2024-03-20 05:00:32
Although they are associated with contexts of lack of basic sanitation, worm infections still remain a public health problem in Brazil.
A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 9 million children in Brazil should have taken medicine once morest this type of parasite in 2021.
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There are hundreds of worms that can parasitize the human body, most of them lodge in the intestine or skin. The most frequent are the Ascaris lumbricoides (the roundworm) and the Trichuris trichiura (the whip worm).
What are the symptoms?
Worms feed on the blood of their hosts and can also compete for specific nutrients, especially vitamin A in the case of roundworms.
Diseases caused by worms are as varied as their species, in general, however, they have similar symptoms. The worms that lodge in the intestine cause paleness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, loss of appetite and anemia.
Those that lodge in the skin cause irritation and itching. More serious cases can lead to damage to other organs, as the worms spread throughout the body, reaching the liver, lungs, eyes and even the brain.
An unfertilized egg of the Ascaris lumbricoides worm (roundworm) in a stool test How do I know if I have worms?
A simple stool test is capable of detecting the presence of worms in the body. He especially looks for the presence of eggs in the body as adult parasites only appear in examinations when the cases are more serious.
Why do children have more worms?
There are two explanations: the first is the immaturity of the body’s defense system, which is still getting used to identifying worm eggs. The second is that children are less concerned regarding hygiene.
Should I give my children deworming every year?
It is not recommended to give children yearly dewormers, as was done in the past. “Any medication should only be used with a medical prescription, even for children”, explains gastropediatrician Adriana Graziano, from Hospital da Criança in Brasília.
Giving dewormers preventatively was recommended until the 1990s, when worms were very common in Brazil. In urban areas, however, they have practically disappeared and, therefore, it is recommended that medicines once morest worms not be administered without a medical prescription.
Should I take medication preventatively?
Although some health professionals say that taking dewormers periodically helps eliminate toxins from the body, this is not a consensus in the medical community and, increasingly, representative bodies are taking a stand once morest the practice.
“Only in epidemic areas and without sanitation is this recommendation valid, but this must be a public health policy, not an individual decision”, explains professor Selma Giorgio, from the department of animal biology at Unicamp.
What is the risk of taking a dewormer unnecessarily?
When taking medications, especially albendazole, with or without worms, some side effects are to be expected. Among them: changes in intestinal flow, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and weakness.
Furthermore, taking dewormers unnecessarily can lead to the death of bacteria that help in the digestive process, the so-called microbiota. The consequences are diarrhea and a drop in the performance of the immune system.
How to avoid parasites? Wash your hands before meals and following using the bathroom; Clean food before consuming it; Use only filtered water; Avoid raw foods; Do not walk barefoot in dirt or sand environments; Take a shower and clean your hands and nails frequently; Make sure your pets are vaccinated and dewormed; Don’t share underwear.
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