This parasitic disease is one of the most common helminthiases in the world. Toxocarosis, the symptoms of which are described in the article, progress as a result of penetration of toxocar worms into the body. Infection provokes human contact with infected animals or with soil in which parasites are present.
Transmission of the disease in humans occurs under the influence of external factors. Infection occurs through the use of contaminated water and through unwashed hands. The highest incidence in the summer period, because the maximum amount of larvae enters the soil in the heat. The risk group includes children, vegetable sellers and people whose work is related to wild animals.
Symptoms of toxocariasis in humans
In the human body, there are always some parasites. If there was no treatment with toxocarosis or the therapy included only folk methods, the disease takes on serious forms. The degree of manifestation of signs of toxocariosis in each person is different and depends on the protective properties of immunity and the nature of the disease. By the most pronounced signs determine the localization of parasites in the body.
Visceral toxocariasis
Such a form progresses when large numbers of larvae enter the body. It persists for several weeks. The disease develops suddenly or after a short indisposition, after which such symptoms appear:
- heat;
- feverish condition;
- skin rashes:
- an increase in lymph nodes with total lymphadenopathy;
- defeat of the respiratory system, manifested in bronchitis and bronchopneumonia;
- dry cough;
- shortness of breath ;
- pain in the limbs;
- wet rattles.
Also associated with toxocarosis are allergic processes such as:
- reactive arthritis;
- chronic urticaria;
- angioedema .
Pulmonary syndrome is one of the major complications of toxocariasis. In the absence of the necessary treatment, pneumonia develops, which can provoke a fatal outcome in the future.
Also, patients are concerned about abdominal pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. In this case, they have an increase in the spleen in size. About a third of patients have a rash in the form of red spots on the skin, which subsequently disappear without leaving traces.
Symptoms of eye toxocariasis
Progression of the disease when hit the eyes of larvae. It can develop a solitary granuloma, localized, as a rule, in the posterior part of the organ. Toxocarosis of the eye and its symptoms are most often detected in schoolchildren, but often they occur in an adult. For this type of toxocarias the following symptoms are characteristic:
- deterioration of visual acuity;
- development of strabismus;
- damage to the retina;
- when examined, the doctor can detect larvae of toxocar;
- if the optic nerve was touched, then one-sided blindness occurs;
- often an ailment is complicated by an abscess.
When conducting an ophthalmoscopy, uvitis, papillitis, inflammatory processes in the peripheral areas of the eye are found. In most people, these signs can both grow and decrease over a long period. Eye infections often flow
Neurological toxocariasis
This form of toxocarosis in adults progresses when parasites get into the brain and damage the nervous system and is accompanied by such symptoms:
- memory impairment;
- excessive excitability and hyperactivity;
- difficulty in the reading process;
- epileptiform seizures;
- convulsions.