What are the symptoms of paragonimiasis?

Parasites have a great impact on people's bodies and can pose a great threat to health. Paragonimiasis is a relatively common parasite that is extremely harmful to the body and can endanger the patient's life at any time. Therefore, prevention and treatment of paragonimiasis is a very important matter in life. Before treatment, you must first understand its symptoms. Let's take a look at the symptoms of paragonimiasis.

1. Lung type

The lungs are the most common site for Paragonimus westermani to parasitize, and the most common symptoms are cough, bloody sputum, and chest pain. Typical sputum is sticky and jam-like. If there is necrotic lung tissue, the sputum will appear as rotten peach-like bloody sputum. 90% of patients may experience repeated hemoptysis for years, and worm eggs may be found in the sputum. When Paragonimiasis migrates into the chest cavity, it often causes chest pain, exudative pleural effusion, or pleural hypertrophy. In case of infection with Sichuan fluke, cough and bloody sputum are rare, but chest pain and pleural effusion are more common. A small number of patients may have urticaria or asthma attacks.

2. Abdominal type

Abdominal pain is more common in the right lower abdomen, with varying degrees of severity. There may also be diarrhea, hepatomegaly, bloody stools or sesame-like stools, in which adult worms or eggs may be found. There is an obvious feeling of tenesmus, abdominal tenderness during physical examination, and occasionally enlarged liver, spleen, lymph nodes, and abdominal nodules, masses, or ascites. The abdominal masses feel cystic when palpated and vary in number, ranging from 1 to 4 cm in diameter. Paragonimus sichuanensis often forms eosinophilic abscesses in the liver, leading to hepatomegaly and abnormal liver function.

3. Brain type

It is often caused by Paragonimus westermani and is more common in children and young adults. Its incidence can be as high as 2% to 5% in endemic areas. Its manifestations include: symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, such as headache, vomiting, dull consciousness, optic disc edema, etc., which are more common in early patients. Symptoms of brain tissue destruction, such as paralysis, aphasia, hemianopsia, and ataxia, generally appear in the later stages. Irritative symptoms, such as seizures, visual hallucinations, and abnormal limb sensations, are due to the proximity of the lesion to the cortex. Inflammatory symptoms such as chills, fever, headache, and meningeal irritation signs are often seen in the early stages of the disease.

4. Nodular type

The most common cause is Paragonimus sichuanensis, with an incidence rate of 50% to 80%. It can occur in the abdomen, chest, back, groin, thighs, scrotum, head and neck, eye sockets and other parts of the body, and can be the size of a soybean to a duck egg. The nodules are typical eosinophilic granulomas with Charcot crystals or parasites but no eggs. About 20% of patients with Paragonimus westermani may have this sign. The nodules are mostly located under the skin or deep in the muscles of the lower abdomen and thighs, are 1 to 6 cm in size, exist alone or in clusters, and contain Charcot crystals, worm bodies or eggs.