Horror parasites on the human body

The human body is a fertile ground for parasitic 'monsters' of parasitic horror. They eat, live, proliferate and then come back to harm us.

Horror parasites on human body

1. Botfly larvae larvae - made under the skin

Botfly belongs to the Oestroidea family, living mainly in Mexico, Central and South America. Its lifespan begins when a female botfly abducts and lays eggs on itself of an arthropod that specializes in sucking blood, such as mosquitoes or fleas . The intermediate animal that transmits the disease will then be released to continue feeding in other animals, often animals and humans.

The eggs of the botfly will spread to the host. They respond to changes in temperature when transmitted from a medium to a host and hatch into larvae. This larvae will dig to make the drive and suck the host's blood through the bite of the medium or through the pores. They make the drive swell, discharge pus and painful sores.

The larvae that make nest in the host are about 12 weeks until they grow big enough. They then crawled out, fell to the ground and developed pupae in the soil. There they make cocoons until they develop into an adult botfly and start a new life.

Treatment: the usual way is to remove the parasite larvae from the host by surgery or simply squeeze the wound to push the larvae out.

How to prevent: apply mosquito repellent, wear protective clothing, sleep in the curtain to avoid mosquito or fleas burning.

2. The fluke of Schistosoma mansoni - making a nest in the brain

Schistosoma mansoni is a species of trematode that sucks blood from mammals. They live in freshwater lakes in Africa, Asia, and South America. Their lifecycle begins when an adult worm lays eggs on blood vessels around the intestinal wall of the host. Eggs under the stool go out. When exposed to water, they hatch into tiny larvae. This larva will cling to the snails and crawl through the snail's soft body. There they grow into worm larvae, grow and gradually emerge from the snail to find a host other than the blood supply.

When cattle or humans come into contact with this water, fatty acids on the skin will attract the larvae, causing them to swim to and cling to the host. They reach an open wound or pore, releasing a chemical that breaks down the skin to make a tiny hole enough for them to swim into the host's body. Once in the host, they suck blood and develop into adult worms. They often live in blood vessels near the liver.

They mate in blood vessels and lay eggs near the intestinal wall. This egg will follow the host's faeces and start a new life cycle.

Schistosomiasis is a common disease in the tropics especially in Africa . It is estimated that about 200 million individuals worldwide are infected with this fluke each year. It can exist in the host body for decades without being detected, silently destroying organs of hosts such as liver, intestines, lungs, spleen. It can be fatal if worms stray to the brain.

In children, the disease can cause anemia, malnutrition, affecting learning ability. In some serious cases, worms move to the brain, lay eggs and nest in the brain or spinal cord, causing complications, paralysis, or even death.

Treatment: taking a worm pill containing Praziquantel paralyzes worms the most common way.

Prevention: avoid contact with contaminated water, especially wastewater.

3. Bed bugs - sucking blood

The life cycle of aphids begins with the violent mating of males when it stabs their backs with their genitalia and fertilizes eggs. The wound on the female will heal within 24 hours, after which it will start laying eggs; every day it lays about 12 eggs, and in one life cycle it can lay 500 eggs. Within 10 days, the eggs will hatch into pupae, and these pupae are immediately attracted to the warm blood of animals such as cattle or humans.

CO2 in the breath and human body temperature are attractive factors of aphids. They use their taps to suck blood from subjective hosts (during sleep) (bed bugs often live at night). After sucking up, the bugs hide to digest for about 7 days, then they appear to feed. They molt about four times before they mature, mate and start a new life.

When bites often appear itchy symptoms, redness of the bite . They also cause discomfort and discomfort in the evening.

Treatment : drugs containing antihistamine or corticosteroids are usually indicated for relief of symptoms caused by bites. Antiseptic ointments and antibiotics are also used to avoid infection. After finding a bug, it is necessary to wash all clothes, cushions, and beds to eliminate the root.

Prevention : Regular cleaning of clothes, mattresses, beds and chairs.

4. Amoeba parasites - eat brain

Naegleria fowleri is a parasite found mainly in fresh water and in soil . Their lifecycle begins in the form of cytosol on the bottom of freshwater lakes. They enter the human body through the nose when in contact with infected larvae, especially when the host swims in freshwater areas like unpasteurized rivers, lakes or pools. From the nose, they swim to the brain and spinal cord, where they begin to destroy brain tissue . When attacked by the immune system, or when the environment is unfavorable, they are able to create an armor to protect themselves. When the danger is over, they molt, begin to divide themselves and a new life begins. They are thermophilic parasites, so the disease spreads quickly in the summer.

Amoeba parasites ( Naegleria fowleri ) often cause severe encephalitis leading to death due to destroyed brain tissue. Symptoms usually appear after 2 weeks of infection, manifested in headache, fever, nausea, stiff neck. More severe, patients feel dizzy, lose balance. May also have a stroke, hallucinations. The disease process is very fast, can cause death in 3-7 days.

Treatment: no specific cure.

Prevention: avoid contact with contaminated water. Use a nose clip when swimming to limit spread.

5. Wuchereria-only worms - causing elephantiasis

Wuchereria bancrofti is a common parasite in Southeast Asia . Its life cycle begins when a mosquito infected with a worm larva sucks blood from its host, hundreds of larvae will migrate into the bloodstream. They will migrate to the lymphatic vessels, where they grow into adults 7-10cm long. Adult worms produce countless larvae, which leave the lymphatic vessels moving to other organs of the body. In the daytime, the larvae lie in the lungs, at night, when the host's body temperature drops, they crawl out to the skin to get spread by mosquitoes, starting a new life cycle.

In severe cases, worms only cause elephantiasis - swelling in the legs with terrible size. Worms can only parasitize for decades in the body before being detected through respiratory symptoms (because larvae are concentrated in the lungs) often mistaken for asthma. Over the years, the corpses of worms accumulate in lymphatic vessels causing swelling in the legs, festering, fluid in the legs.

Treatment: the drug kills the anti-parasitic parasite combined with thorough bathing and skin care. Exercise, massage can relieve pain.

Prevention: apply insect repellent and mosquito nets when sleeping.

6. Strongyloidiasis stercoralis

Strongyloides are parasitic worms that cause intestinal diseases. In the larval stage they have a thread-like appearance, which exists independently in the soil without a host. Its life cycle begins when the larvae come into contact with the host when the host comes in contact with soil contaminated with fecal material, the larvae then invade through the skin, moving to the arteries in the lungs, from which they continue to move. transfer to the host's respiratory organ until it is swallowed.

In the digestive system, they nest and eat comfortably in the small intestine until mature and continue to reproduce. Each adult female can live up to 5 years. They lay larvae into the faeces of the host, the larvae follow the feces and continue their endless life cycle. Sometimes larvae do not leave their bodies through the stool but they molt themselves to develop into a parasite that lives in the intestine, which then penetrate the intestinal wall and travel through the body to the liver and lung.

Hosts with strongyloidiasis often present with intestinal diseases such as bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea , they can also cause a rash, usually in the legs, and sometimes spread throughout the body. If severe infections throughout the body can cause coughing, wheezing and some symptoms like meningitis.

Treatment: when a strongyloidiasis infection is detected, prompt treatment. Medicines to treat this worm are usually ivermectin or albendazole. If you are suspected of being infected with worms, see a doctor immediately for treatment, avoiding dangerous complications.

Prevention : worms are often present in tropical and subtropical regions, and in these areas, skin contact with fecal contaminated soil should be avoided. Building waste treatment system.

7. Parasite Toxoplasma gondii - causes toxoplasma encephalitis

Cat's tail larvae in the eyes

Toxoplasmosis caused by single-cell parasite toxoplasma gondii . Cats are the only host during the mating phase of this species, so cats are often the source of infection. The life cycle of this parasite begins when they produce large amounts of spores in the cat's small intestine. The number of spores goes out through the excreted path of cats. Then the waste is eaten by rodents like rats . Strangely, when infected with parasites, rodents (rats) often have neurological changes. In fact, this parasite has captured the part of the brain that controls the sense of fear of rats for cats, so infected mice often lose control and are eaten by cats and the life cycle of signed species. This birth started again.

People may accidentally be infected with this parasite through food or other contagious routes. Infected cat feces can contaminate household items, soil pollution and even drinking water. Pregnant women infected with toxoplasmosis will be transmitted to the fetus.

When infected with the human body, the toxoplasma parasites form tissue cysts , usually skeletal muscles, in the brain and eyes. Although many people are infected with this parasite, they do not show any symptoms because their immune system controls this parasite. When the body is sick, the immune system weakens, there will now be some signs of flu-like illness. They lasted for several weeks and then disappeared. However, parasites still sleep in the body and will work again when the immune system is weak, causing some acute eye diseases such as choroid retinitis and can lead to loss of vision.

Several other studies are underway to check whether parasites - with the potential to cause behavioral changes in infected animals - are linked to schizophrenia.

In cases where infected women can cause miscarriage, premature death, or children with congenital toxoplasmosis with abnormal abnormalities.

Treatment: healthy people are resistant to this parasite without treatment. Severe infections can be treated with a mixture of pyrimethamine, sulfadiazine and folinic acid. Pregnant women, babies, people with eye diseases and individuals with weak immune systems need some other supportive treatment.

Prevention: eat cooked, drink boiling. Meat to freeze a few days also reduces the risk of infection, peeling and washing vegetables carefully, when gardening should wear gloves. Feed ripe food to cats. Pregnant women should not be exposed to cats.