When bringing a dog or a cat home, you need to know that our new family members can infect our children and ourselves with zoonotic diseases. For example, in every 2 cats or domestic dogs there is a nematode - commonly called a cat or dog's worm called Toxocara.
Nematodes from the Toxocara group are parasites that live in the intestines of animals, mainly dogs and cats. .
Toxocara cat (Toxocara inches) develops in a cat, and canine catfish (Toxocara canis) in a dog. The body structure of these parasites is similar to that of human roundworms. The dog's worm is slightly smaller than the female, 4-10 cm long, and the female 6-12 cm. The length of the cat's round male is about 3-7 cm, and the female 4-10 cm.
In Poland, infection with nematodes occurs in 5-35% of dogs.
In pregnant women, dog worms are less susceptible to antiparasitic drugs. During pregnancy they are activated and pass through the placenta to the fetuses. At the same time, nematode eggs get into the soil with droppings. Therefore, it is very important to have puppies from the reputable breeders as early as possible and systematically deworming. Otherwise they may become a seedbed of nematodes. Infected earth
The calculations of epidemiologists show that every day in the world 8.5 billion trillions of eggs enter the ground every day. In soil research conducted in Poland in the 1990s - eggs of infectious nematodes were found in 7-12% of soils in Poznań and as much as 22-50% of soils in Lubelskie.
Man infects himself with "the way of dirty hands" and unwashed foods.
Nematode eggs are resistant to adverse climatic factors. They die only above the temperature of 26 ° C. Therefore, contaminated soil, consumed contaminated food, contact with infected animals and their feces are the source of infection.
Children aged 1-6 are particularly vulnerable
The most soil infections found in Poland come from residential alleys, entrances to buildings, playing fields, playgrounds and sandboxes. It is known that young children have a ground-eating reflex (geophagy) and a habit of putting objects in their hands into the mouth. (the latter occurs in every 5 children of this age)
Hatched larvae of nematodes in the duodenum of the infected person penetrate the intestinal wall and with blood reach through the portal circulation mainly to the liver.
Some of the nematode larvae pass into the lungs, brain, myocardium and skeletal muscles, the eyeball. Parasites do not reach maturity in the human body, which is for them only an incidental host. In spite of this, they can cause disease symptoms, the severity of which depends on the intensity of infection, the location of the organ and the immune system of the infected person. The larvae die only after a few years.
Man is only the intermediate host of nematodes
Fortunately, human intestines are not the final goal of the roundworm development cycle. Here, they develop only to the larval form. Then they try to settle permanently in the small intestine of a dog or cat. These animals are the target and final hosts of parasites.
The reaction of the immune system to parasites
The evidence of nematode infection is so-called eosinophilia - an increased number of one of the types of white blood cells - eosinophils. These cells have the ability to kill tissue parasites. The immune system that strongly reacts to cat and canine worms is able to more than double the number of these granulocytes.
Symptoms of toxocarosis
Toxokaroza in most cases proceeds asymptomatically, masked. In parts infected with nematodes of people - larvae of parasites cause inflammation of tissues and organs. As a consequence, inflammation and toxins of nematodes destroy the infected tissues.Depending on the severity of the invasion of nematode larvae and the location of the larvae in the organs, various disease symptoms appear.
There are toxicological forms of toxocarosis:
1 Latent toxosis (clinically asymptomatic) - covert toxocarosis.
2. Visceral toxosis (generalized) - visceral larva migrans (mainly in children)
3. Pulmonary toxo
4. Ocular ocular toxosis - ocular larva migrans
5. Brain toxin
Latent toxosis form
There are numerous cases of asymptomatic Toxocara infections in children. This is accompanied by both low and high percentage of eosinophil granulocytes in the peripheral blood.
Visceral toxosis (generalized) mainly occurs in children.
The first description of the migrating larvae of Toxocara nematodes in children was described in 1952. This form of the disease is accompanied by enlarged liver. It is confirmed that the organ is infected with larvae and the immune cells destroying parasites - leukocytes and basophils.
Symptoms of celiac infection
The most common complaints reported by patients are: general weakness, cough, pruritus and erythema of the skin, chest pain, abdominal pain, muscles and joints, dizziness and headache, lack of appetite, increased body temperature.
Symptoms of visceral toxokarosis in children
High temperature (above 39 oC), weakness, high levels of leukocytes and granulocytes (leukocytosis and high eosinophilia), hepatomegaly, increase in IgG, IgM, and IgE immunoglobulins appear in the child. Enlargement of the liver is associated with the fact that most larvae get into the liver first.
Pulmonary toxo
In young children who are not yet fully mature the immune system can be infected with pulmonary tissue with symptoms of alveolitis. Symptoms include coughing and shortness of breath. On the other hand, asthmatic and allergic children with pulmonary toxicosis may exacerbate allergy symptoms and trigger asthma attacks. Ocular ocular toxosis - occurs mainly in adolescents
The ocular form of the disease is a frequent cause of poor vision and blindness. The disease develops usually insidiously, it is long unrecognized, but there are also cases with acute optic nerve involvement. Parasitosis can cause mucus inequalities. Ophthalmologic examination has pathological changes in the eye. Even in the 1940s, unrecognized ocular toxocariasis was the cause of enucleation of the eyeballs.
Brain toxin
This form of the disease often occurs in the form of encephalitis. It causes seizures. Symptoms depend on the place where the larvae are found.
Commonness of infection with nematodes
Human nematode infection is not uncommon, as evidenced by screening results carried out among people considered healthy. In Slovenia, infection was found in 7 children and 6% of adults. In the Netherlands, 6-11% of children aged 4-6 were infected.
Infections with nematodes in Poland Studies conducted in Poland in 1994-1996 showed that 1.8% of children under 5 years were exposed to infections; 3.4% of children aged 6-10 years and 3.1% of children aged 11-15. In the Lublin region, nematode infected with 19% of children up to 15 years of age, and as much as 30% in people over 25 years of age. In Podlasie, infection was diagnosed in every 5 adults.
Warning! Most of the toxocarosis infections are asymptomatic.
Toxocariosis treatment
Currently, modern antiparasitic drugs are used to kill live nematode larvae that have entered the tissues. Treatment, however, is long-lasting, because it only boils down to killing the parasite, but also its "resorption", that is, the distribution in the tissues into simple components and the expulsion of toxic remains of killed larvae. Suppression of accompanying inflammations, regeneration of tissue damaged by larvae takes many weeks or even months.
Neglect of disease treatment
Too late treatment may result in dangerous consequences - irreversible damage to the tissues in which the larvae invaded. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the more effective the treatment is.
Toxicosis prevention
How to prevent this zoonotic infection? At least 2-year-round deworming of dogs and cats is required. In addition, children with puppies and kittens and unknown dogs and cats should not be allowed to interact.
Literature
1. Toxocariosis - epidemiology, pathogenesis and treatment - dr n. Med.Kamil Hozyasz from the Department of Paediatrics, the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw; Medycyna Rodzinna issue 19 (3-4 / 2002); 2. Toxocarosis - a dangerous parasitic disease; Marcin Kapuściński; www.lapharma.info
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