The parasite in the human body can grow up to 7 meters: you will not feel its presence in the body until it begins to slide out.

– When we talk about parasites, worms, we usually think of small children who put their hands in their mouths. But is there also among adults who become infected?

– You are right when you say that children make the most of it. It is children under the age of 10 who have the most parasitic diseases because they do not yet have the proper hygiene skills. But illnesses also occur among adults, and generally occur when they feel intestinal ailments. Some come with shipments, others come without.

– If a person suspects that they may be infected with parasites, can you come to you without being sent?

– Yes, we do not require shipping. If a person wants, we will definitely help them. All you have to do is read our page beforehand, call or bring stool immediately.

– What are the most popular and frequently encountered parasites?

– The most common parasite in Lithuania is the parasite. According to our data, approximately 16% of children are infected with it. This is a very high percentage, 16 out of 100 children have color. We have done research in several kindergartens, we found 29 percent. up to 58 percent. infected in kindergarten. But if we don’t find the colored eggs one day, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, maybe the baby just washed earlier. We do not usually find colored eggs in the stool, they are found by sticking an adhesive tape to the anus of the child, then the eggs are usually found.

– Are they dangerous for the child?

– The most important sign that a child has cramps is scratching the buttocks. Does not make the child sleepy. For girls and women, hives can infiltrate the urinary tract, into the genital tract. Children are irritable, sleep poorly, scratch constantly. Eggs for laying eggs usually come out at night, they secrete a variety of substances. The worst thing is that the eggs mature in the human body in 4-6 hours. The child will put his fingers in his mouth and have a lump again because the medicine only works on the living lump, not on the egg. It means that there has to be a lot of housework at home. Eggplants fear extreme heat and cold and can survive in the environment for up to 3 weeks. This is a general order needed at home.

– What is the biggest source of infection? When people don’t wash their hands, fruits, vegetables?

– The routes of contagion are very diverse. Some parasites are transmitted by biting blood-sucking insects, others can become infected by direct contact with the hands. Another route of infection, especially ascarids, of which about 200 cases are diagnosed in Lithuania each year, is transmitted through dirty hands. For example, you worked with the earth a little work, weeds of flower beds, gardens, in the end you bought strawberries in the market or did not wash the vegetables in your garden, you can get infected. Flies carry eggs on their legs. Or rainwater can wash your eggs from a neighbor’s garden if you fertilize the garden with their feces. Women who want to get pregnant also come to us to explore and some of us find roundworms.

– So you should learn to wash all fruits and vegetables?

– Of course. If you don’t clean the entire floor, it could be eggs. After all, even store-bought ones need to be washed because you never know who touched them. We did some research in the past and found worm eggs on a stalk of store bought onion leaves. […] And a pet, if it comes from the garden, can bring roundworm eggs on its paws.

– Are these parasites spread quickly to humans?

– It takes 2 to 3 months from the moment it enters the human body until the adult ascaridis, when new eggs begin to develop. At some point after a couple of weeks, by inadvertently swallowing an ascaridary egg with a strawberry, larval migration begins throughout the body, along with a rush of blood. Through both the heart and the lungs, it can travel everywhere. Then allergic symptoms begin, there may be hives, blood tests show hemophilia. Not necessarily allergies are caused by the flowering of the grass in summer, it is possible that the larvae of roundworms travel. Every year about 200 cases of roundworms are diagnosed in Lithuania. It is that they circulate in the environment. An ascarid lays 200,000 eggs a day. There are both males and females. If there is a pair, then the eggs will be fertilized, and if only the male, then there will be no eggs. Sometimes the ascarid grows more than 40 cm. If it has lived several years, we may not find it, because it does not lay eggs.

– However, while eating berries in the forest, we have eaten unwashed berries more than once. The forest appears to be a clean environment and nothing will happen. But can we also become infected with dangerous parasites here?

– Yes, the echinococcus is common in Lithuania, it is tapeworm. Live with predators, be they wolves, dogs, foxes, cats. Those who eat meat. In Lithuania, there are about 57 percent. foxes infected with echinococci. They are very small, up to 1 cm. If a dog has such a tapeworm, the person may not see it. Because there are infected foxes, the berry fat in the forest is really dangerous to eat. Tapeworm infections are on the rise, with 80 cases last year. For a long time, a person does not feel any symptoms, and then at some point, a problem occurs. For the tapeworm, the person is usually the intermediate host and is not like a worm, but like a bladder. It can occur in any organ, liver, brain. Then the bladder develops and grows. It really is like cancer, the death rate is 90 percent. That bladder can rupture and travel to other organs with a flow of blood, which spreads throughout the body. And it could all be because you once ate strawberries in the woods.

– Is it possible to come and investigate this?

– Yes, you can come to our lab for a blood test. But it costs money.

– However, if the disease is detected earlier, will the treatment be easier?

– Yes of course. And if a person likes to visit the woods, get them vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis.

– Where do these parasites tend to settle? Is it true that it can settle even in the eye?

– Yes, there are such parasites. One of them is the toxocara, a predator worm that lives with dogs and cats. If you don’t wash your hands or vegetables, toxic corrosion can become infected. In Lithuania there are about 50 cases every year. This larva also migrates through the blood, settles in the smallest capillaries and likes to stay in the eye. A person sometimes feels that something is moving, that vision is affected.

– With regard to pregnant women, is it true that they should be very careful when handling cat litter?

– One of those dangerous parasites is the protozoan toxoplasma. They are really dangerous because a pregnant woman infected with toxoplasmosis can give birth to a disabled child. Pregnant women should avoid eating raw meat, fish, because protozoa are also spread through it. It is best to let family members fix the cat box.

– Ascarids, you said, can grow up to 40 cm. And how interesting are tapeworms like animals?

– The most interesting thing for me is a bull tapeworm. It is removed in parts, it can grow up to 5-7 meters. The limbs of the felt tapeworm move, can slide and move around the bedding. The pork tapeworm is dangerous because if a person starts vomiting while they have it, the eggs will end up in the stomach. Then it becomes an intermediate host and can develop cysticercosis, it can settle in the brain or lungs. Then there will be consequences.

– What would you like to convey to people?

– The main thing: wash your hands, wash fruits, vegetables, especially vegetables. Wash your hands after leaving the city, the street, the garden. Don’t eat raw fish, don’t eat raw meat. If you’re already eating, at least shop at places where sellers are trustworthy.