What do you know about human parasitic diseases? The diversity of human parasites is not limited to internal helminths.
There are certain types of parasites that penetrate and live under a person’s skin causing the same unpleasant symptoms as internal parasites.
In addition, the variety is not limited to helminthiasis - there are ticks, insects and protozoa.
Each of them has certain symptoms and manifestations that you should be aware of.
It is equally important to know how to get rid of subcutaneous parasites.
Types of parasitic skin diseases
What parasites can live under human skin? The most diverse, including insects, helminths, ticks and protozoa, are unicellular organisms. Lesions of human skin with different types of parasites have been separated into a separate category of parasitic diseases.
Each group of diseases is united by characteristic pathogens:
- The simplest organisms cause protozoal skin diseases.
- Ticks cause skin lesions on acariasis.
- Insects can cause entomotic skin lesions.
- Helminthiasis develops as a result of helminth infection.
All these causes of parasitic diseases of human skin are equally unpleasant and require diagnosis and treatment. Prolonged neglected forms can lead to irreparable consequences from blindness to death. Fortunately, it can be added that most lists of parasites that live under human skin are typical mainly for countries with warm and humid climates.
Diseases caused by protozoa
Leishmaniasis
Leishmaniasis is caused by the simplest single-celled pathogens transmitted by mosquitoes. A person infected with leishmaniasis becomes a reservoir for further spread of the infection. After being bitten by a mosquito, which is the main host of Leishmania, a person develops cutaneous or visceral leishmaniasis. Cutaneous leishmaniasis manifests as deep ulcers or pustules and extensive skin lesions. The mucocutaneous form of the disease leads to significant deformations of appearance, especially the face. Respiratory edema in leishmaniasis can be fatal.
Leishmaniasis occurs in 90 countries and is a very common disease in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Peru.
Diseases caused by ticks
Demodectic mange
A disease caused by a parasite that lives under the skin in the sebaceous glands and follicles of human hair. This is a microscopic mite - demodex. It is mainly localized on the eyelids, facial skin and ear canals. Rarely - on the chest and back.
Damage to demodex causes complicated acne, dermatitis, which worsens in spring and autumn. The skin looks red, hyperemic, lumpy, inflamed. The ciliary edge of the eyelid is usually swollen, red, the lashes are glued, along the edge of the eyelid there is a discharge in the form of a crust, and the loss of lashes is characteristic. Sometimes the disease takes place without obvious manifestations, so the tick is considered conditionally pathogenic. Demodicosis usually worsens in people with weakened immunity, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, lungs and metabolic disorders.
Scabies
Another ubiquitous disease caused by mites is called itching. These mite bites pass into the human skin into which they lay their eggs. The development of an adult tick follows a complex cycle. Usually this process occurs at night, so at that time the itching of the skin intensifies. The main diagnostic symptom of the presence of parasites under a person’s skin looks like double red small dots located nearby. These are double passes that the tick has bitten.
The disease is complicated by various infections that the patient enters in an attempt to alleviate the itching: streptoderma, nodular seals, blood scabs around the scratches, rash in the form of blood bubbles and other skin lesions. Complicated scabies can resemble urticaria, pyoderma, dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis.
Infection usually occurs through prolonged contact with sick people (scabies has been shown to require skin-to-skin contact, lasting up to 30 minutes; you should not rule out a fairly low chance of infection when using common household items).
Diseases caused by insects
All skin diseases caused by biplanes are collectively called miasm.
Wolfarthiosis
The disease is caused by an insect called wolfarth fly, which lays larvae in mucous membranes or wounds on the human body. The larvae destroy the tissues releasing a special enzyme causing severe pain, necrosis, edema, pus and gangrene of the affected tissue. They usually parasitize in the eyes, nose, ears. The wolf fly is widespread in countries with warm and temperate climates.
Diseases caused by helminths
Heartworm disease
Disease caused by roundworms. The source of infection are domestic animals - cats and dogs. The carrier is a mosquito. After a bite, sexually mature nematode individuals begin to develop in the human body, which usually parasitize under human skin. The insect bite becomes thicker, inflamed and itchy. A characteristic feature of the pathogen is its ability to move under the skin, so the disease is accompanied by a feeling of movement, crawling inside the inflamed seal. Sometimes a nematode can be seen under the skin; cases of an individual coming out of the mucous membrane of the eye have been described.
Allergic reactions, fever, nausea and weakness may be accompanying symptoms.
Strongyloidiasis
A disease caused by the larvae of a parasite that infects a person’s skin if he walks barefoot on the ground. Outbreaks of Strongyloidosis are located in Georgia, Ukraine, Krasnodar, Stavropol Territory. The larvae of roundworms penetrate the skin and migrate beneath it causing redness, itchy skin and the development of red blisters.
Treatment recommendations
General recommendations for the treatment of diseases caused by one or another subcutaneous parasite in humans have been developed. The most important for our region is the treatment of strongyloidiasis, scabies and demodicosis. Treatment is prescribed only by diagnosing the disease and only by a specialist. Some complications and manifestations of the disease require an individual approach to treatment.
- Helminthiasis is recommended to be treated with antiparasitic drugs.
- Ointments, creams and other effective remedies are used to treat itching. In the fight against scabies, a treatment regimen and a system of preventive measures for contacting a person have been developed.
- Demodex treatment is carried out by complex measures to strengthen the immune system, treat gastrointestinal diseases and other procedures. Scabies ointment is used directly for the skin, as well as various cosmetic procedures.
Subcutaneous parasitic diseases require treatment efforts, so it is best to prevent the infection by applying the basic rules of personal hygiene. It is not superfluous to know the usual symptoms that accompany such diseases, so as not to come into close contact with sick people.