home Drugs Kidney echinococcosis treatment with folk remedies. Symptoms and treatment of echinococcosis. So, the general symptoms of echinococcosis are as follows:

Kidney echinococcosis treatment with folk remedies. Symptoms and treatment of echinococcosis. So, the general symptoms of echinococcosis are as follows:

In recent years, the boundaries of the disease echinococcosis have expanded significantly. Cases of the disease and the appearance of complications as a result of this disease have become more frequent. Patients experience relapses and, as a result, large tumors appear in the abdominal cavity. To prevent this disease from affecting those closest to you, you need to know about the disease echinococcosis, what it is, and how it manifests itself. It has characteristic symptoms; upon noticing them, it is necessary to diagnose the disease and begin treatment immediately.

What is echinococcosis? This is a chronic disease that can affect almost all organs of the human body. The causative agent of the disease is Echinococcus, the structure of which consists of several segments. Its length reaches 1 cm. The larvae of echinococci are vesicular laurocytes, which can reach 40 cm in size. The laurel cyst is surrounded by a special shell, which is completely filled with a transparent liquid.

You can become infected through:

unwashed hands;
eating dirty foods with contaminated dust;
the infection can be transmitted by flies that are on food;
in contact with carnivores;
when processing animal skin;
drinking raw water from springs, lakes;
through wild berries and herbs that have not been washed under running water.

It is important to know that treatment of echinococcosis is impossible using laparoscopic methods. This may cause the blister to burst due to damage to the formation.

Whether echinococcus is transmitted from person to person is of interest to loved ones who are in contact with a sick person. This is impossible, it will not be possible to become infected with echinococcosis from a patient, it is not transmitted through a kiss or even sexual contact, and the use of household items alone is not dangerous. It can appear in the patient's relatives only if they live in the same region, or in the same way as the patient was infected.

Symptoms of echinococcosis

The manifestations of echinococcus symptoms are so numerous that it is difficult for modern medicine to make a correct diagnosis. Experts often confuse the disease with a lung abscess, pneumonia, pleurisy, etc.

The intensity of symptoms of echinococcosis depends on:

tumor size;
the rate of its increase;
localization locations;
level of injury to internal organs;
the presence of side effects.

In some, tumor growth occurs slowly without causing pronounced symptoms at an early stage. In others, the transformation of the focus of the disease occurs very quickly, symptoms appear almost immediately.

At an early stage of the disease, it is difficult to identify and begin treatment for echinococcosis. But according to the studies, almost all patients during this period had a fever, felt weak, shivered and experienced pain in the right hypochondrium. Treatment will depend on the patient's symptoms.

Pulmonary echinococcosis manifests itself:

When echinococcus is located in the liver, patients feel:

heaviness and pain under the right side of the ribs;
nausea;
the organ is too big;
rashes and itching appear.

Symptoms most often appear only when the tumor becomes large.

Complications

The formation compresses large vessels, interferes with the functioning of the bronchi, contributes to difficulty breathing and disrupts the functioning of the cardiovascular system.

Complications can manifest as biliary cirrhosis, cachexia, ascites and jaundice. There are cases when the tumor begins to fester, undergoes necrosis or rupture and bacterial infection. According to experts, the most dangerous thing is the release of echinococcus into the ducts. In this case, the infection may spread and cysts will form in various organs.

Diagnosis of the disease

The presence of infection in the body can be detected using a number of examinations:

In medicine, it is not uncommon for formations to be detected during operations or during a routine examination, during ultrasound of organs or on x-rays. The degree of development of the disease, the size and growth of the cyst determines the nature of treatment.

Treatment with medications

Surgery

Endoscopy is a surgical method in which large incisions are not made to the patient. The operation is carried out through small holes using certain instruments. This method allows you to minimize tissue injury and quickly recover.

During surgery, it is extremely important to remove all the membranes of the formation. This also applies to the fibrous capsule; if it remains in the body, it can cause a relapse of the disease. In some cases, the surgeon is unable to remove it due to the high risk of complications. It is possible to carry out drainage under ultrasound supervision; this method is used when another operation cannot be performed.

Complications after surgery

After surgery, about 20% of patients suffer from complications such as bile accumulation, wound suppuration, biliary fistula, prolonged bile leakage, and pleurisy. This figure is significantly higher among those who refused complex treatment or did not complete the course completely.

In addition to the above complications, if the doctor’s orders are not properly followed, the following occurs:

Calcification of the capsule
Obstructive jaundice as a result of cyst rupture into the ducts
Tumor suppuration
Tumor breakthrough.

The effectiveness of surgery is assessed by the presence of complications after surgery, the absence of symptoms and recurrence of the disease.

Treatment of pulmonary echinococcosis

Surgery can be done in different ways:

Resection. This method is used for large inflammatory processes and the presence of pathologies that require resection.
Echinococcectomy. Fluid is sucked out of the cyst, and the fibrous capsule is dissected.
Radical methods. Palliative surgery that eliminates the causes of pathology. This intervention somewhat alleviates the patient's condition.
Surgical intervention to eliminate complications caused by pulmonary echinococcosis.

Folk remedies

Pulmonary echinococcosis can be treated with folk remedies only in the initial stages of the disease. It is advised to take a tablespoon of crushed lemon peel poured with boiling water in the morning on an empty stomach. Echinococcus is afraid of wormwood, garlic, horseradish, and mustard seeds. They can be eaten daily.

Prevention

Measures to prevent the disease include a whole range of measures:

Those whose work is related to animal breeding, hunting or dog breeding must pay special attention to the rules of hygiene.
Wash your hands regularly with soap
Drinking raw water from wells and springs is strictly prohibited
Carry out sufficient heat treatment of meat
After treatment for echinococcosis, visit your doctor regularly to prevent relapse of the disease.

Recovery after surgery

After removal of the echinococcosis cyst, the functioning of the diseased organ is disrupted. It is extremely important to properly carry out rehabilitation in order to restore the functioning of organs and prevent the recurrence of the disease.

Relapse of the disease can manifest itself as follows:

In the form of insemination by larvae as a result of cyst removal or puncture
Rupture of the formation and infection of organs or the circulatory system by larvae, which provokes the occurrence of several foci of echinococcosis
Incorrect operation, poor tumor removal.

After surgery for echinococcosis, the patient must take anthelmintic drugs according to the regimen drawn up by the doctor.

The recovery period after surgery is 2-4 months, for which the patient is issued a sick leave certificate.

It is necessary to be regularly examined for the first two years twice a year after echinococcosis and for 8 years once a year.

After liver surgery, the patient needs to eat well with foods high in protein, carbohydrates, microelements, and vitamins. It is worth stopping eating foods containing cholesterol, fatty foods and coarse fiber. It is necessary to take medications that restore liver cells.

After treatment of pulmonary echinococcosis, the patient must undergo special lung exercises and apply other measures to improve ventilation.

After treatment of echinococcosis of the brain, drugs are prescribed that restore blood circulation to this organ. Physiotherapy is prescribed, which helps improve the functioning of the musculoskeletal system. If speech function is impaired, classes with a speech therapist are prescribed. Classes with a psychotherapist are necessary for patients with mental disorders after echinococcosis.

After operations to remove foci of echinococcosis, you should refrain from hard work for four months. Physiotherapy can be carried out no earlier than 2 months after surgery. Women should abstain from pregnancy for a while. Patients with echinococcosis need to be protected from psycho-emotional stress.

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General information

Causes of echinococcosis

Adult specimens of Echinococcus are small helminths 2.5-8 mm long and 0.5-10 mm wide, having a head with four suckers and two rows of hooks, a neck and several segments. Mature segments contain echinococcus eggs with oncospheres and a six-hooked larva-embryo inside. Oncospheres survive in a wide range of temperatures (from -30°C to +30°C), persist in the soil for several months, but soon die when exposed to sunlight. From the intestines of the definitive host, eggs with feces are released into the external environment. Infection of people with echinococcosis occurs through nutrition (by consuming vegetables and fruits and water contaminated with feces) or by contact (by cutting carcasses or contact with animals infected with echinococcus). Persons involved in livestock farming and animal care (livestock breeders, hunters, slaughterhouse workers, etc.) have a high risk of echinococcosis.

Pathogenesis of echinococcosis

In the human gastrointestinal tract, under the influence of digestive enzymes, the shell of the egg and oncosphere dissolves and the larva emerges. With the help of hooks, it penetrates the intestinal mucosa, from where it enters the venous bloodstream and the portal system. Most of the oncospheres settle in the liver; sometimes, through the inferior vena cava, oncospheres enter the right parts of the heart, and from there into the pulmonary circulation and lungs. Less commonly, through the pulmonary veins and the left parts of the heart, the embryos find themselves in the systemic circulation and can be carried into any organ: the brain, spleen, kidneys, muscles, etc. As a result of invasion, echinococcosis of the liver develops in approximately 70-80% of cases, in 15% - echinococcosis of the lungs; in other cases, damage to other organs occurs.

Symptoms of echinococcosis

Diagnosis of echinococcosis

Correct diagnosis of echinococcosis is facilitated by a detailed epidemiological history, indicating close human contact with animals and the endemicity of infection. If echinococcosis of any localization is suspected, serological blood tests (ELISA, RNIF, RNGA) are prescribed to detect specific antibodies to echinococcus. The specificity and sensitivity of the tests reaches 80-98%. In approximately 2/3 of cases, a skin allergy test - the Casoni reaction - turns out to be informative.

The range of instrumental diagnostics of echinococcosis includes ultrasound, X-ray, tomography, and radioisotope methods. In case of echinococcosis of the liver, ultrasound of the hepatobiliary system, angiography of the celiac trunk, MRI of the liver, scintigraphy, diagnostic laparoscopy, etc. are informative. Pulmonary echinococcosis can be recognized by radiography of the lungs and CT scan of the chest, bronchoscopy, lungs, etc.

Treatment and prevention of echinococcosis

In the case of radical removal of hydatid cysts and the absence of re-infection, the prognosis is favorable; relapses of echinococcosis do not occur. In the case of intraoperative dissemination of scolex, a relapse of the disease may occur after 1-2 years with the formation of multiple echinococcal blisters and an unfavorable prognosis. Measures to prevent human invasion include veterinary control and animal health (periodic deworming of dogs, vaccination of sheep, improvement of hygienic conditions for keeping livestock, etc.). Hunters, livestock breeders, and dog breeders should be informed about the danger of infection with echinococcosis and the need to observe personal hygiene measures. Patients who have had echinococcosis are under clinical observation for 8-10 years with annual serological tests, ultrasound and x-ray examinations.

Table of contents:

Routes of infection

There are single-chamber (hydatiosis) and multi-chamber (alveolar) echinococcosis. Hydatiosis echinococcosis is caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, and alveolar echinococcosis is caused by Echinococcus multilocularis. Doctors consider both of these diseases within the framework of echinococcosis, since their course is similar.

Echinococcus goes through its own life cycle. In the body of infected animals (dogs, foxes, wolves, jackals) there is sexually mature echinococcus in the intestines. The adult helminth produces eggs, which are excreted into the environment with feces.

The first barrier to the advancement of echinococcus is the liver. In most cases, echinococcus “gets stuck” in the liver, forming in its tissues. If the helminth manages to pass this barrier, it enters the lungs. In the rarest cases, the “journey” of echinococcus continues, and then from the lungs it is carried by blood to the brain, kidneys, heart, and bones.

Can a person become infected with echinococcosis from an infected person? No, he can not. Therefore, you should not avoid any contact with an infected person.

Symptoms of hydatiosis echinococcosis

Echinococcosis can be asymptomatic for years. Only toxic-allergic symptoms are noted: weakness, fatigue, itchy skin, rashes, periodic rises in temperature. The occurrence of these phenomena is associated with the toxic effects of waste products produced by echinococcus. Unfortunately, it is impossible to diagnose echinococcosis based on these nonspecific signs. Clinically significant symptoms will appear when the cyst enlarges and thereby disrupts the functioning of internal organs.

Liver echinococcosis

More than 50% of reported cases of echinococcosis show liver damage, and is often localized in the right lobe of the organ. Patients complain of decreased performance, severe weakness, and elevated temperature. Then there is aching, a feeling of heaviness in the right hypochondrium, and stool disorders.

Features of the clinical picture of the disease depend on where exactly the echinococcal bladder is located. So, if a cyst compresses the bile ducts, it occurs. When the cyst compresses the inferior vena cava, portal hypertension develops, manifested by dilation of the veins in the abdomen, ascites (enlarged abdomen).

The liver affected by echinococcus is enlarged, dense to the touch and painless. When a cyst forms on the front surface of the liver, the doctor can even feel it through the skin.

You should be wary of complications of liver echinococcosis:

Suppuration of the echinococcal bladder with the formation of a liver abscess and its further opening into the abdominal cavity;
Rupture of a non-festering bladder with the development (up to) and dispersion of echinococcus.

Pulmonary echinococcosis

More than 20% of all reported cases of echinococcosis affect the lungs. The clinical picture of the disease can be divided into two stages. The first is the stage of an unbursted hydatid cyst. At this stage, patients complain of chest pain, first periodic and then constant. Shortness of breath also occurs, first, and then wet with the separation of mucopurulent sputum, hemoptysis. All these symptoms are caused by compression of the tissues of the lung, bronchi, and blood vessels by the growing cyst. The bubble may fester. In this case, it is formed.

Echinococcal cysts can form in the brain, heart, kidneys, spleen, bones, muscles. An hydatid cyst of the brain can be suspected by such signs as paresis of the limbs, mental disorders.

With echinococcosis, the patient's kidneys are bothered by high fever, aching, and sometimes. Echinococcosis of the heart is accompanied by chest pain and heart rhythm disturbances. Compression of coronary vessels by cysts can lead to. When a cyst ruptures, it is possible, accompanied by coughing and hemoptysis.

Bone echinococcosis is reported extremely rarely. The symptoms of this pathological condition are in the area where the helminth is introduced.

Symptoms of alveolar echinococcosis

With alveolar echinococcosis, a multi-chamber cyst is formed. Essentially it is a conglomerate of small bubbles. The size of the cyst can be from one to thirty centimeters in diameter. Most often, alveococcosis affects the liver.

Alveococcal bubbles grow rapidly and invade neighboring organs (diaphragm, kidneys, pancreas, pericardium). This feature of alveococcosis resembles the indomitable growth of a malignant tumor. At the same time, the clinical picture of alveococcosis is similar to that of hydatiosis echinococcosis.

The first signs of the disease can be considered aching, abnormal stool. The patient's condition gradually worsens, weakness, loss of appetite, weight loss, and jaundice occur. As the cyst disintegrates, the pain in the right hypochondrium intensifies, the temperature rises, and weakness increases. Alveococcosis can metastasize with the formation of new cysts in other organs.

Diagnostics

The clinical picture of echinococcosis is nonspecific; the same symptoms can be observed in a wide variety of diseases. To determine an accurate diagnosis, the patient must undergo the following tests:

Treatment of echinococcosis, surgery

The prognosis for echinococcosis is always serious. An existing cyst will not resolve over time, but rather may fester and rupture. Therefore, when a disease is detected, you cannot hesitate, you need to start treatment.

The main method of treatment is surgical. If the cyst is located on the surface of the organ, the surgeon completely removes the cyst with the membrane and adjacent tissues during the operation. When the cyst is located deep in the organ, the surgeon opens the cyst, removes fluid from it and treats the cavity with a disinfectant solution. Sometimes the surgeon has to remove part of the organ. In case of liver echinococcosis, taking into account the location of the cyst and its size, the surgeon can perform an operation by dissecting the abdominal cavity (laparotomy) or using a minimally invasive percutaneous method (laparoscopy).

Before or after surgery, the patient may be prescribed Albendazole. The doctor determines the dosage and duration of medication taking into account the characteristics of the course of the disease.

Prevention

Preventive measures to prevent echinococcosis are quite simple. You need to maintain personal hygiene: wash vegetables and berries, wash your hands before eating, do not drink water from open reservoirs, do not contact street dogs. In particular, it is very important to explain to children the need for hygiene. If a person lives at home with a dog, then the animal needs to be dewormed regularly.

Human infection with echinococcosis occurs through contact and through the ingestion of eggs through food and water. People involved in livestock farming are at risk. Infection occurs through animal hair, when using water from contaminated sources, when picking berries and mushrooms, and when eating unwashed food from contaminated lands. The disease affects the most important human organs, and treatment will only be effective with surgery.

Development of echinococcosis in children

The risk of developing echinococcosis in children is higher than in adults. Due to age and insufficiently developed hygiene skills, a child may have close contact with a pet and not wash their hands afterward, eat unprocessed vegetables and fruits, and not observe hygiene rules before eating. Since the incubation period of the disease, without the manifestation of pathological symptoms, lasts for years, the disease is detected in adolescence. During childhood, the presence of echinococcosis is detected only by chance, during an X-ray examination for another reason, or during blood tests for the presence of invasions.

The list of examinations includes an analysis for echinococcus. When infected with infestations, the following symptoms appear:

weight loss due to lack of appetite;
difficulty concentrating, failure to perform well in subjects at school;
grinding teeth while sleeping;
irritability, short temper, aggressiveness;
nausea, vomiting;
abdominal pain;
yellowing of the skin;
night dry cough;
hard breath;
headache;
liver failure.

The presence of several symptoms should alert parents and cause them to consult a doctor.

It is possible to diagnose echinococcosis in children using the same scheme as in adults:

analysis of hemolymph to determine antibodies to this group of invasions;
ultrasound examination of the abdomen and kidneys;
chest x-ray;
computer analysis of the brain and internal organs indicated by the manifestation;
clinical blood and urine tests.
biochemical blood tests.

Symptoms of echinococcosis

During the course of the disease, there are several stages, which are conditional and individual in each specific case:

asymptomatic - the period from infection to the formation of a small cyst;
manifestation of vague symptoms and minor complaints;
acute manifestations of the disease;
deterioration of the condition with the development of complications of the disease.

Latent form (asymptomatic) - patients do not have specific complaints; at this stage, the disease is discovered accidentally during surgical interventions due to other requests. One symptom that attracts attention is skin rashes and severe itching. The period of manifestation of symptoms begins from the moment when the cyst compresses neighboring organs and the following symptoms appear:

pain on the right, under the ribs;
stomach upsets;
liver enlargement.

In the complication stage, the following manifestations occur:

cyst inflammation;
obstructive jaundice;
hypertension;
rupture of the cystic pouch;
liver dysfunction.

Depending on the location of the cyst and its size, nonspecific manifestations are also observed:

anorexia;
weight loss;
prostration.

The implicit, hidden period lasts from two months to ten years.

According to the form of development there are:

cystic echinococcosis;
alveolar echinococcosis.

Less common forms of echinococcosis are as follows:

kidney;
brain;
intestines.

Very rare phases of the disease:

bones;
subcutaneous tissue;
mammary glands.

Symptoms of hepatic and pulmonary echinococcosis

More often (up to eighty percent of cases of invasion) hepatic echinococcosis is isolated. A person is concerned about dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract:

nausea;
loss of appetite;
vomit;
pain in the epigastric region.

Upon palpation, an increased size of the liver and spleen is determined; a cyst that is hard to the touch can be felt. In case of decay or inflammation of the cyst, body hyperthermia, chills, and severe abdominal pain are noted. With the development of a liver abscess, darkening of the urine, yellowing of the sclera, lightening of the stool, and visually pronounced yellowing of the skin are observed. A complication of hepatic echinococcosis is perforation of the cyst. This is accompanied by acute pain, up to the development of painful shock, and the spread of echinococci occurs along the bloodstream throughout the body. This is secondary echinococcosis.

Pulmonary echinococcosis develops less frequently. The main symptoms of this disease:

dyspnea;
chest pain;
weak breathing.

Sometimes exudative pleurisy is associated. If the cyst ruptures, the symptoms change.

If the integrity of the cyst in the bronchi is violated, a barking cough, allergies, suffocation and bluish skin appear. If there is a perforation in the pleura or pericardium, the prognosis is extremely unfavorable. In almost all cases - anaphylactic shock and death of the patient. Very rarely, damage to other organs occurs: kidneys, spleen, central nervous system.

About Nemozol for worms

Diagnosis of the disease

Diagnosis of echinococcosis is carried out on the basis of an analysis of the deterioration of health and medical history, the time of appearance of complaints or unusual symptoms is specified, it is determined whether there was contact with domestic animals, whether thermally poorly processed meat was consumed. All the main issues that attract attention and require analysis:

symptom analysis;
taking anamnesis;
analysis of epidemiological history;
laboratory research;
microscopic examination of urine;
serological test;
sputum analysis;
computer in-depth studies (ultrasound, x-ray, MRI).

Symptoms of echinococcosis in pets

Other pets may also have echinococcosis. Sheep, horses, pigs are intermediate hosts. Often the disease is asymptomatic. Sometimes only after the slaughter of livestock can you notice echinococcal capsules in the animal’s body.

During the period of mass death of livestock, cysts may be discovered during autopsy. If there is echinococcus in the body, the symptoms are often and not clearly expressed.

Among the external manifestations we can note:

shortness of breath, cough, difficulty breathing, sometimes whistling;
refusal to eat;
sudden weight loss;
diarrhea;
in a clinical blood test - antibodies to echinococcus.

When using meat for food, before the cooking process it is necessary to carefully examine the internal organs for the presence of cysts. Visible changes, such as atypical color, wrinkles, bubbles, or compactions should alert you. Such meat should not be eaten. When cutting a carcass, you must carefully monitor compliance with safety rules: wear gloves, wash knives and boards after use.

Treatment of echinococcosis

Echinococcosis is a very serious disease, and it cannot be cured with the help of alternative medicine. Self-medication can harm a person; wasted time will aggravate the patient’s condition and can lead to complications. Traditional methods can be a parallel restorative therapy, with the approval of the attending physician.

In the treatment of echinococcosis, there are two treatment options:

non-surgical (conservative);
surgical.

In any course of the disease, you must follow these general recommendations:

limiting the intake of animal fats;
dietary food;
taking vitamins and mineral components.

To relieve pathological manifestations and prevent relapses of echinococcosis, drug treatment is used. Appointed:

painkillers;
antiemetics;
hepatoprotective drugs;
anthelmintic therapy;
restorative medications.

There are several options for surgical treatment:

radical operations (excision of the affected area of the organ);
conditionally radical (removal of an area with a likelihood of relapse of the disease);
auxiliary operations (the patient is not cured, only his condition is alleviated);
operations to prevent complications (drainage of organs after rupture of cysts).

low-traumatic;
easy to carry;
has a short rehabilitation period.

But if there are several cysts, it is ineffective. A contraindication for this procedure is when the cyst has died. Over time, this method may become the leading method for treating echinococcosis. After surgical treatment, traditional medicine can significantly support the body. Also, when surgical treatment is powerless, alternative medicine recipes will help:

Recovery postoperative period

Any surgical intervention disrupts the ability to work and function of the affected organ. Rehabilitation is aimed at recovery and prevention of recurrence of the disease.

Relapse of the disease is a complication of surgical treatment:

entry of larvae into the bloodstream or neighboring organs during surgery;
cyst rupture;
incomplete detection of cysts;
incomplete excision of echinococcal blisters;
re-infection.

For six months after surgery, it is recommended to refrain from:

heavy physical labor;
physical overload during sports;
from recovery in a physiotherapy room;
mental shocks and stress.

Complications of echinococcosis

The most common and complex complications of echinococcosis are:

allergic reactions;
suppuration of cysts;
abscess formation;
development of peritonitis;
renal failure;
obstructive jaundice;
cyst breakthrough into the abdominal cavity;
liver dysfunction.

Mortality in uncomplicated echinococcosis is low - about 2%; in case of complications, death occurs in 15% of cases.

Prevention of echinococcosis

The difficulty in preventing echinococcosis is that pets are often more asymptomatic.

Compliance with certain rules will help to avoid such a serious disease as echinococcosis.

My sister was diagnosed with an hydatid cyst in her liver. We already had one operation, but six months later everything happened again. Doctors say that there are no other methods of treatment, only to operate and operate again, and it is generally impossible to cure echinococcosis. What kind of disease is this, how is it transmitted? Maybe somewhere abroad they still treat this disease?

N.L., Mozdok

The most common mistake not only of the population, but also of doctors, is when they believe that echinococcus can be infected by eating undercooked, raw meat. You really shouldn’t do this, but you won’t get infected with echinococcus. Most often, a person suffers from eating unwashed berries and fruits, drinking unboiled water, or not washing his hands after petting a dog.

With animal excrement, these eggs end up on berries, grass, and water. In addition, these segments can move themselves and leave eggs in their path - for example, on a dog's fur. If a person strokes such a dog, and then, without washing his hands with soap, takes a sandwich and eats it, he runs the risk of contracting echinococcosis.

In the human stomach, under the influence of gastric juice, the egg shell dissolves, and the larva of echinococcus, along with the blood, begins to move throughout the body. Most often (in 60-70% of cases) the larva settles in the first natural barrier - in the liver. But in 20-30% of cases it reaches the lungs. Sometimes some of the larvae settle in the liver, and some in the lungs. The most severe cases, but, fortunately, the rarest - up to 1% - are when the larva “slips through” the lungs, and then it can develop anywhere in the body - in the brain, in the kidneys, in the bones.

Having established itself, the larva grows, forming a cyst. This process is quite slow, the average rate of its development is 20-30 mm in three months.

The growth rate of a cyst is primarily influenced by the state of a person’s immunity: the weaker the immune system, the faster the cyst grows. Therefore, echinococcosis progresses very quickly, for example, in people who are taking or have recently taken corticosteroids or cytostatics. Decreased immunity as a side reaction of such treatment provokes a sharp growth of the cyst. Echinococcal cysts also progress very quickly during pregnancy, because during this period a woman’s immunity is also very vulnerable.

The development of the disease also depends on the person’s genotype. Those who live in hotspot areas, as a rule, suffer the disease more easily in case of infection. Echinococcus exists in Africa, Asia (Afghanistan, Mongolia, Turkey), and Europe (Bulgaria, Greece, Spain). The focal areas are considered to be the south of Russia, Eastern Siberia, Ukraine, Moldova, Transcaucasia - all those places where there are a lot of pastures. After all, animals that feed mainly on grass - cows, sheep, goats, horses - are intermediate hosts of this helminth.

Recently, cases of echinococcosis have been reported in Moscow and the Moscow region. The presumable cause of infection is imported vegetables and fruits.

Depending on its location in the body, it makes itself known in different ways. A cyst formed in the liver is usually “masked” as gastritis, cholecystitis, causing pain, nausea, etc. When located in the lungs, a person is often bothered by dull pain in the back, chest, and a dry cough. The severity of clinical signs and the danger of the cyst depend on its location. Even several fairly large cysts located in the liver, but not compressing the vessels or bile ducts, may not manifest themselves for quite a long time. Whereas just one very small cyst formed in the brain can lead to the death of a person.

The presence of an echinococcal cyst is always dangerous due to the possibility of its rupture. This can happen, for example, from a jump or from a blow, even not a very strong one. In this case, the outer shell of the cyst ruptures, the fluid inside, along with many daughter cysts, enters the surrounding tissue. This is not only a condition for the formation of multiple cysts throughout the body, but most importantly, the person experiences anaphylactic shock and develops peritonitis, which often leads to death.

But an hydatid cyst is dangerous not only because a person carries within himself this “delayed action bomb”, which is not known when it will explode. As the cyst grows, the possibility of its suppuration and the development of a real purulent abscess, with a sharp increase in temperature, chills and other signs of acute inflammation, cannot be excluded. If there is a large cyst or several small ones in the liver, the risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver increases significantly, and if the bile ducts are compressed, obstructive jaundice may develop.

Today, thanks to the widespread use of ultrasound in diagnostics, it is quite often possible to detect a cyst when it is still quite small in size. A person is worried about, for example, abdominal pain, the doctor first of all refers him to an ultrasound scan. On ultrasound, the cyst appears as a darkening in the liver or lungs. It is often mistaken for a tumor. But this should only be a good reason for a more detailed examination.

The cyst was opened, the fluid filling it was removed, and then the membrane was removed. The operation was quite risky, since sometimes doctors were unable to prevent fluid from leaking from the cyst, and therefore the likelihood of recurrence. Thus, the patient is not insured against repeated surgery after some time. There were frequent cases when a person had to be operated on again and again; some patients underwent more than ten operations.

For large cysts, the surgical method still remains the leading one, but today a less traumatic method is used - percutaneous transhepatic drainage. Under ultrasound control, the cyst is punctured, its contents are sucked out, then the cyst is treated with glycerin, which kills the germ cells inside it, thereby preventing contamination of surrounding tissues. After this, the cyst membrane is also removed. After the operation, a special drug is prescribed to prevent relapses.

If the cyst is small - up to 3 cm, then you can generally get by only with tablets, without surgical intervention. For complete cure, 2-3 courses of medication are enough.