Symptoms and treatment of ascariasis in children

Knowing the symptoms and treatment of ascaris in children is very important for any parent. A poorly washed apple or favorite sand in a children's sandbox easily becomes a cause for various parasites to enter the baby’s body.Roundworm in a child are much more common than in adults. This helminth can grow up to 40 cm in length and parasitize in any organ or environment of a child’s body. That is why, sooner or later, almost every person is faced with the question of how dangerous roundworms are and how to treat such an ailment.

Features of ascariasis in childhood

Parasitologists claim that high childhood infestation is associated with inadequate children's personal hygiene. Toddlers often come into contact with the soil or animals, increasing the risk that the tenant like ascaris can be added to their bodies. This is due to the life cycle of helminths, during which the eggs of adults quickly leave the body in which they originated, with fecal masses and so find themselves in the soil, where they expect a new candidate for settlement and further life.

Several photos of ascaris have been taken in children suffering from this disease. They can be seen that the worm is colored pale pink in color, has a rounded body and a rather large size in length.

On a note!

Determining that an infection with worms has occurred is not always easy.Small children, who cannot explain what exactly is bothering them, draw attention to themselves by frequent crying for no apparent reason. They have a strong decline or even complete lack of appetite. Ascariasis in school-age children can be suspected by noting fatigue and loss of any interest in learning. Guards also frequent bronchitis or pneumonia.

Signs of ascaris in the child’s body

Helminths that have got into the children's organism are trying with all their might to reach the intestines, harming everything that comes their way. Children develop nausea, which is often accompanied by vomiting, as well as unmotivated jumps in body temperature. Some patients report abdominal pain and various stool disorders.

Worms in a child

There are two phases of ascaris development:

1. Migration
2. Intestinal.

The symptoms of ascariasis are directly dependent on what phase of their life cycle the ascarids are.

Migration phase

As soon as the larvae inside the child hatch from their eggs, they begin to actively move, causing a stormy and diverse symptoms.So, when the ascarids in the blood pass through the lung tissue, the child develops a cough that remains dry for about a week and then becomes productive. Doctors warn that children with allergies may even have asthmatic attacks during this period.

In the same phase, when infected with a large number of individuals, severe symptoms indicating intoxication are noted. Characteristic for ascariasis is the appearance of fever, enlarged lymph nodes and liver painful on palpation. All of the above is accompanied by skin syndrome, in which children comb their arms and legs, and on the feet and palms you can find a rash on the type of urticaria.

The phase of the movement lasts 10 days, after which the worms enter the intestine.

Important!

Noticing such signs in a child, you should immediately seek qualified medical assistance. Determination of symptoms and treatment of ascariasis in children should be carried out as early as possible, which will save the baby from the unpleasant consequences of the disease.

Intestinal phase

When parasites settle in the intestines, it causes new manifestations,which are a disturbance of sleep and appetite, neurosis-like states, as well as pains that occur in the abdomen and are located near the navel or in the ileal segment. By the nature of the pain spastic. Itching around the anus, aggravated at night. A child may eat a lot, but its body weight, while steadily decreasing.

The remaining symptoms, which occurred in the previous phase, can now worsen or weaken greatly and even disappear altogether.

Asteno-neurotic syndrome as a sign of ascariasis

In schoolchildren invasion by ascaris often manifests itself in the form of astheno-neurotic syndrome. In addition to signs of neurosis in children, there may be no more symptoms. They sleep poorly, become irritable and overly active. Characterized by unmotivated crying and frequent headaches. During sleep, children are disturbed by nightmares.

Signs of Ascaris in a Child

Diagnostic moments

Blood tests help identify ascarid invasion. During the migration phase, the level of eosinophilic cells increases in the blood and the hemoglobin index decreases. In the intestinal stage, anemia reaches moderate severity,and the number of eosinophils begins to decrease.

In the analysis of feces in ascariasis, you can find a huge number of ascaris eggs.

Ways to eliminate parasites

Roundworms do not leave their host voluntarily. They continue to live and multiply, causing more and more harm. To get rid of them, you should know how to treat this helminth and use effective medical remedies.

On a note!

It is important to adhere to dietary nutrition, eliminating all harmful foods, fatty foods and fresh bread. The basis of the diet should be vegetable food. The diet is recommended for children whose age is more than five years.

Traditional medicine

The phase of the movement or migration of worms involves the use of such means, the activity of which has a wide range. It can be Dekaris, Worm, Arbotect and others. If the child suffers from bronchitis, then means that eliminate sputum and have anti-inflammatory effects are used.

When moving ascaris into the intestines, the drugs of choice will be those whose administration is a single dose. These are such options as Pyrantel, Nemotsid, Piperazin and others.

Medications for worms

But business does not manage only specialized means therefore the combined therapy will always be the best decision. Anti-histamine drugs are added to the above preparations, which fight allergy manifestations in ascariasis, and cleansing enemas accelerate the release of dead ascarids from the intestines.

Important!

Treatment of ascariasis is not complete without immunomodulators and vitamin preparations, since the child’s defenses are weakened and the absorption of vitamins from food is impaired.

Recipes of traditional healers and their disadvantages

Traditional medicine offers a huge number of recipes that help to bring roundworm at home. The most popular recipes for healers for ascariasis are presented below.

1. Infusion of pumpkin seeds. For its manufacture, it is necessary to peel and chop 100 grams of pumpkin seeds to a mushy state. Pour the obtained substance with boiled water in an amount of 50 ml and leave to stand. Then, for one hour, eat and wait 3 hours to drink magnesia in solution.
2. Enemas from milk, in which garlic was boiled, at the rate of one garlic head per 200 ml of liquid. The procedure is carried out at bedtime for 7 days in a row.
3. Nut decoction. This tool will require 50 grams of young nuts, 200 ml of boiled water and a little salt.

Not all folk remedies are equally useful to any kid. Herbal ingredients can provoke allergies and simply poison the child. And ascaris can be released in different ways, which does not exclude their entry into the child’s airway during self-treatment, which can cause suffocation.