Balantidiasis etiology. Balantidia (protozoa): morphology, taxonomy and caused diseases. Modes of infection and risk factors

The clinical picture of balantidiasis... Balantidiasis can occur in subclinical, acute, chronic continuous and recurrent forms. Carriage of balantidia is often observed in foci of invasion. The incubation period is 1-3 weeks, but it can be shorter. The subclinical form is characterized by the absence of general toxic signs and intestinal dysfunction. The disease is recognized by endoscopic examination, which reveals catarrhal-hemorrhagic and ulcerative lesions of the colon mucosa; possible violations of liver function tests. The acute form of balantidiasis usually proceeds with pronounced phenomena of general intoxication and symptoms of colitis, depending on the severity of which, mild, moderate and severe forms of the disease are distinguished. The disease begins acutely, the temperature rises to high numbers, headache, nausea, repeated vomiting are troubling, general weakness progresses. Severe cutting pains in the abdomen and diarrhea are a constant sign of the disease. Stool profuse, liquid, often mixed with mucus, blood and pus, with a putrid odor. The frequency of bowel movements can range from 3-5 for mild to 15-20 or more times for severe forms. With the progression of balantidiasis, the patient loses weight. Weakness grows, efficiency is lost. The duration of the acute form is about 2 months. In the absence of rational therapy, the disease becomes chronic. The chronic recurrent form of balantidiasis lasts 5-10, and sometimes more years with alternating periods of exacerbation and periods of remission (3-6 months). Signs of general intoxication are less pronounced than in the acute form of the disease; intestinal symptoms prevail in the clinic. The chronic continuous form of balantidiasis is characterized by a monotonous course with moderate toxic and intestinal symptoms for a number of years. In the absence of etiotropic therapy, cachexia may develop. In some cases, complications are observed: intestinal bleeding, perforation of colon ulcers with the development of purulent diffuse peritonitis. Intestinal complications can be fatal. There are some extraintestinal complications - liver abscesses, urinary tract damage. Balantidiasis prognosis... With timely recognition and adequate treatment, the prognosis is usually favorable, the mortality rate in the foci of the disease does not exceed 1%. With sporadic morbidity, high mortality rates were observed - up to 16-29%. Currently, these indicators have decreased. Diagnostics of the balantidiasis... Based on epidemiological and occupational history data indicating stay in disadvantaged areas and contact with pigs; clinical manifestations of the disease with prolonged irregular fever, abdominal pain and frequent loose stools with a putrid odor; the results of an endoscopic examination, revealing characteristic ulcers in the mucous membrane of the colon. Confirmation of the diagnosis is the detection of balantidia in feces or the contents of ulcers in the intestinal mucosa.

Prevention.

To prevent the disease, it is necessary to observe hygienic measures when caring for pigs, as well as timely identification and treatment of people with balantidiasis. General preventive measures are the same as for dysentery.

BALANTIDIASIS (balantidiasis, balantidiosis; Greek balantidion small bag + -asis, -osis; synonym ciliated dysentery) is a protozoal disease characterized by ulcerative lesions of the colon with impairment of its function and the presence of general phenomena of intoxication.

Statistics and geographic distribution. Sporadic cases of balantidiasis are described in 78 countries (V.G. Khamtsov, 1969). In rural areas (in outbreaks), the invasion of residents with balantidia reaches 1-3%, less often 4-9%, and in individual cases(New Guinea Island) - 28%. In total, by 1967, 4492 cases of balantidiasis were described in the world literature: in Asia -1389, Europe -1295, North America -862, South America-827, Africa -98, Australia-21. Given the lack of official registration of the incidence, incomplete identification of balantidiasis, it should be considered that the actual spread of this disease exceeds the indicated figures. Mortality in foci, where mild forms of balantidiasis always predominate, is absent or does not exceed 1%. In sporadic balantidiasis, according to various authors, mortality varies from 16 to 29%; due to early diagnosis and the presence effective means treatment, it dropped sharply.

Etiology

Vegetative stage. The shape is oval, one end of the body is slightly narrowed, the other is blunt, rounded (Fig. 1, a). The size of the ciliate is 50-80 microns and more in length, 35-60 microns in width. The body of B. coli is covered with a thin membrane - a pellicle. At the front end there is a mouth opening - a pinnate - in the form of a funnel-shaped depression. At the opposite end there is an inconspicuous hole - a cytopig. The entire body of B. coli is covered with cilia arranged in parallel spiral rows. The cilia on the body are 4-6 µm in length, the surrounding feathers are slightly longer than -10-12 µm. Oscillations of the cilia cause forward movement of B. coli and simultaneous rotation around the axis. The cilia located around the peristome facilitate the capture of food particles. Under the pellicle there is a narrow, barely noticeable transparent layer of ectoplasm. The endoplasm contains digestive vacuoles of various sizes. They contain ingested bacteria, starch grains, erythrocytes, leukocytes. At the posterior end of the body and in the middle part of the endoplasm there are two contractile vacuoles. In living motile B. coli, the nucleus is not visible. On stained preparations, the nuclear apparatus, consisting of a micro- and macronucleus, is clearly visible. The latter is oval, up to 20 µm in length, 7–10 µm in width. B. coli reproduce by double division; periodically, there is a sexual process by the type of conjugation (see. Conjugation in bacteria).

Cysts are round or slightly oval in shape. Size 50-60 microns. The shell is thick, double-circuit. The macronucleus is clearly visible on stained preparations in cysts (Fig. 1, b). The cytoplasm is granular, sometimes with vacuoles.

The vegetative forms of Balantidium coli isolated from the body can remain alive in feces for 3-5 hours. Cysts remain viable for several weeks.

Epidemiology

The main source of infection is pigs, which are almost universally infested with balantidia. A person infected with balantidiasis can serve as an additional source of infection under particularly unfavorable sanitary and hygienic conditions. The role of rats and dogs, which are sometimes carriers of B. coli, in the epidemiology of balantidiasis has not been conclusively proven. Infection is transmitted through water contaminated with pig feces, by contact when caring for pigs; the possibility of transmission through soil, vegetables and flies is not excluded. As a rule, people in rural areas suffer from balantidiasis, the proportion of the incidence of which among all patients with balantidiasis is 91.3%. Balantidiasis is most often detected among people involved in pig breeding.

Pathological anatomy

Balantidiasis is manifested by acute or chronically flowing ulcerative purulent-necrotizing colitis with a predominant lesion of the blind, sigmoid and rectum. Ulcers are localized mainly in the places of kinks of the intestinal wall. One of the dangerous complications of balantidiasis is the perforation of the bottom of the ulcer with the onset of peritonitis.

With colitis caused by balantidiasis, the intestinal wall is edematous, flabby, hyperemic. Ulcers of various sizes and configurations are found on the mucous membrane (Fig. 2), extensive ulcerative fields of several square centimeters. The edges of the ulcers are uneven, undermined, thickened, they are located along the length of the folds of the mucous membrane; at the bottom of the ulcers there are remnants of loose or semi-liquid necrotic masses, which, like individual sections of the mucous membrane, have a slate-black color.

With the addition of a bacterial infection, the process may end in gangrene of the intestine. When pressing on the edges of ulcers and erosions, purulent discharge is released.

With balantidiasis, the appendix is ​​sometimes affected with a clinical picture of acute appendicitis and the presence of balantidia in its inflamed wall. At the onset of the disease, areas of hyperemia and edema appear on the intestinal mucosa, on which erosion and ulcers occur. The epithelium of the intestinal (Lieberkunov) glands begins to proliferate and necrotize. In the surrounding tissues, a lymphocytic infiltrate appears, which, like tissue, necrotizes, erosions are formed, which can heal or progress and lead to the formation of ulcers. With the penetration of ciliates into the submucosa, inflammatory edema, hemorrhages and infiltration from lymphocytes, histiocytes and segmented leukocytes occur in the tissues, small merging abscesses form in places. Ulcers in balantidiasis do not develop simultaneously: along with acute ulcers, there are scarring and scars at the site of healed ulcers.

Pathogenesis

Having penetrated the human body through the mouth, balantidia are localized in the large intestine - mainly the cecum, less often in the lower part of the small intestine. Reproducing in the lumen of the intestine, they may not cause clearly pronounced symptoms of the disease, which a number of authors regard as a carrier. However, a thorough examination of such persons in most cases reveals a subclinical course of balantidiasis. When balantidia is introduced into the mucous membrane of the colon, characteristic ulcers are formed and clinical symptoms of the disease develop. The penetration of balantidia deep into the tissues is facilitated by the enzyme hyaluronidase, which they form in the course of their life. It has been experimentally established that migratory ascariasis also favors the introduction of balantidia deep into the intestinal mucosa (V.V.Bogdanovich, 1962).

Clinical picture

Distinguish between subclinical, acute, chronic, recurrent and continuously flowing forms of balantidiasis; Carriage of B. coli is possible in the foci.

With subclinical balantidiasis, intestinal disorders do not happen, patients consider themselves healthy. However, with sigmoidoscopy, they often have catarrhal-hemorrhagic and characteristic ulcerative lesions in the distal colon. Dysfunctions of the liver, the phenomenon of hypo- and avitaminosis C and eosinophilia in the blood are revealed.

Acute balantidiasis is in most cases difficult with the presence of intoxication, fever, headaches, nausea, vomiting. The stool is liquid, plentiful, from 8-10 to 20 times or more per day, feces often have a putrid odor, an admixture of mucus and blood. Patients are worried about abdominal pain, they quickly lose weight, there is a general loss of strength. In forms of moderate severity, the phenomena of intoxication are less pronounced, stool 5-10 times a day. The duration of acute balantidiasis does not exceed 2 months; without treatment, it becomes chronic.

Chronic recurrent balantidiasis is characterized by an alternation of exacerbations from 7-10 to 20-30 days with remissions of 3-6 months. It differs from acute balantidiasis in a milder course, in the absence of fever, in the predominance of intestinal disorders over symptoms of intoxication. Without treatment, the disease can last 5-10 and more years... Chronic continuous B. balantidiasis is characterized by the gradual development of symptoms and a sluggish, monotonous course, which often leads to exhaustion, and if untreated, to cachexia.

The most formidable complications - perforation of balantidiasis ulcers and intestinal bleeding - are rare, but often fatal.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is based on clinical picture, data of sigmoidoscopy, epidemiological history and detection of the pathogen in the feces. The differential diagnosis is carried out with dysentery (see), amebiasis (see), ulcerative colitis (see Ulcerative nonspecific colitis), less often with polyposis and bowel cancer.

Forecast in mild cases it is favorable, in severe cases it is doubtful.

Treatment

Monomycin is very effective at 150,000 - 250,000 U, administered orally four times a day for two five-day cycles with an interval of 5 days. In severe balantidiasis, monomycin with terramycin is prescribed inside: the first according to the above scheme, the second - 0.2 g four times a day for 7 days; at least three cycles are carried out with an interval of 5-7 days. Treatment of mild and moderate forms of balantidiasis can be carried out with terramycin or biomycin alone. As additional funds, you can use aminarson, yatren, enteroseptol. Ampicillin and metranidazole were used with good results in isolated patients. Appointment ascorbic acid inside and intravenously increases the effectiveness of treatment; in chronic forms of balantidiasis, blood transfusions in fractional doses are advisable.

Prophylaxis

Protection of the environment from contamination with non-neutralized pig feces; observance of sanitary and hygienic rules when caring for pigs, timely identification and treatment of patients with balantidiasis.

V. G. Khamtsov; E. A. Pavlova (biol.), I. A. Chalisov (morph.).

Balantidiasis is an infectious disease caused by ciliates, which are transmitted to humans from pigs. It is very painful and can even be fatal. There is the formation of purulent ulcers in the colon and general intoxication of the body.

Places of distribution and causes of occurrence

Pathogenesis

Balantidia is concentrated in the lower parts of the small intestine, as well as in the cecum, sigmoid and rectum, most of them in the places of bowel bends.

Symptoms

The main symptoms characteristic of balantidiasis are signs of intoxication along with severe colitis. Also often worried about diarrhea, lining and dryness of the tongue, and subsequently the general depletion of the body. In addition, a person can simply be a carrier of the disease, without any manifestations.

The disease can be acute or chronic. In turn, the acute form is: mild, moderate or severe, depending on the severity of the symptoms.

1. With a mild form, a person quickly begins to show signs of an increased functioning of the immune system: fever, chills, high temperature, which varies greatly throughout the day.
2. Moderate symptoms include severe headache, nausea, and vomiting. In this case, the patient feels severe pain throughout the abdomen, tenesmus is possible. There is severe diarrhea with bloody impurities and pus. The liver is enlarged.
3. With a severe course of the disease, there are extensive ulcerative lesions of the intestines, severe fever and stools up to 20 times a day with blood and a purulent odor. Because of all these symptoms, the patient develops weakness, he quickly loses weight.

Symptoms may be dominated by either diarrhea or colitis. In the first case, the development of severe diarrhea with blood, mucus and a purulent odor progresses more, and in the second, sharp abdominal pains with frequent stools without blood impurities.

If within two months balantidiasis is not detected and cured, it goes into a chronic stage:

In the course of this form of the disease, less pronounced symptoms are noted, but they constantly remind of themselves, which leads to a gradual depletion of the body.

The incubation period for the development of balantidiasis most often lasts from 10 to 15 days, but these periods can vary from 5 to 30 days.

In the absence of proper treatment, complications arise in the form of:

• perforated ulcers;
• peritonitis;
• malignant tumors;
• bleeding in the intestines.

Diagnostics

In the presence of the main symptoms of infection with balantidia, in order to make a diagnosis, you first need to find out whether a person lives in a rural area and whether he is in contact with pigs.

• monomycin;
• oxytetracycline;
• ampicillin;
• hinophone.

The dose and number of appointments is determined by the doctor. The drugs are taken in several cycles, at 5-day intervals. Also, measures are taken to stimulate immunity and detoxification therapy. The prognosis of treatment is very favorable.

Prophylaxis

Publicly available prevention of balantidiasis is to comply with sanitary standards when caring for pigs. But besides this it is necessary:

• protect water sources near pigsties;
• wash vegetables thoroughly before eating;
• protect food from flies;
• apply the same general precautions as for dysentery;
• timely identify and treat infected people to prevent massive infection.

With progress modern medicine, nevertheless, balantidiasis is detected in rather rare cases. Although carriers of the disease are considered about four to five percent of rural residents. Most often, among such potential patients, there are persons who, by their nature, care for pigs. Pigs are natural carriers of balantidia and can infect humans with them through close contact. Infection of a person from a person occurs through the contact of a healthy person with a sick person.

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Balantidia structure

Balantidia belong to the type of protozoa and the ciliary class due to the cilia that cover the entire body of the ciliate. In addition, this type of ciliates is considered the largest species of protozoa that live in the human large intestine.

The structure of balantidia is as follows: the vegetative form of the cell differs in size from fifty to eighty microns by thirty-five to sixty microns. In this case, the body of the ciliate is elongated, most often it looks like an egg. In length, balantidia reaches from thirty to one hundred and fifty microns, and in width - from twenty to one hundred and ten microns.

The shape of this type of ciliates is ovoid, and the surface of the protozoa is covered with a pellicle. The pellicle has many short cilia, which are arranged longitudinally in a large number of rows. These cilia are organelles of movement that help the ciliate to move. In this case, the ciliate can not only actively move, but also describe rotation around its axis.

Balantidia pellicle is elastic, especially when it moves, therefore, the symmetry of the ciliate's body during movement can be broken. A thin layer of transparent alveolar ectoplasm is located under the pellicle.

At the front end of the ciliate, you can find a slit-like depression, which is called a pinnate. At the bottom of the depression there is a mouth opening, called a cyostome. The structure of the nuclear apparatus of balantidia is no different from other ciliates and is represented by a macronucleus and a micronucleus. The nucleus - the so-called macronucleus - in some living individuals can be seen through the shells of the body. It resembles a light bubble that is bean-shaped.

In the cytoplasm of the simplest there are two digestive and pulsating vacuoles. Pulsating vacuoles are excretory and through them the waste products of the ciliates are removed.

The cyst has a rounded shape, and in diameter - from fifty to seventy microns. Moreover, it is covered with a thick shell. The cytoplasm inside the cyst is homogeneous.

Ciliates balantidia

It is very important to follow preventive measures so as not to get infected with balantidiasis caused by balantidia. Personal hygiene rules should be relevant, especially when working with pig breeding. At the same time, it is no less important to use it for drinking, cooking and washing dishes. pure water which has been refined with modern methods. It is also important to use as food only clean and well-washed food, vegetables and fruits, stored in compliance with all sanitary conditions.

Intestinal balantidium

This species of protozoa lives exclusively in the human intestine. There he also causes various lesions of the mucous membranes of the colon. Therefore, in some cases, this type of ciliates is called "intestinal balantidia". This name is common and is found in the everyday life of people who are not related to medicine.

Intestinal balantidium is all the same ciliates that were described earlier, only named differently. Therefore, in order to familiarize yourself in more detail with the structure of the simplest, as well as the features of its life, we recommend that you refer to the previous sections of the article.

Balantidia life cycle

Like any other type of ciliate, balantidia in their existence have a certain cyclicality. The life cycle of balantidia consists of sexual and asexual phases. The sexual phase is also subdivided into sexual reproduction: conjugation, characterized by the exchange of nuclei between two representatives of balantidia, and asexual reproduction, which is expressed in the transverse division of ciliates.

When the period of sexual reproduction ends, this species of protozoa turns into a cyst and in this form, most often, leaves the human body and is excreted into the environment along with feces. The cyst lacks cilia, and it itself is covered with a membrane consisting of two layers. Such cysts can be viable for a long time without being in a living organism. In feces, if the temperature is room temperature, cysts can persist for up to thirty hours. Exposure to tap water and wastewater increases the viability of cysts by up to a week.

If cysts of balantidia get on any objects from the environment, then they can persist on them for up to two months. The main condition for their viability is that the temperature of the atmosphere should be close to room temperature, and the humidity should be increased. In dry and dark places, cysts persist for up to two weeks.

In some solutions, balantidium cysts can be preserved, but only for a short period of time. For example, a 5% aqueous solution of carbolic acid can help prolong the viability of cysts by only three hours, and a formalin solution by four hours. There is an opportunity for the cultivation of balantidia cysts in a different nutrient medium, which is organized for them in a laboratory.

Symptoms of balantidiasis include:

• presence of diarrhea,
• the appearance of pain in the abdomen,
• the occurrence of general intoxication of the body,
• the appearance of vomiting,
• the occurrence of headaches,
• the presence of mucus and blood impurities in the patient's feces.

The duration of the incubation period for balantidiasis is ten to fifteen days. However, there are cases when the incubation period was from five to thirty days.

Both acute and chronic balantidiasis proceed as follows. The patient may develop one of the forms of the course of the disease:

• balantid dysentery, in which a fetid, blood-red diarrhea appears,
• balantid colitis, manifested in the form of semi-liquid feces, with impurities of mucus, but with the absence of blood inclusions.

Balantid dysentery in acute form, in which the patient did not receive timely specific treatment, leads to frequent deaths.

If balantidiasis is not complicated by another bacterial infection, then in this case, especially in the acute stages of the disease, the patient does not have an increased body temperature. Also, the disease is not characterized by complications in which other organs of the human body are affected.

The nature of the course of the disease in its acute form is as follows. Symptoms of the disease resemble those of enterocolitis or colitis. At the same time, patients begin to feel a general intoxication of the body: the appearance of weakness and headache, a decrease in appetite. In half of cases, acute balantidiasis is accompanied by moderate manifestations of fever and sometimes chills. At the same time, there are symptoms of intestinal damage: pain in the abdomen, diarrhea, flatulence. If the rectum is also involved in the inflammatory and ulcerative process, then tenesmus may appear - false urge to bowel movement. Feces are characterized by mucous and bloody impurities. Sometimes, patients have dryness and lining of the tongue, as well as spasms and painful sensations in the large intestine itself. At the same time, the liver becomes painful and enlarged.

When examining with rectomanoscopy, the presence of a focal infiltrative-ulcerative process is always ascertained. In laboratory tests of blood, signs of moderate anemia, eosinophilia, as well as a decrease in the level of proteins and albumin are found. In this case, the ESR becomes moderately increased.

If acute balantidiasis has a severe course, then the patient feels the following manifestations: severe fever, sharp symptoms of intoxication, in which the patient has signs of chills, nausea, vomiting and headache. Feces can be up to twenty times a day, while mucus and blood are present in them, and the smell of feces becomes putrid. Patients lose weight very much, and after a week's period they can be diagnosed with cachexia. Sometimes there are signs of irritation of the peritoneum.

The procedure of rectomanoscopy in this case reveals the presence of extensive ulcerative changes in the mucous epithelium of the large intestine. In laboratory blood tests, the presence of hypochromic anemia and neutrophilic leukocytosis is detected.

The chronic form of the disease manifests itself as follows: phases of exacerbation are characteristic, which are similar to acute balantidiasis, as well as periods of remission. Moreover, during remissions, there may be no symptoms of the disease, including diarrhea.

In chronic balantidiasis, signs of intoxication are mild, and the body temperature remains normal. Defecation occurs about two to three times a day, while the stool becomes liquid, with impurities of mucus, and sometimes blood. On palpation, painful sensations were noted in the area of ​​the blind and ascending intestines.

Balantidia treatment

Before carrying out therapy for any disease, it is necessary to carry out a high-quality diagnosis, which will make sure that a certain disease is present.

Balantidiasis is diagnosed as follows. A drop of stool that has just been excreted must be placed in isotonic sodium chloride solution. All of the above is placed on a glass slide and examined using a microscope. Balantidiae can be found due to their large sizes as well as active movement.

Adult patients should take 1.2 grams of the drug per day, and children - 0.75 grams of the drug. The course of treatment is seven days.

• Monomycin.

Adults take a dose of medicine ranging from fifty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand units, moreover, four times a day. The course of treatment is five days with an interval of five days to one week. Then the five-day course of therapy must be repeated.

In severe forms of the disease, the course of treatment consists of three five-day doses of the drug with two breaks from five to seven days.

• Tetracycline.

This medication is prescribed for severe manifestations of the disease. Adults take two grams of the drug per day for a week.

• Diyodohin.
• Yatren.

Also, in parallel with the above therapy, it is necessary to carry out detoxification and nonspecifically stimulating treatment of the disease.

The patient's recovery is ascertained by specialists if the patient does not have colitis syndrome. Also important are the data of coprological examination and repair of the intestinal wall, in which there is an absence of balantidia.

Infection path Alimentary or fecal-oral infection. Protozoa that have passed the stage of puberty are removed from the infected pig's organism along with feces into the environment, where they are in an inactive state and can enter the human body only through the mouth along with dirty water, vegetables or through unwashed hands.

Bacteria pass their way to the intestines along with food, where they settle down and begin to actively multiply.

Incubation period lasts from 10 days to two weeks.

Localization locations bacteria become the large intestine and the folds of the intestine. With the help of a large number of cilia, the protozoa actively move, and thanks to cystomas, they absorb pieces of undigested food, giving preference to starch grains.

Diagnostic methods for balantidiasis

Infection with balantidia can be established only in specialized medical institutions after passing tests (native smear) or when taking a scraping from the intestinal mucosa.

Although the symptoms of infection are quite universal, due to the large size and form characteristic only for this type of ciliates, the detection of the pathogen and its classification does not cause difficulties for specialists.

Symptoms of balantidiasis

Process the course of infection is divided into several forms:

• sharp;
• latent;
• chronic;
• constant;
• chronic recurrent.

According to the severity, there are three forms:

1. easy;
2. medium;
3. heavy.

The main primary symptoms acute forms of infection in children and adults are fever, diarrhea and abdominal pain. In some patients, general weakness, decreased appetite, increased fatigue, drowsiness, vomiting, flatulence, fever, and bloating may occur as secondary signs.

Some patients complain of a feeling of "lining" of the tongue.

If the infection is diagnosed incorrectly for primary symptoms, it is often mistaken for colitis and enterocolitis.

Symptoms are universal and suitable for a number of other diseases or mild food poisoning. Therefore, the timely establishment of infection in humans is extremely difficult.

If the disease is not diagnosed on time, it can lead to serious consequences: peritonitis, intestinal bleeding, the occurrence of ulcers and bowel perforation.

If with an acute type of disease the symptomatology develops on an increasing basis, then with chronic balantidiasis in a person, exacerbations alternate with remissions, in which the disease does not manifest itself in any way and the patient has no complaints about the state of health.

Balantidiasis treatment

You can get rid of infectious agents with ordinary antibiotics in small doses. Antibiotics must be prescribed by a doctor and should be taken only in accordance with the prescribed prescriptions.

If balantidiasis was not cured in a timely manner, not only antibiotics, but also immunomodulators and detoxification drugs will help to cope with the consequences of infection.

Immunomodulators are prescribed at the discretion of the doctor in cases of a strong blow to immunity with antibiotics. With peritonitis and intestinal bleeding, provoked by an acute form of balantidiasis, specialists will have to resort to surgical intervention.

The subsequent restoration of the body will require a strict diet and long-term treatment of the person from the patient. medications.

Drugs for the treatment of balantidiasis

Most often, when treating an infection, a course is prescribed Minomycin, which is taken in two cycles with a break of a week.

The second most popular drug is Oxytetracycline, the course of treatment takes about a week. Both of these drugs are prescribed for milder forms of the disease in humans.

If the disease, due to mild symptoms, was diagnosed late and has already begun to provoke complications, complex antibiotic treatment is prescribed.

Also often used Ampicillin, Yatren and Tetracycline.

Additionally, the patient may have to undergo a course of treatment immunomodulators and detoxification drugs... The latter are rarely prescribed, due to the low intoxication of the human body.

Prevention measures for balantidiasis

Prevention of balantidiasis in humans is compliance with the rules of personal hygiene.

• Be sure to wash your hands after outside and before eating. The feces of sick animals can mix with water, where pathogens can survive for a week, but this period is quite enough for dirty water to get into your glass.

• As a preventive measure, any water should be boiled before use. In rural areas, outbreaks are more common. Therefore, you should focus on the use of clean vegetables and fruits from the garden.

• Before using them, be sure to wash them well. As it was said in one well-known cartoon "Cleanliness is the guarantee of health." At the first symptoms of infection, you should urgently consult a specialist.

By observing the “rule of washed hands”, you can prevent the occurrence of most infectious diseases and avoid serious consequences that can not only lead you to the hospital, but also undermine your health for years to come.

It should always be remembered that the prevention of any ailment will save you from long and unpleasant treatment.

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