exhaustion, as well as persistent diarrhea, constipation, itching in the anus.

Modern diagnostic methods

Human echinococcosis is a very dangerous disease. That's why so important diagnosis. To date, medicine offers many ways to detect the disease. The most informative analysis for echinococcosis is the so-called reaction of Katsoni, which in 90% of cases gives correct results. During the procedure, a small amount of echinococcal fluid is administered to the patient under the skin. With a positive reaction, a marked redness appears at the injection site.

Naturally, in addition the patient hand over blood, urine, and feces. Serological tests are conducted, the specificity of which is quite high. All these studies help to establish the presence of echinococcosis.

But with such a disease, it is important to discover the location of the cysts. For this purpose, various procedures are used, including computed tomography, angiography of the celiac artery (with suspicion of liver echinococcosis), and scanning with radioactive isotopes and some other techniques.

Methods of treatment of the disease

Most often in modern medicine is found liver echinococcosis. Treatment in any case is carried out exclusively surgically. Reception of antiparasitic drugs does not have the desired effect, because cysts still remain in the body, and there is always a risk of purulent lesions. Naturally, conservative therapy is necessary, but used as a preventive measure. Patients are prescribed medication before and after the removal of echinococcal cysts.

So how is echinococcosis treated? The operation is performed under general anesthesia and only after all the cysts have been found during the diagnosis. During the procedure, it is extremely important to remove the pathogen completely, with all the membranes and prevent the contents from getting onto the surrounding tissues. The most effective surgical intervention is in the initial stages. If the human body is affected by a large number of cysts, then their removal is carried out in several stages: during the first operation, the most dangerous formations are eliminated, and after some time (usually three to six months) the procedure is repeated.

To prevent complications and inflammation after surgery, patients are prescribed antiparasitic and antibacterial drugs.

Are there effective methods of prevention?

Unfortunately, there are no vaccines that can permanently protect against such a disease. Nevertheless, observing some preventive recommendations, it is possible to reduce the risk of developing such a disease as echinococcosis. What is it and how does effective prevention work?

First, it is extremely important to adhere to all sanitary and hygienic norms in agricultural areas where animals are raised. Since most often the source of the pathogen for humans are dogs, it is necessary to regularly conduct appropriate checks of watch dogs.

As for personal prophylaxis, experts recommend thoroughly washing hands before eating, and also after any direct contact with the animal. You can not drink water from natural reservoirs or contaminated sources, there are unwashed berries, fruits and vegetables, as well as eating inadequately thermally processed meat products.