What worms can a child have? Drugs that get rid of helminthic infestations

How to identify the first signs of worm infection in young children?

It is very difficult to do this during the first examinations, even for an experienced specialist. Possible signs Worms in children at this age may indicate changes in the body caused by growth and development, the appearance of teeth, or changes in diet.

You can find out that a newborn or one-year-old baby has become infected only through diagnosis and laboratory testing.

The detected helminth representative will be carefully studied, and the pediatrician will be able to begin full treatment to remove worms from a child and relieve him of the accompanying unpleasant symptoms.

The appearance of helminths often causes horror and panic among parents. But, if you start treating them in time, you can avoid many of the diseases that they cause.

• roundworms, pinworms, whipworms. Re-infection is typical. You can find worm eggs on clothes and in feces. Using dirty, unprocessed foods for cooking, failure to comply with hygiene rules;
• cat fluke, Chinese fluke. When eating seafood, raw, salted and poorly cooked fish;
• liver fluke. Ingestion of contaminated water, infected vegetables and fruits, contact with contaminated soil, sand;
• pulmonary fluke. Poorly prepared seafood, crab and animal meat;
• . Through fish, caviar;
• schistosome. You can become infected in bodies of water while swimming;
• pork, bovine tapeworm. Food of animal origin is poorly processed thermally;
• dwarf tapeworm, echinococcus. Dirty hands, failure to comply with hygiene rules;
• hookworm. Sufficiently unprocessed fruits, vegetables from the garden, non-compliance with hygiene standards;
• trichinella. Raw or improperly prepared meat from wild animals and cattle;
• filariae. They penetrate with the bites of insects such as mosquitoes, horseflies, and flies.

Prevention helminthic infestation compulsory in childhood.

Diagnosis every six months and testing for worms will allow them to be detected in time and treatment to begin.

How to find out if a newborn baby has worms

What kind are there? general signs worms in newborns:

• restless sleep;
• poor appetite;
• sudden weight loss;
• combination of diarrhea and constipation;
• allergic reactions, rashes;
• copious secretion of saliva;
• vomiting, regurgitation of food debris;
• causeless crying and screaming;
• bloating;
• colic;
• temperature rise to 37°C;
• cough.

The baby’s health depends entirely on the parents, whose responsibilities include studying his habits, time spent sleeping and waking, and the amount of food consumed per day.

Manifestations and symptoms of worms in children are screaming, crying for no reason in a newborn, refusal to eat, obvious anxiety and intestinal dysfunction.

Signs and symptoms of worms in children from 1 year to 6 years

How to understand and how to determine that a child has worms is quite simple. To do this, it is necessary to observe the baby’s daily activities and age-related changes.

Worms in children under 6 months of age may exhibit symptoms:

• flatulence;
• loose stools;
• constipation;
• worm eggs can be found in feces;
• increased salivation;
• the baby is capricious;
• allergic cough;
• rash;
• decreased immunity;
• weight loss.

• diarrhea gives way to constipation;
• itching and rashes;
• grinding of teeth;
• increase lymph nodes;
• cold;
• fast fatiguability;
• nervousness;
• sleep is disturbed;
• cough;
• salivation;
• belching;
• stomach ache.

It is much easier to identify unnatural changes in the body in older children.

There is an opportunity to find out and ask about the inconveniences that the baby is experiencing, ask him to point out the location of the pain or discomfort.

Exist characteristic features presence of worms in a child from 4 years to 6 years:

• involuntary urination during sleep;
• teeth grinding;
• itching in the anal area;
• allergic rashes;
• temperature up to 37°C – 38°C;
• bronchitis;
• aching pain in the navel and abdomen;
• fatigue and lethargy;
• diarrhea;
• yellow tint of mucous membranes and skin;
• swelling.

The obvious first signs of helminths in the body are, of course, intestinal dysfunction and disruption of normal digestion.

If you do not pay attention to the obvious signs of the presence of worms in a child’s body and ignore treatment, the consequences can be quite severe for the baby and can be fatal.

Worms can cause:

Worms in newborns: treatment

Almost all anti-worm medications are intended for children over 2 years of age. The treatment required by a newborn baby should be gentle. Weak immunity and still poorly developed organs should not suffer from antibiotics and chemical composition most medicines.

Which ones are better for small children from 1 day of life:

1. "Fenasal". Prescribed if a child is diagnosed with a flatworm, tapeworm, or tapeworm for diseases such as taeniarinchiosis, taeniasis, diphyllobothriasis, and hymenolepiasis. For a child under one year old, the daily intake is 0.5 grams, from 2 to 5 years – 1 gram, from 5 to 12 years – 1.5 grams;
2. "Piperazine". For ascariasis and enterobiasis in young children from birth. A single dose per day for children under 1 year old - 0.2 - 0.4 grams, from 2 to 3 years old - 0.3 - 0.6 g, from 4 years old to 5 years old - 1 - 1.5 g for worms. Children over 6 years old - 0.75 g;
3. "Pirvinium". Age – from 3 months. A single daily dose for children with enterobiasis is 15 mg per kg of weight, the suspension is prescribed from 1 to 2 years, 5 ml, from 3 to 4 years - 7.5 ml, 5-6 years - 10 ml.

Anti-worm tablets for children 1 year of age and up to 2 years of age

Any medications should be given with caution to children under 2 years of age. Carefully study the instructions and contraindications.

1. "Nemotsid". Prescribed for the treatment of helminths in young children from 6 months. Indications: ascariasis, enterobiasis, necatoriasis, hookworm disease, trichuriasis. Daily intake from 6 months to 2 years, 125 mg, for children from 2 to 6 years - 250 mg, age - 6 - 12 years - 500 mg. Taking laxatives is not required;
2. "Helmintox". For worms, it is recommended for children from 6 months of age. An effective remedy for ascariasis, enterobiasis, hookworm disease, necatoriasis, trichuriasis. Dosage from 6 months to 2 years – 125 mg, from 2 to 6 years – 250 mg, for children over 6 years – 500 mg. Laxatives are not prescribed.

Treatment of worms in children over 2 years of age:

1. "Vermox". From 2 to 10 years, a single dose of 25-50 mg is prescribed for mixed helminthiases;
2. "Mebendazole". For diseases caused by mixed helminthiases, the drug is recommended broad action. Prescribed to a child aged 2 years and up to 10 years in a dosage of 25-50 mg once;
3. "Vormin". Helps treat worms in children from 2 years of age. For mixed helminthic infestations, multiple nematodes. The daily intake ranges from 25-50 mg once.

The doctor can also prescribe suspensions if the baby does not want to take pills. In this case, the dosage will be changed. It is possible to prescribe ointments. Mainly zinc paste for local external use.

Anti-worm medications for children from 3 to 6 years old

At an older age, pick up effective methods and ways how to child's body, much easier.

After most medications, it is advisable to perform enemas or take a laxative.

It is necessary to maintain cleanliness in the house and observe the rules of personal hygiene, take vitamins and drugs that restore immunity.

Infection with worms in a child’s body, as a rule, occurs through the consumption of insufficiently purified food products, irregular hand washing, and especially often through contact with infected pets. Children are at risk for the development of helminthic infestations, unlike adults, which is explained anatomical features in the form of insufficient development of protective barriers of the gastrointestinal tract.

According to world statistics, every child suffers from worm infection at least once in his life. Due to such a high prevalence rate and at the same time low intensity of clinical manifestations, this pathology Many parents do not take it seriously, but it should be borne in mind that long-term helminthic infestation often becomes main reason development of asthenic syndrome, allergic reactions in a child, which are difficult to treat without timely anthelmintic therapy.

Preventive measures for worms in children, first of all, are non-specific in nature and consist of teaching basic hygiene rules. In addition, parents should pay attention to disinfecting pets with which the child is in constant close contact.

Causes of worms in children

Worms in a child can occur in various etiopathogenetic variants and stages of development, on which the specificity depends clinical symptoms. Under natural conditions, up to twelve thousand varieties of worms are found, of which two hundred species are pathogenic towards children. Despite this variety, the most common forms of helminthic infestation in children are ascariasis and enterobiasis.

Worms in environment They are widespread everywhere and their specific feature is that they are not able to maintain vital activity for a long time without a host. Children are at risk for helminthic infestations due to their curiosity and tendency to not maintain personal hygiene.

Worms enter the child's body different ways, however, the most common is nutritional, that is, when consuming contaminated food. Worms in infant most often have an intrauterine origin, that is, they penetrate through the fetoplacental barrier from the mother’s blood to the fetus; in this situation, the child is infected with worms immediately at the time of delivery. In early childhood, infection of children with worms becomes possible when walking outside, for example, in a sandbox contaminated with worms, or contact with animals.

Each form of helminthic infestation has characteristics of transmission of worms and entry into a susceptible organism. Thus, pinworm eggs, for example, are transmitted exclusively from an infected person to a child and do not require an intermediate host, and also quickly die in the environment, while for bovine tapeworm There must be the presence of an intermediate organism to carry out the ripening processes.

The rate of spread of worms in the environment is influenced by climate conditions. Most favorable climatic conditions Increased humidity and air temperature are important factors for the spread of helminthic infestation in children. In addition, the indicator of the socio-economic level of the population plays an important role in the spread of this pathology. So, countries with low level sanitary and hygienic standards differ extremely high rate helminthization of children. All worms that infect a child’s body are distinguished by their vitality and high level fertility. An adult is capable of laying more than 250 thousand eggs daily, thereby ensuring the rapid spread of helminthic infestation in children's groups.

The development of the clinical picture of helminthic infestation differs in stages. Acute period lasts from two weeks to two months, and a longer course implies chronicity pathological process, which is extremely rare in children.

The acute clinical period begins with the introduction of a worm into the child’s body and is accompanied by the development of a powerful allergic reaction on the part of the child’s body, as well as the formation of a unique immune response. Clinical manifestations in this period are not specific and are characteristic of all etiopathogenetic forms of the disease.

Chronic course helminthic infestation forms certain specific symptoms, depending on the localization of the pathological process, the number of worms and the characteristics of their vital activity. The development of dyspeptic disorders during helminthic infestation, which in 100% of cases accompany the course of helminthic infestation, arises as a result metabolic disorders accompanied by the development of vitamin deficiency.

As a result of the accumulation of toxins that are released when worms are destroyed in the child’s body, conditions are created for the development of intestinal dysbiosis, manifested by severe abdominal pain and intestinal dysfunction.

Time of appearance of the first clinical signs helminthic infestation directly depends on the specificity of the worm. Thus, with ascariasis, the clinical picture develops already on the second day after the invasion, while the development of the first symptoms of filariasis requires at least a year. The initial clinical manifestations of helminthic infestation in children are the appearance of enlarged large lymph nodes, enlarged liver and spleen, muscle pain and arthralgia.

In case of mass infection of a child’s body with worms clinical picture combines several symptom complexes, the main one of which is dyspeptic. In addition, each type of worm is characterized by the appearance of specific clinical markers. For example, enterobiasis, which most often occurs in children, is accompanied by the development of itching in the perianal area, which intensifies at night.

Each type of worms, in addition to general clinical symptoms, is accompanied by the development specific symptoms. A pathognomonic sign of enterobiasis is the occurrence of intense itching in the area at night. anus, which bothers the baby and does not allow him to sleep. In a situation where pinworms enter the external genitalia and urethra, inflammatory changes occur in these organs. Surgeons even identify enterobiasis appendicitis in children, which requires immediate surgical treatment.

The presence of roundworms in the body in children does not provoke the development of pathognomonic clinical symptoms, however, with their large accumulation in the intestine, peculiar conglomerates are formed, which provoke the development of obstructive intestinal obstruction. At the moment of migration of roundworms into the child’s respiratory tract, which represents physiological process vital activity of these worms, an infected child may experience short-term low-grade fever, dry cough and soreness in the chest, up to the development of pneumonia. Specific manifestations of the presence of roundworms in a child’s intestines are the appearance of nausea, vomiting, and paroxysmal pain in the umbilical region. Characteristic of this pathology is the development of asthenic syndrome in a child, manifested by decreased performance, inattention and deterioration of mood.

The presence of hookworm and trichocephalosis in a child is accompanied by an increase in body temperature to febrile levels, a deterioration in general health, muscle pain, cough, and intestinal dysfunction. Specific clinical manifestation trichocephalosis is the development of hemorrhagic colitis.

Diagnostics and analysis for worms in children

Various materials are used as biological materials for analysis for the presence of worms and their larvae. physiological secretions child in the form of feces, urine, duodenal contents, bile, sputum, rectal and perianal mucus, blood, muscle tissue.

Testing for worms in children is most often carried out by examining the child’s feces, since most helminthic infestations in children are localized in the intestinal lumen. Macroscopic techniques, which are widely used in the diagnosis of helminthic infestations, can identify whole adult worms or their fragments, eggs and larvae. In modern diagnostic laboratories, routine macroscopy of worms is performed using the Kato-Miura thick smear method, sedimentation and flotation.

Enterobiasis, which most often affects children, is established during the study biological material, which is obtained by the perianal imprint method. To detect strongylid and hookworm larvae, special methods Berman and Harada-Mori. Blood is used as a biological material for diagnosing filariasis.

Treatment of worms in children

Numerous randomized studies have proven positive effect from the use of monotherapy with an anthelmintic drug in the treatment of worms in children, but in the presence of massive helminthic infestation, preference should be given to the use of complex anthelmintic drugs.

The drug of choice for the treatment of worms in children is Levamisole orally according to age dosage(for children 1-6 years old, the dose is 25 mg, and for older children the drug should be used at a calculated dose of 2.5 mg per 1 kg of weight). It is preferable to supplement Levamisole therapy with Vermox after three days at a dose of 100 mg once, since this complex treatment improves the prognosis for deworming the child’s body several times.

When treating children suffering from helminthic infestation, in addition to the use of anthelmintic drugs, the pathogenetic component of therapy is mandatory, which involves the use of enterosorbents (Enterosgel 5 ml twice a day orally). In addition, helminthic infestation in children contributes to the development of powerful allergization of the body, which can be eliminated by prescribing desensitizing therapy (Cetrin 2.5 ml twice a day).

The best medicine for worms in a child should have maximum activity against the worm that is detected in the child. Anti-worm medications for children have the same pronounced toxic effects as anthelmintic drugs for adults, so these data pharmacological agents should not be used without specialist advice.

The main drugs that are widely used in the treatment of helminthic infestations in children are drugs such as Mebendazole, Pyrantel, Levamisole, Albendazole. Anthelmintics should be dosed correctly when used in pediatrics, only then can a minimal toxic effect on the child’s body be achieved. Antihelminthic dosage medicine, used in pediatrics, can vary widely and is determined only by the attending physician.

A severe helminthic infestation in a child is an indication for prescribing a complex anthelmintic course, which involves the use of a combination of two or three drugs used at regular intervals. Absolute contraindications for the use of anthelmintic drugs are the child's existing disorders of the central nervous system, blood diseases and oncopathologies.

Many experts consider it necessary to use prophylactic appointment an anthelmintic drug once every six months, especially for children attending organized groups, however, the vast majority of experts categorically prohibit the use of anthelmintic drugs for children who have not been laboratory proven to have worms in their bodies.

Medicines and tablets for worms for children

At various types helminthic infestation, the use of a variety of pharmacological groups drugs. Thus, for ascariasis infestation, as well as for enterobiasis, it is preferable to use Piperazine, which belongs to the safest category of anthelmintic drugs with wide range activity. This drug in pediatrics it is used in the form of a suspension. Piperazine has a pharmacological effect on worms by provoking the development of paralysis of the muscles of adult worms, and, unfortunately, in no way affects eggs and larvae. Thus, Piperazine does not cause the death of worms and the release of toxins, but promotes the release of paralyzed worms in feces. Due to its low toxicity, piperazine is wide application V pediatric practice. Severe helminthic infestation by pinworms in children is not subject to treatment with Piperazine, since its pharmacological activity may be insufficient. Side effects from the use of Piperazine include nausea, spastic pain syndrome in a stomach.

Worms in an infant are treated with Pirantel, which has proven itself against pinworms, roundworms and hookworms. Therapy with Pirantel consists of taking it twice a day immediately after detection of worms and three weeks later. Like any other anthelmintic drug, Pirantel can provoke the development side effects in the form of abdominal pain, decreased appetite, vomiting, drowsiness, headache, confusion, itching and exanthema. This drug is not used for children under six months of age, as well as children suffering from kidney pathology.

Anthelmintic drugs with a wide spectrum of anthelmintic activity include Mebendazole, which has many analogues. Despite its effectiveness, Mebendazole is rarely used in pediatrics due to high risk development of severe adverse reactions in the form of liver dysfunction, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, itchy exanthema, hair loss,. Children under two years of age should not use medications based on Mebendazole.

Enterobiasis, clonorchiasis, hookworm disease, necatoriasis, hymenolepiasis, toxocariasis, strongyloidiasis, taeniasis, ascariasis, giardiasis, trichinosis in a child respond well to treatment with Albendazole, but a wide range of adverse reactions such as dry mouth, heartburn, stomatitis, nausea, flatulence, vomiting, diarrhea, hepatitis, abdominal pain, constipation, insomnia, confusion, headache, convulsions, disorientation, decreased visual acuity, hallucinations, hematopoietic disorders, fever, dermatitis, limit its use.

In the treatment of children over three years of age suffering from helminthic infestation, the drug of choice is Levamisole, which is more effective against roundworms and hookworms. However, its long-term use can provoke the development of liver and kidney dysfunction, flu-like syndrome, speech impairment, allergic reactions, stomatitis, nervousness, hallucinations, and arthralgia. Levamisole provokes mass death of worms, which is accompanied by the release large quantity toxins, accompanied by a violent intoxication syndrome, and therefore, the prescription of these drugs requires maintenance therapy with enterosorbents.

Prevention of worms in children

Specific medications preventive actions for helminthic infestations in children, it is necessary to carry out in the spring months, as well as late autumn before the first frost begins. A preventive drug anthelmintic course consists of using two anthelmintic drugs in a therapeutic dosage once.

Preventive measures of a non-specific nature, minimizing the possibility of worms entering the child’s body, should be carried out year-round and consist of children learning the rules of personal hygiene. Every child, even at an early age age period must not only know, but also observe the need for regular hand washing, and also avoid drinking untreated water.

Infection of children with worms is facilitated by their consumption of contaminated low-quality food products, therefore the responsibility of adults who are involved in raising children is to ensure rational and safe nutrition for the child. Children should not prepare food from products of dubious origin (vegetables, meat from private agricultural farms that do not comply with agrotechnical sanitary and hygienic standards).

As a means of preventing worms in children, routine laboratory macroscopic examinations of children in organized groups should be considered, since enterobiasis, for example, spreads quickly. In a situation where a case of helminthic infestation in a child is detected in one family, it is not necessary to use drug prophylaxis in relation to other children, however, this is an indication for laboratory examination all family members.

General information

Taking into account the type of pathogens, helminthiases in children are divided into the following types:

• nematodes- called roundworms(roundworms, pinworms, whipworms, etc.)
• cestodiases– called tapeworms(wide tape, pork tapeworm and etc.)
• trematodes– caused by flukes (cat fluke, pulmonary fluke, liver fluke, etc.).

Causes of helminthiasis in children

Cestodoses and trematodes in children are much less common than helminthiases caused by roundworms. Infection is caused by eating meat and fish that have not undergone proper heat treatment, contaminated vegetables or water. Location of lesions may include small intestine, liver parenchyma and its ducts, lungs and bronchi.

IN acute phase helminthiasis, the child has recurrent itching skin rash by type: urticaria, fever, lymphadenitis, arthralgia and myalgia. Pulmonary syndrome may develop, accompanied by a prolonged dry cough with an asthmatic component, shortness of breath, and chest pain; with ascariasis, eosinophilic pleurisy and hemoptysis sometimes occur. Edema syndrome (with trichinosis, trichocephalosis) may include local or generalized edema, including angioedema in children.

Typical for the acute phase of helminthiasis in children is abdominal syndrome, characterized by flatulence, unstable stool (constipation, diarrhea), nausea, belching, etc. Abdominal pain can be “volatile” in nature or be persistent, strong, simulating the clinic acute abdomen. The syndrome of intoxication and asthenoneurotic disorders includes causeless low-grade fever, weakness, sleep disturbances, bruxism, irritability, and convulsions.

The chronic course of helminthiasis in children is accompanied by lethargy, decreased academic performance and performance, poor appetite, weight loss, anemia, etc. A number of chronic skin diseases(atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema, seborrhea, acne, brittle nails), pathology of the respiratory tract (rhinitis, tracheitis, asthmatic bronchitis) and genital organs (recurrent vulvitis in girls) can also be a consequence of helminthiasis in children. Children suffering from helminthiases are classified as frequently ill; they often experience recurrent acute respiratory viral infections, stomatitis, gingivitis, and pustular skin diseases.

Complications

The consequence of massive invasion with ascariasis can be intestinal obstruction, obstructive jaundice, pancreatitis. Complications of enterobiasis in children usually include pyoderma, eczema of the perianal region, vulvovaginitis, urinary incontinence, and appendicitis.

Toxocariasis, characterized by migration in the human body and tissue invasion of helminth larvae, when affected respiratory tract can cause acute pulmonary failure, and if the eyes are affected, a unilateral decrease in visual acuity or strabismus. The course of trichinosis can be complicated by perforation of the intestinal wall, meningoencephalitis, and hepatitis.

With opisthorchiasis, damage to the liver and biliary tract is noted; in the chronic phase, gastroduodenitis, cholecystitis, cholangitis, and pancreatitis develop.

Diagnosis of helminthiases in children

The large polymorphism of manifestations of helminthic infestation contributes to the fact that almost anyone can encounter helminthiasis in children children's specialist: pediatrician, pediatric infectious disease specialist, pediatric pulmonologist, pediatric gastroenterologist, pediatric allergist-immunologist, pediatric dermatologist, pediatric surgeon, etc. Therefore, children with chronic dermatoses, gastroenterological pathology, bronchopulmonary diseases, allergic reactions must be examined for helminthiasis.

In the acute phase of helminthiasis in children, changes in the blood are observed: eosinophilia, increased biochemical liver tests (ALT and AST, bilirubin, thymol test, alkaline phosphatase). In the early stages, serological methods can be informative: RIF, ELISA, RNGA, RSK, etc.

Biological material for identifying pathogens of helminthiasis in children can be blood, feces, bile, sputum, scraping/smear from the perianal area. Most often used for diagnosis various forms helminthiases in children, feces are examined for worm eggs, a histological coprogram. To detect pinworm eggs, scraping for enterobiasis is performed from the perianal folds.

Skin tests can be used to diagnose helminthiases in children. allergy tests.

Treatment of helminthiases in children

When prescribing an anthelmintic drug, the form of helminthiasis in children, the phase of the disease, accompanying illnesses. The same drugs are effective against a number of helminthiasis in children: for example, albendazole and mebendazole are used for ascariasis, enterobiasis, trichinosis, trichuriasis; pyrantel – for enterobiasis and ascariasis; praziquantel - for opisthorchiasis, schistosomiasis, diphyllobothriasis, taeniasis, etc. For successful deworming of children, it is necessary to simultaneously treat all members of the family or team; compliance hygienic regime to prevent reinfestation. After the main course of treatment for helminthiasis, it is usually carried out re-treatment child in 10-14 years.

For cupping allergic manifestations accompanying the course of helminthiasis in children are prescribed antihistamines. In the presence of intoxication syndrome, oral or infusion detoxification is performed. Severe forms helminthiases in children, occurring with symptoms of vasculitis, arachnoiditis, myocarditis, serve as the basis for the prescription of glucocorticosteroids.

Prevention

Primary prevention of all types of helminthiases includes the formation of hygienic skills in children, the use of boiled water and products that have undergone sufficient heat treatment, thorough washing of hands, vegetables and fruits.

To prevent the spread of helminthiasis within the team, it is necessary to isolate the sick child, use individual funds hygiene and utensils, vaccination and deworming of domestic animals. Specific drug prevention It is recommended that children and adults be treated for helminth infections twice a year (in autumn and spring) with drugs with a broad spectrum of activity against helminths (for example, albendazole).

Worms in children, their symptoms and treatment are a pressing topic for caring parents. Helminthiasis is a common disease that often goes unnoticed. You should focus on the first symptoms, because it seems like a harmless disease, but it leads to irreversible consequences. But they are so easy to identify and easy to treat. And knowing the basic rules of prevention, everyone can avoid infection.

Ways and causes of helminth infection

Different species have their own routes, but most often helminth eggs enter the body through dirty hands, by ingesting dust:

• Ascariasis they become infected in sandboxes, through unwashed vegetables and fruits, by eating unwashed greens, or fresh strawberries from the garden.
• Broadcast enterobiasis occurs indoors through dirty hands, toys, unwashed dishes. The transmission of pinworms is facilitated by the habit of biting nails, pencils, putting toys and fingers in the mouth, and through dirty clothes. Residents are susceptible to ascariasis and enterobiasis rural areas, small towns.
• Toxocara eggs fall from the sand or while playing with dogs and cats.
• Opisthorchiasis and trichocephalosis. The source of helminths is fish and meat (usually wild animals), which have undergone insufficient heat treatment or have not undergone it at all. For this reason, you should not eat dried or smoked meat or dried river fish.

Helminths that are more common in childhood

The most common types are roundworms and pinworms, occur in 80% of cases. Also, due to improved diagnostics, toxocariasis has become increasingly detected, and trichinosis is becoming less common.

Why are they dangerous? In case of massive infection, if treatment is not started, helminths deal heavy blows to the growing organism:

Roundworms

Dirty hands, unwashed toys and objects: typical causes of helminth infection
They move easily in the body, creating conditions for the development of ulcers and inflammation of internal organs.

Complications:

• A powerful allergic reaction of the body, possibly fatal.
• A hole in the intestine and, as a result, peritonitis.
• Intestinal obstruction.

Enterobiasis

Toxocariasis

The larvae, migrating throughout the body, injure blood vessels and organs, which is manifested by bruising, inflammation and tissue destruction, and activate the response of the immune system.

Mature individuals live in the intestines, and the larvae are carried through the body through the blood and attach to the muscles.

Complications:

• Intestinal bleeding.
• Peritonitis.

If you know what the signs of helminths are in children and start treatment at the first signs, then the prognosis for the listed types is favorable.

More often they are diagnosed by chance when analyzing stool during a medical examination, searching for the cause of allergic diseases.

Enterobiasis (pinworms)

The first signs of worms in children are erased and cannot be detected. The clinic begins to develop in a month.

• In infants, you can pay attention to inflammation, redness of the anus, crying at night, anxiety, and refusal to eat.
• The signs of worms in children under one year of age are the same, plus recognizable symptom– painful anal itching from 23:00 to 1:00. In girls, migratory roundworms are the cause inflammatory reactions genital tract.
• Signs of helminths in children 1 year of age and older: complaints of abdominal pain near the navel. Abdominal pain appears regardless of food intake and goes away on its own. Due to itching and scratching of the butt until it bleeds, the baby has trouble falling asleep.

Ascariasis

The primary manifestation of ascariasis is allergic reactions that can be life-threatening, fever and nausea.

Primary symptoms are bright, pronounced, but short-lived. The further course of the disease may not attract much attention.

• In infants it manifests itself as usual colic, dysbiosis.
• Symptoms of worms in children under one year of age - peri-umbilical abdominal pain, bowel dysfunction ( frequent constipation, and greens), diathesis, allergic rashes, food allergies.
• Signs of the presence of helminths in a child older than one year: due to increased activity of worms in the evening and at night, nighttime sleep disturbance is more pronounced: at night they spin, scream, cry, rush around the bed, and have nightmares.
• Primary signs of worms in children from 3 to 7 years old: fever, nausea, rashes, abdominal pain and coughing. Then the symptoms subside.

General signs of helminths in children infected with roundworms and/or pinworms

• Grinding of teeth.
• A large amount of saliva.
• Reduced rate of weight gain.
• Pale skin with bruises under the eyes.
• at healthy teeth(usually in the morning).
• Tearfulness, irritability.
• Skin with small pimples.

Toxocariasis

Most often it is asymptomatic. Possible firsts symptoms of worms are fever and allergic reactions in the form of urticaria, rash, and, less commonly, swelling.

If infected, you may experience a cough that turns into pneumonia - than younger age, the more pronounced this symptom is.

Parents! Please note that signs of worms in infant may be missing.

It is difficult to identify signs of worms in a child 2 years old and younger, since they cannot explain what exactly is bothering them.

It is not easy to determine the type of helminthiasis based on symptoms, so the most reliable method is laboratory analysis.

• Enterobiasis. Pinworm eggs are detected when examining material obtained with a cotton swab or adhesive tape from the baby's bottom.
• Ascariasis - by examining stool for helminth eggs.
• Toxocariasis. Held special study blood, stool analysis is uninformative. If there are granulomas in the eye, they are also examined.
• Trichinosis. The main method is to detect eggs in eaten meat; if this is not possible, a blood test for antibodies, in in rare cases A muscle biopsy is taken.

Most reliable method– serological blood test for specific antibodies.

5 effective treatments

Nuance – V early age Not many folk remedies are allowed to be used c, and not all medications are approved for children under 2 years of age.

The first 4 methods are folk remedies in the treatment of helminths in children.

Method 1 – garlic

Option for removing pinworms:

• You need to eat 2 cloves daily for 10 days.
• Insert a clove of garlic into the anus for a week.

Method 2 – enemas

Effective against pinworms, sometimes cope with roundworms. The maximum enema volume is half a glass:

• Pour a tablespoon of tansy flowers into ½ liter of boiling water, strain after an hour. Do an enema before bed. Allowed at school age.
• Boil a head of garlic in a liter of milk until soft. Do the enema 3 days in a row. There are no age contraindications.

Method 3 – pumpkin

• Eat 1 bag of raw seeds.
• Drink a glass of juice every morning.

Course – 2 weeks. Juice is allowed from 6 months in a volume of 50 ml, seeds - after a year.

Method 4 – herbs

Fennel can be given to babies from the first days of birth.

Fennel is allowed from the first days of life. Pour a tablespoon of raw material into a liter of boiling water and leave for an hour.

Give newborns a teaspoon a day, after a year you can increase the volume from a quarter to half a glass. Drink for up to 10 days.

After one and a half years you can use herbal tea“Stop parasite from 9 herbs.”

After 3 years, you can prepare the collection yourself: take wormwood and tansy (1 share), dandelion root and thyme flowers (2 shares each), wormwood plants and cloves (3 parts each). Pour 2 cups of boiling water over 2 tablespoons of the mixture, strain after 30 minutes. Drink 1-2 days before.

Method 5 – medications

• Ascariasis, enterobiasis. Most effective treatment helminths in children with drugs - mebendazole and pyrantel.
• Albendazole: 0-2 years - once 200 mg, 2 years and older - once 400 mg.
• Mebendazole: 2-3 years – 50 mg twice a day, 3 days. After 3 years, 100 mg twice a day for 3 days. After 3 weeks the course must be repeated.
• Pyrantel for enterobiasis: once 10 mg of the drug per 1 kg of weight. For ascariasis – 5 mg of the drug per 1 kg of weight.
• Toxocariasis. Mebendazole: after 2 years, 100 mg 2 times a day, course 14-30 days.
• Trichinosis. Therapy is carried out strictly in the hospital with the prescription of mebendazole ( daily dose– 5 mg per 1 kg of body weight is divided into 3 doses, the course is 1 week), additional treatment for helminths in children is prescribed according to symptoms.

Prevention

Preventive measures for helminthiasis infection are:

You can give preventative food: onions, garlic, carrot juice, pumpkin seeds, weakly concentrated herbal decoctions.

Cleanliness is the key to health!

Why do worms become primarily a children's problem?

By the way, children are especially susceptible to helminthiasis. This is due to the fact that the described protective barriers in the baby’s body are not yet fully formed, and the level of stomach acidity is lower than in adults; besides, the baby, getting acquainted with the world around him, tries everything that arouses his interest, “by tooth.” That is why children are more often than adults exposed to helminthic infestations, and then become a source of infection for adult family members.

How does infection occur?

Worms in adults, as well as worms in children (symptoms of this disease will be discussed below) are transmitted by the oral-fecal route.

• Most often through soil contaminated with feces, in case of failure to comply with basic hygiene standards (unwashed hands, dirt under the nails, eating poorly fried or cooked meat, fish or dirty vegetables and fruits).
• Flies and other insects also play an important role in helminth infection: they transfer worm eggs onto food products on their proboscis and paws.
• Accidental ingestion of water when swimming in open water also increases the risk of helminthic infestation.
• And animals or people infected with worms are another source of the disease.

By the way, you should know that quite often in children, helminthiasis can occur again if worm eggs excreted in feces get into the child’s food (be sure to wash your hands after visiting the toilet).

Is helminthiasis serious?

What are roundworms

Features of the course of helminthiases in children

By the way, parents need to know that only one out of three young patients infected with pinworms or roundworms show obvious symptoms of their presence. The signs of worms in children have already been listed above: nausea, aversion to food (especially after waking up in the morning), sometimes the child’s appetite increases, but at the same time he does not gain weight well and is weakened. Children suffering from helminth infections, as a rule, have difficulty falling asleep, sleep very restlessly: they fidget, “grind” their teeth and often wake up at night.

Is it so easy to detect worm eggs in a child’s stool?

How to detect worms?

If you are an attentive parent and suspect worms in an infant or older child, do not make hasty conclusions based on just one or two signs. The main thing that should alert you is sudden changes in appetite (either the child does not want to eat anything, or then attacks everything offered to him), as well as frequent cases when a child chokes or chokes on food. If they are also accompanied by regular problems with stool (constipation gives way to diarrhea), as well as pain in the navel area, then, if you suspect something is wrong, you can check the child yourself for the presence of pinworms.

• Invite your baby to lie on his back.
• Bend his legs at the knees.
• Suggest relaxing your tummy muscles.
• Gently massage your stomach with smooth movements (don't forget that your hands should not be cold).

If a child has worms, the baby will feel discomfort. You may even find a place where they have accumulated in the greatest number. Itching around the anus is also an important (and often the main) sign that it is time for you to start treating your child for worms.

Worms in children: treatment

• the body prepares to remove worms with the help of vegetable oils (pumpkin or flaxseed), as well as the preparations “Allohol” or “Enterosgel”;
• anthelmintic drugs are used (for this, both standard medical and mild herbal preparations are used);
• the functions of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidneys and lungs are restored, and the immune system is stimulated.

How to increase the effectiveness of treatment of children against helminthiasis

Drugs that get rid of helminthic infestations

• chemotherapy drugs;
• homeopathic medicines;
• herbal medicine;
• ozone therapy.

And to the most common folk methods in the fight against “freeloaders” include raw pumpkin seeds, carrot juice, juice from sauerkraut, garlic and a decoction of tansy flowers. If a child is infected with pinworms, a cotton swab dipped in vegetable oil or Vaseline. It is inserted into the baby's butt as soon as he has had a bowel movement for 40 days. But everything listed above will bring victory only if precise definition type of helminths, as well as the severity of the disease caused by them. Don't treat yourself! Contact a specialist!

How to treat a child for helminthiasis

How to prevent re-infection with worms

We have already discussed how to detect worms in children, how to treat an unpleasant disease, and now we should dwell on how to prevent infection with helminths. For this there are a number of prescribed hygiene rules, the exact execution of which can help caring parents protect their child as much as possible from uninvited guests.

• Be sure to wash your hands with soap when you come in from outside or relieve yourself in the toilet!
• The baby's fingernails should be clean and cut short.
• After emptying, wash your baby's bottom, carefully rinsing the area around the anus. Don't forget to lubricate it with Vaseline or sunflower oil.
• Panties in which the child spent the night, and his bed sheets In the morning, iron with a hot iron on both sides. Do the same in the evening with the underwear the baby wore during the day.
• Bedding can be hung in the sun or in the cold in winter to destroy pinworm eggs.
• Wash your baby's toys daily.
• In the room where the child is, carry out wet cleaning every day.
• Do not allow your baby to eat vegetables and fruits if they are not washed, and do not put their hands in their mouth.

Prevention of worms in children will help not only them, but also adults. After all, you probably already realized that there cannot be only one person with helminthiasis in a family. Therefore, everything is hygienic and healing procedures must be the law for every family member. Be healthy!