Trichinosis - what is it? Symptoms, ways of infection, treatment, prevention

In nature, there is a huge number of living organisms that have adapted to lead a parasitic lifestyle. And they can live not only at the expense of animals, and many of them feel great in the human body. The whole trouble is that these parasites not only poison with the products of their vital activity, but also provoke the development of many diseases. Trichinosis also belongs to this. What is this, we will discuss further in the article.

Trichinosis is ...

This disease refers to the infectious. Its carriers are Trichinella. These roundworms use the host's body to live and reproduce. Most often there is trichinosis of animals, mostly carnivores. The most susceptible to infection are bears, foxes, walruses, wild boars, wolves, horses.

A person can easily catch this disease if the heat treatment of the meat of infected animals is not well enough.

Pathogens of the disease

The causative agents of the disease are small helminths of Trichinella spiralis, their body is covered with a strong cuticle. Dimensions vary from 1.2 mm to 4 mm. It can be noted that the female after fertilization becomes almost twice as long. The parasitic way of life of these worms has led to the fact that they have a special adaptation in the form of a stiletto for attachment in the intestines of the host. The sexual system achieves the greatest development in the body of all parasites.

These parasitic worms are found around the globe, except for Australia, but most often the disease (trichinosis) is diagnosed in the northern hemisphere. Disease among people is also more common in those places where there are large natural habitats of these parasites.

The sources of infection for humans are domestic and wild animals affected by trichinosis.

The mechanism of infection

People are quite susceptible to this disease, they only need 10-15 grams of infected meat to catch trichinosis. What it is, many have to explain. But lovers of meat with blood do not always believe that they can become masters for parasitic worms.

Infection can occur if you eat a little meat that is poorly cooked or roasted. The source of the disease can be and fat. Quite often, infection is massive, for example, children and adults, members of the same company who have consumed contaminated meat, fall ill in one family.

The larvae of the pathogens of this disease die only at a temperature of at least 80 degrees, so the usual salting or smoking on the vitality of worms does not affect.

The life cycle of Trichinella

These parasites belong to viviparous worms. Most often parasitic organisms have a main host, where an adult worm lives, and an intermediate, in which the larva develops. For trichinella it is the same organism. It can be many mammals, but not man.

In the animal organism, for example, if we consider trichinosis of pigs, adult worms live in the small intestine, and at the stage of the larva they prefer striated muscle.

After the person eats the meat of a sick animal, poorly thermally processed, the larvae in the digestive system emerge from the capsules and after a while enter the small intestine. After about 24 hours, young individuals become females or males, which, with the help of a stylet, attach to the intestinal wall and start copulating.

During the time of parasitism in the body, one female produces about 1.5 thousand of its kind. This period lasts no more than 2 months. Larvae gradually penetrate into the lymphatic and blood vessels, are carried throughout the body. A few days later they reach the musculature, where for 20 days the larva continues its development, after which it grows longer, reaches the invasive stage and folds into a spiral.

The tissue of the host organism responds to such an invasion, and around the larva begins to form a connecting capsule, which simultaneously protects it and passes through itself nutrients and oxygen.

Trichinosis in humans can last up to 2 years, by the end of this period capsules with larvae gradually become covered with calcium salts. In this state in this organism the parasite can not begin a new cycle of development, for this it needs to get into a new host. Only in this case the larva is released from the capsule, and the whole cycle of development is repeated.

Phases of life of the parasite

Thus, if we study the cycle of development of a parasitic worm, we can distinguish the following phases:

1. Intestinal. It begins with the moment of eating contaminated meat and ends with the process of laying larvae. The whole stage takes about 40-60 days.
2. The migration phase consists in moving the larvae along the body, which begins on the 5th-6th day of infection.
3. The muscle phase begins at the moment when the larvae of the parasites reach the muscle tissue, begin to grow there and eventually become capsules. In this condition, they can infect others and remain viable for more than a decade, passing on the disease further.

Trichinosis has such a cycle of development in the body, not only in humans, but also in animals.

Signs of the disease in humans

If the infection occurs for the first time, then at first no sensations arise, until the disease develops (trichinosis). Symptoms in humans, when the larva is only in the intestine, can be as follows:

• Indigestion disorder;
• Pain in the abdomen;
• fatigue;
• There may be vomiting and nausea.

But most often people do not even suspect that all these signs can signal the presence of parasites, are more inclined to poisoning, gastrointestinal diseases, so the necessary measures are not taken in time.

But it will be very short time, and the larva will reach the muscle fibers, then the symptomatology is much more vivid:

• There are pains in the muscles;
• The body temperature rises;
• Begins to swell the face, eyes turn red and conjunctivitis develops.

• The patient has photosensitivity;
• May have headaches;
• A man complains of constant weakness and chills.

When the larvae become capsules, trichinosis enters the last stage , the symptoms in a person begin to subside, and recovery comes. But the whole danger lies in the fact that lesions that are inflicted by parasites can lead to death, so it is important to make a diagnosis on time and take all the necessary measures for treatment.

What can lead trichinosis

Now everything is clear with the disease trichinosis. We found out what it is, but it is important to understand that the disease never passes without consequences for the body, and even more so if it is not treated. Against trichinellosis there are serious pathologies of the respiratory system, there are violations in the nervous system, in the vessels and the work of the heart muscle.

Even if the therapy was carried out, it is a big blow to the entire immune system, the patient practically loses his defenses.

Quite often signs of pneumonia, myocarditis or meningoencephalitis do not appear as an independent disease, but as a consequence of a trichinosis that has been transferred. There are even deaths.

Making the right diagnosis

If you look at the statistics of erroneous statements of the diagnosis in trichinellosis, then it can be argued that this parasitic pathology has been poorly studied. Do not always with a suspicion of the disease doctors adhere to diagnostic tactics, so time is lost.

Very important, and sometimes decisive for setting the exact diagnosis of "trichinosis" have:

• Clinical examination;
• Epidemiological history;
• Specific laboratory research.

Due to the fact that the symptoms of the disease are very similar to the manifestation of other diseases, an erroneous diagnosis is often made: influenza, ARVI, dysentery and others.

Doctors should remember and know that the main distinguishing features of this invasion are fever accompanied by muscle pains, face swelling, bleeding in sclera, pain in the eyes. Laboratory tests show persistent eosinophilia and leukocytosis.

Clarify the situation can only laboratory methods, which can be divided into two groups:

1. Parasitological;
2. Immunological.

The first group of methods is based on the detection of larvae in meat and in the biopsy of the patient's muscle fibers. Immunological diagnostic methods include:

• Allergological studies;
• Application of serological techniques.

Allergological methods are poorly developed, therefore, they are practically not used for diagnosis. The serological reactions that are practiced include:

• The coagulation reaction of complement;
• Ring precipitation reaction;
• Indirect hemagglutination reaction;
• linked immunosorbent assay.

The last two methods are considered the most informative and reliable in the formulation of the correct diagnosis.

Differential diagnosis of trichinosis

It is no accident that this disease is often confused with the flu or ARVI, these conditions have similar manifestations. But you need to know the differences, which are as follows:

1. In viral infections, as a rule, the head hurts in the region of the superciliary arches.
2. Symptoms of respiratory tract damage are more pronounced in case of influenza and viral diseases.
3. Less pronounced pain in the muscles.

You can still confuse trichinosis with paratyphoid or typhoid fever, but you should keep in mind that with these diseases the symptoms increase gradually, the patients become inhibited, anorexia appears, thickens and becomes covered with a gray-dirty coating of the tongue.

An important stage of diagnosis is also the differentiation of trichinosis from other types of invasion. That is why laboratory diagnostic methods are so necessary.

Disease therapy

In order not to struggle with the consequences of the disease, it is important to know, especially to hunters, how to check the boar for trichinosis. You can always send your booty to a specialized laboratory and conduct a veterinary and sanitary examination.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to extract the parasite from the muscle tissue, but you can do your best to remove the symptoms and destroy the source of infection. It is important to understand: the earlier the correct diagnosis is made and the adequate treatment is started, the less traumatic will be the consequences for the organism.

More often, if the diagnosis of "trichinosis" is diagnosed, the treatment includes the application of the following actions:

• Application of antiparasitic drugs. At the initial stage, it can be Albendazole, Mebendazol. It is important to appoint them when the parasite is in the intestine.

• The use of steroid drugs to stop the inflammatory process, which can develop against the background of migration of larvae.
• Taking anesthetics will help to reduce pain in the muscles.

If trichinosis occurs in severe form, the treatment is performed in a hospital. The doctor should warn the patient that another 6 months after recovery, there may be pain in the muscles.

Preventive work

Prevention of trichinosis is simple enough, but it will save you from such an insidious disease. All that is required is to correctly and carefully select the meat for cooking and heat it for a long time.

This is especially true for connoisseurs of meat of wild animals who, after hunting, like to cook themselves at the stake directly on the edge of the forest. In order not to spread trichinosis of pigs, even slaughter of pets should be carried out after sanitary control. Keep raw meat only in a frozen form, larvae can withstand a low temperature for several days, so freeze meat should be at least a week and with the thermometer not higher than minus 23 degrees. Meat that is purchased through stores, as a rule, should not pose a danger to human health, since before implementation it necessarily passes veterinary-sanitary inspection.

We disassembled the disease trichinosis, what is it, found out. And you can draw only one conclusion from all this. The health of every person is in his hands, and you need to take it seriously and responsibly. It must be remembered that dangers can lie in wait, even where we do not expect them at all.