Cenurosis
Cenurosis is a chronic parasitic disease that occurs rarely enough in humans to be considered a human disease. The disease itself is characteristic of animals. With cenurosis, the human nervous system is affected, accompanied by a violation of coordination of movements. The development of this pathology is inextricably linked with damage to the brain (sometimes spinal) helminths of the cestozode group.
Among animals, the disease is most common in sheep, occasionally in cows and other cattle. The more common name of the disease is vertyachka.
ETIOLOGY AND PATHOGENESIS
Cenurosis is a parasitic disease and its causative agent is the helminth Multiceps multiceps. The parasite has an impressive size – 4 mm wide, but the length reaches up to 100 cm. the helminth affects animals, in particular wolves, foxes, dogs. These animals are only intermediate hosts and in fact are distributors of helminth eggs in pastures, reservoirs, etc.
Next, livestock grazing in an infected area swallows eggs with dirty water or grass. This is how the infection of animals occurs. A person is most often infected by contact with dogs (foxes).
Further, the eggs that have entered the body enter the gastrointestinal tract, where, under the action of strong enzymes, the egg shell dissolves and larvae enter the stomach, which quickly penetrate into the vascular bed.
Then the larvae spread throughout the body. This period lasts about two weeks. Despite the spread through many tissues and organs, only those individuals who managed to get into the central nervous system – the brain or, in more rare cases, the spinal cord – survive.
Further development of the larva takes place in the brain. The larva (and also as it is also called a censor) is a small, whitish-colored bubble (the maximum size is comparable to a chicken egg). The shell of the bladder is thin enough to see the anatomical parts of the contour behind it.
The larva reaches its maximum development only after 10-12 months. Up to 4 cenures can develop in one organism (human or animal), each can contain up to several thousand scolexes (future larvae).
People are obviously infected only because of non-compliance with the rules of personal hygiene.
SYMPTOMS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CENUROSIS
Symptoms begin to appear a few weeks after the parasite enters the body – the incubation period lasts no more than three weeks. The very first symptom is a headache. The pain is paroxysmal, the intensity also varies. Headache is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, which does not bring any relief to the patient, as it is a symptom of irritation of the central nervous system and nuclei.
In addition to the headache, the patient is haunted by pain in the neck, along the spine. Severe asthenic syndrome develops – weakness, apathy. There is increased sweating.
As the parasite develops, the symptoms of the disease also increase – hyperkinesis (involuntary sweeping movements) appear, orientation in space is disturbed. The patient may periodically lose consciousness, remain in a state of epileptiform seizure.
Upon examination of the patient, the following characteristic symptoms can be detected – Kernig’s symptom in combination with muscle rigidity.
If the parasite has developed in the spinal cord, paraplegia develops, the normal functioning of the pelvic organs is disrupted.
TREATMENT OF CENUROSIS
The diagnosis of cenurosis is made on the basis of the observed symptoms, as well as anamnesis (contact with animals, eating low-quality suspicious products). Additional laboratory tests can also be carried out, but the final diagnosis can be made only after intervention in the brain or spinal cord during the extraction of the cord.
Actually, this is the radical treatment. After removal of the cyst with the parasite, the patient must undergo chemotherapy with praziquantel. There are also measures aimed at reducing the sensitization of the body.
Despite the simplicity of treatment, the prognosis for the development of such a disease in humans remains unfavorable.
