Can a person get worms from a dog?

06.02.2017

Often, helminthic infestations affect our smaller brothers, in particular dogs. For this reason, pet owners are often interested in the question of whether worms are transmitted from dogs to humans. Some types of helminths can exist not only in the body of a pet, but can also be transmitted to humans. Next, we will consider what types of parasitic worms an animal has, as well as what worms can be infected from a dog.

Some types of worms can be transmitted to humans

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Types of dog worms

The following types of helminths are most dangerous for humans and dogs:

• bovine tapeworm;
• pork tapeworm;
• wide tape.

These types of helminths cannot be transmitted from dogs to humans because their eggs and larvae must undergo a certain development cycle in the body of an intermediate host before becoming invasive. Mammals become infected with cestode class worms only when eating insufficiently thermally processed meat or fish.

An infected dog does not pose a danger to its owner or surrounding people.

Some types of worms are dangerous for both dogs and humans

Only one type of worm can be transmitted from a dog to a person: Toxocara. The parasites cause the parasitic disease toxocariasis in the animal.

These parasites belong to the roundworm family, and therefore are in many ways similar in their symptoms to ascariasis, which often affects the human body.

The parasitic worm lives in the dog's intestines, feeding on nutrients that enter the digestive tract. A female Toxocara is capable of producing hundreds of thousands of eggs per day, which become invasive within a few days after entering the environment.

What to do if you are infected with worms?

Deworming is the removal and prevention of parasites in dogs.
To prevent the pet from becoming infected with any type of helminth, the owner should carefully adhere to the following principles of keeping a dog:

• Every 3 months your dog needs to be dewormed. The veterinarian will tell you in detail about the specifics and process of the procedure.
• To prevent the appearance of worms, you should not give your animal raw meat and fish.
• Do not allow your dog to drink water from water bodies.
• Try to reduce your pet’s contact with street animals.
• Regularly bathe the animal with special flea shampoos and, if necessary, wear a collar that protects against fleas.

If your pet has become infected with parasites, you must immediately take the animal for a consultation with a veterinarian and regularly administer the medication prescribed by the doctor. Antiparasitic medications such as Vermox, Praziquanel, Milbemax and Dirofen are most often used. Doctors agree that the drug should be taken according to the following scheme: put the tablet on the dog’s tongue and give it a favorite treat so that it swallows the medication. In addition, emphasis should be placed on the pet’s nutrition, including vitamin and mineral complexes. It is important to keep the area where the animal is kept clean. It should be noted that not all parasites in animals are dangerous to humans. For example, mycoplasmosis in dogs does not harm the pet owner.

How does a person become infected?

Dog worms can appear in humans through close contact with an animal and poor hand hygiene. Parasite eggs can settle on your dog's fur. People can become infected by eating food with unwashed hands, on which invasive eggs may have settled after contact with a pet.

Routes of infection by Toxocara

The life cycle of Toxocara is similar to that of roundworms. Once in the human intestinal tract, the eggs lose their protective outer layer and develop into larvae. There they do not stay long and migrate through the lymphatic system to the respiratory organs.

The parasites linger in the lungs for several days, after which they migrate to the oropharynx, from where, together with saliva, they enter the stomach and then the human intestines.

There, Toxocara develop to sexually mature individuals and begin to lay eggs.

Consequences of helminths

Toxocara are not typical for the human body, however, they can exist and reproduce perfectly there. Therefore, the typical question of whether a person can become infected with worms from a dog disappears on its own.

Parasites lead to disruption of the digestive system, often cause anemia, and with extensive damage they cause intestinal obstruction. In addition, the larvae can settle in other vital organs.

Ocular toxocariasis may result in loss of vision

One type of parasitic disease is ocular toxocariasis, when the larvae infect the eyeball. Against the background of this type of helminthiasis, endophthalmitis, keratitis or retinal detachment develop. The danger is that this often leads to complete loss of vision.

Neurological toxocariasis is considered the most dangerous, when organs of the central nervous system are damaged. When the brain is damaged, inflammation of its membranes is observed, which in turn leads to the development of migraines, epileptic seizures and convulsions. A person’s memory deteriorates and it becomes difficult for him to concentrate on something.

Difference between dog and human helminths

More than 400 species of helminths can parasitize the human body. Most cases of infection are caused by roundworms, pinworms and tapeworms. The main routes of entry of these helminths into the human body are food and air.

The different body temperatures of dogs, different stomach acidity and other eating habits reduce the possibility of infection with common parasites to 1%.

A dog can bring worm eggs into an apartment from a walk.

But even after entering the human body, helminths in most cases die or leave the body.

Characteristic symptoms

The parasite, transmitted from dog to human, provokes a number of the following symptoms:

• pain in the abdominal area;
• constant feeling of nausea;
• stool disorder;
• general weakness;
• allergic reactions;
• the appearance of frequent headaches;
• impaired concentration;
• bad dream.

While toxocara is in the lungs, it provokes a cough in a person. If a large number of larvae are found in the respiratory system, pneumonia may occur.

Worms that can be contracted from a dog

However, the possibility of infection exists. Children get sick more often because they are not squeamish and do not always follow hygiene rules. Also, focal outbreaks of infection are possible in certain geographic areas.

There are several types of zoonotic helminths, that is, those transmitted to humans from animals, including domestic ones.

Dipylidia (cucumber tapeworm)

This tapeworm can infect wild and domestic animals, and also parasitize the middle and lower part of the human small intestine. The direct carrier is not a dog, but a flea, in whose body the next stage of helminth development takes place.

A child may swallow a flea or lice while playing with a dog.

Symptoms of dipilidia: nausea, abdominal pain, anal itching, sleep disturbance, increased salivation. The severe stage is characterized by anemia.

Toxocariasis (Toxocara larva)

If a sick animal is kept at home, a person may develop larva migrans syndrome. Toxocara does not carry out a full life cycle in the human body, but eggs that enter the body are carried through the bloodstream throughout the body and can enter the eyeball, lungs and other organs. A larva emerges from the egg and, moving around the body, gnaws passages in the tissues.

Toxocara migrans syndrome causes a person to cough.

Eggs are more likely to be ingested by children under 3 years of age. Eggs in quantities of several pieces are not dangerous, but constant contact with a sick animal can lead to the accumulation of larvae in the human body.

One Toxocara lays up to 200,000 eggs within 24 hours.

Larva migrans syndrome has the following symptoms: allergic reactions, fever, cough that turns into suffocation, pneumonia develops against the background of infection, and granulomas appear in the organs. The disease can last up to several years.

Toxocariasis of the eyeball can cause partial or complete loss of vision.

Echinococcosis

Echinococcus eggs can be found on wild berries and grass, so a person can become infected through contact with a hunting dog or by eating unwashed wild berries. In areas where livestock farming is common, epidemics of echinococcosis occur among cows and sheep.

Echinococcosis can only be treated surgically.

Most often, a cyst with larvae occurs in the liver or lungs, but it can also affect other organs (spinal cord and brain, heart, spleen, kidneys, bones). It is treated surgically. Relapses and death are possible.

X-rays help identify the presence of a cyst with parasites. Symptoms are numerous and vary depending on where the bladder is located in the body.

How to treat dog worms in humans?

The most effective drugs for combating toxocariasis include the following medications:

• "Vermox";
• "Mebendazole";
• "Medamin";
• "Nemozol."

Vermox is prescribed quite often

"Vermox" is a good modern anthelmintic, which is often prescribed to people with toxocariasis. The parasite larvae are very sensitive to the medicinal substance and inevitably die. Treatment with the drug is not prescribed for severe pathologies of the liver and gastrointestinal tract.

Mebendazole can be used in pediatric therapy

Mebendazole is effective against all types of nematodes and their larvae, as well as eggs. For toxocariasis, seven-day therapy with this drug is prescribed. Usually the drug does not cause any complications and is most effective after completing the full course of treatment. Analogs of the medicine are “Vormin” and “Vermox”.

Medamine is more toxic

Sometimes, for toxocariasis, doctors prescribe Medamin. Unlike the above anthelmintics, it is more toxic. While taking the medication, allergic reactions and signs of intoxication may occur. For this reason, the drug should be replaced with safer modern pharmaceuticals.

Nemozol is a broad-spectrum anthelmintic drug.

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"Nemozol" is a highly effective anthelmintic used in the treatment of toxocariasis and other types of nematodes. The drug cannot be used in the ocular form of the disease, in case of damage to the retina. Treatment with the drug lasts from seven to fourteen days, depending on the severity of helminthiasis. The drug is taken twice a day in a dosage that will depend on the age and weight of the patient. The drug can be used for all types of toxocariasis, except for cases of retinal damage.

Nematodes

Roundworms, i.e. nematodes can be represented by various parasites - “dog roundworms” (Toxascaris Leonina, Toxocara canis), heartworms, hookworms, etc. Some of them can penetrate the human body through the skin, others by ingestion.

"Dog roundworms"

These helminths are similar to the human roundworm. Only when they enter the body they behave differently. There are representatives of two families that most often infect dogs - Toxocara canis and Toxascaris Leonina, both of them have similar symptoms in the animal, but differ in the development cycle. Therefore, a person is much more often infected with T. canis larvae, which then, after ingestion, penetrate through the intestinal walls into various tissues of the body through the bloodstream, and there they are encapsulated (covered with a special shell) and are preserved for a long time right up to their death, never turning into an adult. . But at the same time they have a very negative impact on health. The disease is called toxocariasis.

Symptoms and signs depend on the location of these larvae. The disease manifests itself most noticeably when the lungs, eyes, and liver are affected. In some cases, death is possible.

Hookworms

Only one species of hookworm, Ancylostoma duodenale, is chosen as the natural definitive host for humans and is spread by other infected people. But other species can live in dogs, such as A. ceylanicum, A. braziliense and A. caninum. Their eggs are released with the animal’s feces and larvae emerge from them, which have the ability to penetrate the skin. Although they will not be able to fully migrate through the bloodstream inside a person, unlike dogs, they can cause serious skin manifestations, which is called Larva migrans.

Uncinaria

Infection in humans is extremely rare and occurs through contact - through the skin. When this pathogen enters the human body, it causes the development of uncinariasis. Penetrating deep into the skin, nematode larvae can provoke the occurrence of allergic dermatitis and urticaria. When a person is infected with uncinarium, recovery usually occurs independently, without drug therapy.

Heartworms

A person can become infected with heartworms by biting or swallowing a blood-sucking insect (mosquitoes of certain genera) that have become infected with the larva from a dog. In this case, a disease called dirofilariasis develops. A sign of infection is often a specific lump at the site of the bite, which may later disappear and then reappear. In this case, sometimes the compaction itself begins to move throughout the body. A person even feels the worm moving inside him. Other associated symptoms include headache, nausea, weakness and severe pain where the parasite resides under the skin. But besides subcutaneous dirofilariasis, there are other forms - the lungs, eyes and other organs can be affected.

How to prevent infection?

Since worms are transmitted from dogs mainly through the oral route, when contacting a pet you should follow some hygiene rules. You should always wash your hands thoroughly after handling an animal or its objects.

Every quarter, the dog is dewormed using drugs such as Prazitel, Drontal, Milbemax, etc. These drugs have a combined composition, due to which they have a wide spectrum of action and can effectively combat several types of helminthiases at once. They are low toxic, well tolerated by pets and, in the absence of allergic reactions to medicinal components, do not cause complications.

It is also very important for the owner to take anthelmintics at least twice a year. Such preventive measures can help reduce infection with dog worms to nothing.

Dog worms: symptoms

The most common is that the dog is infected with a single type of parasite. Parasites, however, make themselves known in very characteristic ways, and symptoms of infection vary depending on which worm colonizes the dog's body.

• Round. They are located in the small intestine and can lead to the development of various diseases, among which the most dangerous is toxocariasis. When a dog has roundworms, it is known that it suffers from diarrhea, weight loss, coughing, causes lethargy, and its fur becomes weak and falls out.
• Nematodes. Symptoms of infection include lack of appetite, vomiting, emaciation, unformed feces, pale mucous membranes, anemia, shortness of breath, breathing problems and a tendency to lethargy.
• Whipworms. The most common symptom is chronic bloody diarrhea, which gradually destroys the body and can cause intestinal damage. The dog may also lose weight, have a fever, or feel weak.
• Tapeworm - lives in the intestines, where it releases metabolic products, poisoning the dog's body, and can also lead to the closure of the intestinal lumen. You may suspect it if your dog is vomiting, has alternating diarrhea and constipation, and has mucus in rare stools. Symptoms of infection also include unsteady gait and epileptic seizures.