Trichinella (trichinellosis) is a parasitic disease caused by Trichinella spiralis. Trichinella can be caught by eating meat containing trichinella larvae. What are the symptoms of trichinosis and how is it treated? How to protect yourself from infection?

Trichinosis(trichinosis, trichinellosis) develops after eating meat infected with trichinella - you cannot catch it from another person.

The most common source of infection in humans is domestic or wild pig meat, but cases of trichinosis caused by undercooked horse meat have also been reported in Europe.

If meat with trichinella cysts is improperly prepared and eaten, gastric juice dissolves the areola and the larva has an open path to the small intestine. There, after reaching sexual maturity, in the next 7-8 weeks, they give birth to 1000-1500 live larvae. They penetrate the intestinal walls and travel with blood throughout the body to settle in the striated muscles after 12-15 days. Most often they choose the diaphragm muscles, but they are also found in the intercostal muscles, tongue, larynx, back muscles. After settling in, they encapsulate, forming the so-called blackheads, the shell of which calcifies over time. In this form, isolated from the body, the larvae can survive in the human body for up to 20-40 years.

Trichinosis: symptoms

The first symptoms, mainly related to digestive system disorders, may appear the next day after eating infected meat. The swelling of the eyes and muscle aches usually develop later, between the first and six weeks of eating contaminated meat. The most common symptoms of trichinosis are:

  • swelling of the eyelids and face
  • allergic skin eruptions
  • diarrhea
  • vomiting
  • stomach pains
  • fatigue,
  • high fever
  • headache
  • chills
  • wet sweats
  • cough
  • joint and muscle pain

It should be remembered that the severity of symptoms depends on the number of larvae consumed - the more larvae, the more severe the disease. It happens that mild cases of trichinosis are mistaken for a cold and never detected. In severe cases, it may lead to cardiological problems and disorders of breathing and coordinationmovements. The most severe cases may end in death.

Włośnica: research

If the patient's history shows that the patient who has the above symptoms may have eaten meat infected with the larvae, the doctor decides to perform a muscle biopsy (but not earlier than 10 days after the infection - the larvae must reach the site). You can also order allergic skin tests (three weeks after infection) and blood serological reactions (the presence of larvae in the body increases the level of eosinophils - a type of white blood cells).

Włośnica: treatment

Trichinosis treatment should always take place in a hospital.

Important

Ways to avoid trichinosis

  • eating meat from a reliable source that has undergone post-mortem inspection for trichinella larvae,
  • not eating game products of unknown origin,
  • avoiding meat and its undercooked products and semi-raw meats from an unknown source.

Category:

Parasitic diseases