General description of the disease
This is a helminthic disease belonging to the group nematodes… It is caused by a round, small worm, twisted into a spiral. He’s called “Trichinella».
Trichinella spreaders:
- wild animals: bears, foxes, badgers, wolves, wild boars, seals;
- domestic pigs and animals that eat meat from rats or fallen animals.
There were cases of parasitism of Trichinella in poultry meat. Also, there were such types of these helminths only without the formation of a capsule.
Method of infection
The larvae enter the human body through food (by the oral route). Infection occurs only if people eat raw, salted, dried or incompletely cooked or contaminated meat from pigs, seals, wild boars and bears.
First, the female worm enters the human esophagus, lays the larvae there, which in turn penetrate the human muscle tissue, grow there, turn into a worm, then twist into a spiral, and at the 4th week of illness they are covered with a special capsule.
Trichinosis symptoms
The first signs may be: nausea, vomiting, loose stools, colic and bloating. A distinctive feature of trichinosis is the “frog face”. The cause of this deformity is severe facial swelling. Swelling can be not only on the face, but also on all parts of the body, on the shoulders, legs. The swelling is caused by an allergic reaction caused by the body of the larvae, which contains a large amount of protein. After an allergic reaction, the patient begins to have a fever, the body temperature is kept at 37-38 degrees Celsius. After 3 days after the onset of the disease, the victims begin to suffer pain in the thigh muscles, muscles of the legs and feet. After a certain period of time, painful sensations spread to the sciatic muscles, muscle tissue of the press, arms, neck, back, then the pain affects the chewing muscles, muscles of the pharynx and tongue. The faster the pains in the muscles appear, the longer and more difficult the course of the disease will be. There may be a rash in the form of urticaria, blisters, papules.
In the initial stages, it is difficult to distinguish trichinosis, it can be confused with allergies, myositis (inflammation of muscle tissue) or with a simple infectious disease. Therefore, if you were in nature or ate meat of the above types, it is better not to hesitate and immediately seek medical help. Trichinosis will give a simple blood test (eosinophils will be contained in the blood in an increased amount).
Trichinosis stages and their duration
There are three stages in the course of trichinosis: stage of invasion – penetration of the female into the body (lasts about a week), the second stage – dissemination stage (the process of spreading larvae in the human body lasts about 10 days), the main and third stages are stage of recovery (or encapsulation stage). The recovery period may not occur for a very long time (from 17 days). It is worth noting that the capsule in the body of the host (host) can last up to forty years.
Complications of trichinosis
In a severe course of the disease, trichinosis can give complications to the heart (myocarditis may occur), to the lungs (in the form of pneumonia or pleurisy). Against the background of trichinosis, meningoencephalitis, an inflammatory process in the membranes of the brain (including in the brain itself), can begin. Nephritis, hepatitis may develop. And constant muscle pain can affect a person’s physical activity and his performance.
Useful products for trichinosis
With trichinosis, as with any helminthic diseases, it is necessary to adhere to an antiparasitic diet. But here it is still worth including a few rules that will help prevent the onset of this disease or help protect against re-invasion.
- 1 On every hunting trip, before eating game and other meat trophies, you should make sure that the dish is ready. To prevent disease, before cooking meat, it is necessary to make cuts (about 14 pieces) along the fibers of each muscle group. This is done to detect worms.
- 2 Any meat (even homemade, even meat of wild animals) must undergo proper heat treatment. It should be well boiled or stewed. If the meat is fried over a fire, then it should be cut into small pieces so that each of them is well steamed and fried.
- 3 Meat cannot be salted and dried – helminths do not die from these methods of processing. Also, Trichinella spp. Are very resistant to cold and normal freezing does not kill them. In order for these worms to die, it is necessary to keep the meat in the “deep freeze” mode (if the refrigerator has such a function) or freeze it for 3 days at a temperature no higher than -20 degrees Celsius.
Traditional medicine for trichinosis
To cure trichinosis, you need to drink infusions of thyme, cloves, thyme, wormwood, inflorescences of tansy, mistletoe, dandelion. Also, in the treatment they take alcoholic tinctures from the juice of garlic, onion and ginger root.
If trichinosis gave complications to the liver, then you need to drink milk thistle oil for 30 days. Oil is drunk three times a day, a teaspoon on an empty stomach. To prepare the oil, you need to take half a liter of olive oil and 3 teaspoons of milk thistle seeds. You need to mix them and put them in a water bath for 15 minutes. Filter. Milk thistle oil is ready to use.
Dangerous and harmful products for trichinosis
To protect yourself and your family from trichinosis, it is necessary to exclude from consumption the raw, fried, completely uncooked meat of the above animals. Also, you can not buy meat in spontaneous markets and from suspicious people.
With trichinosis, you cannot eat sweets and foods to which you are allergic. Sweets will improve the habitat of the larvae in the body, and the allergen will intensify an already severe allergic rash to the worm’s protein.
In order not to increase the swelling, it is necessary not to abuse salt. In a day, in all dishes, its amount should not exceed 5 grams.
In case of severe edema, it is better not to abuse the liquid. Firstly, it will increase it, and secondly, the load on the kidneys will increase.
Attention!
The administration is not responsible for any attempt to use the information provided, and does not guarantee that it will not harm you personally. The materials cannot be used to prescribe treatment and make a diagnosis. Always consult your specialist doctor!