Balantidiasis

Balantidiasis is a disease of infectious genesis, which manifests itself in the form of ulcers in the large intestine. Balantidiasis has a fecal-oral pathway of infection. In the absence of treatment, the disease can lead to serious consequences (pathological weight loss, hemorrhoidal colitis), in some cases, a fatal outcome is possible.

The content of the article:
Causes of balantidiasis
Symptoms of balantidiasis
Symptoms of acute balantidiasis
Symptoms of chronic balantidiasis
Diagnosis of balantidiasis
Treatment of balantidiasis
Preventive measures
Balantidiasis
Causes of balantidiasis
The cause of the disease is the penetration of balantidia into the human body. The original carriers of the infection (balantidia) are pigs, so this disease is more often diagnosed in rural areas and in hot countries with a southern climate. People in extremely rare cases are carriers of this parasitic infection, so it is almost impossible to get infected by contact with a person with balantidiasis.

Balantidia are the largest protozoan parasites that can live within the human body. These pathogenic microorganisms have two stages of development — cysts and vegetative. Infection of a person occurs by getting balantidia, more often cysts, into the gastrointestinal tract. There is a possibility of a long-term existence of the pathogen in the human body without any clinical manifestations.

Getting into the digestive tract of a person, cysts begin to multiply and settle down along the walls of the intestine. At the location of the parasite, the intestinal mucosa becomes edematous, damage to its integrity and erosion occur. Over time, the damaged areas of the mucosa undergo necrosis, an empty cavity is formed, which has purulent exfoliation. The process of suppuration does not occur uniformly, so the ulcers may have different sizes. They are characterized by different depths and the presence of uneven edges, such a process often causes peritonitis.

Symptoms of balantidiasis
Balantidiasis has two forms of course — it is acute and chronic, its clinical symptoms differ according to these forms. The manifestations of the disease have many similarities with enterocolitis. The duration of the incubation period can be from 5 days to a month, but on average, it takes about 2 weeks.

Symptoms of acute balantidiasis
The acute form of balantidiasis is characterized by the development of symptoms of general intoxication: a feeling of weakness, decreased appetite, headache, hyperthermia. Clinical manifestations of intestinal wall lesions are abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, and in some cases tenesmus. With feces, blood veins sometimes stand out. During the examination of the patient, a dry tongue covered with plaque is visualized, an increase in the liver is palpated, as well as spasm and soreness of the colon.

Symptoms of chronic balantidiasis
A feature of chronic balantidiasis is the alternation of remissions with exacerbations. Also, with a prolonged course of the disease, patients have mild intoxication. The stool is usually of a liquid consistency with an admixture of mucus (in some cases with blood), the body temperature is kept within normal limits. During the palpation examination, soreness is noted, the localization of which will be more along the ascending and caecum. Ulceration characteristic of this pathology can be diagnosed by rectoromanoscopy.

The latent form of balantidiasis (carrier) is possible in nature, but it is extremely rare. Sometimes infections can be combined with shigellosis or amoebiasis.

Diagnosis of balantidiasis
This diagnosis is made by an infectious disease specialist or gastroenterologist, relying on the anamnesis data, the clinical picture, as well as the results of laboratory tests. The most informative laboratory analysis for this pathology is a microscopic examination of feces, as well as scraping from purulent foci on the intestinal mucosa. An integral part of the diagnosis of balantidiasis is rectoromanoscopy, which allows you to qualitatively examine the intestinal walls and identify the affected areas. An important stage in the diagnosis of this disease is differential diagnosis, with which you can distinguish balantidiasis from other similar diseases (intestinal dysbiosis, nonspecific colitis, intestinal amoebiasis, acute dysentery).

Treatment of balantidiasis
Balantidiasis is treated in an infectious hospital. Self-medication is categorically contraindicated, since this disease is very dangerous for human life and with improper treatment may even end in death or have a number of severe consequences. The main methods of therapy in this case are the appointment of antiprotozoal and antibacterial drugs.

Monomycin is most often prescribed. This drug is taken orally four times a day for two five-day cycles, the dosage is 0.6-1.5 g / day. Oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline are also widely used. Both drugs are indicated to be used in doses of 0.2-0.4 g in the case of severe balantidiasis, with a moderate disease, patients are prescribed 0.1 g four times a day in two cycles, each of which is five days. The break between five-day cycles is five days. Ampicillin is recommended to be used in a dosage of 1.0 g four times a day, the course of treatment is 5-7 days.

Yatren is prescribed 1 g three times a day, for ten days, and then an additional 2 three-day cycles, the interval between which is 4 days. Aminarson is indicated for 0.25-0.3 g twice a day in two cycles of ten days, with an interval of 7-10 days. Treatment of balantidiasis with dihydroemethine is similar to the therapy regimen for amoebiosis, it is administered by intramuscular injections in the form of a solution with 1-2% concentration, the dosage is 1-1.5 mg / kg per day (the maximum daily dose should not exceed 90 mg) the duration of therapy is 5 days. In some cases, metronidazole is prescribed three times a day for 0.5 g, for five days.

This disease is often accompanied by severe intoxication, so complex therapy includes the appointment of detoxification agents. For this purpose, glucose solution and saline solutions are administered to patients by intravenous drip infusion.

Preventive measures
The prevention of balantidiasis is based on taking into account the factors contributing to the spread of this disease. A very important point in the prevention of this disease, however, as well as many other intestinal infections, is the control of epidemiologists and ecologists over fecal pollution of the environment. First of all, this concerns the pollution of household drinking water, when using water from open reservoirs, mandatory boiling is necessary. It is also worth making sure that dust and soil particles do not get on food products.

When eating vegetables and fruits, it is necessary to carry out mandatory mechanical or thermal treatment. Throughout the warm season, it is necessary to fight flies, which are the main carriers of infectious diseases, especially in rooms where food is stored. It is very important to remember about personal hygiene and never neglect its rules. The owners of pigs and pig farms need to maintain them rationally, organize competent disposal of feces by composting or other methods.

Carriers of balantidiosis are sanitized, and patients are treated. Patients who have been ill are under medical supervision for about a year, during this period it is necessary to attend a preventive examination at least 2-3 times.

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