Horse hair - true or myth?

Hot debates about this disease do not cease and to thisday. From mouth to mouth the terrible legend about the worm, penetrating into a human body during bathing and living in it for a long time, eating it from the inside, is recounted. The popular rumor gave this parasite the name "horse hair" for its external similarity with natural hair. And, they say, there is no escape from this scourge, no medicine here will help and make the parasite leave the body only by conspiracy guiding, read over the sick person. So all the same, what exactly is "horse hair" - truth or fiction?

Horsehair, or "live hair," is calledparasite-worm, which, according to superstitions, creeps under the skin of a man during a bath in the river. Having settled in the body, the "hair" constantly moves, which causes terrible pains - pain, unbearable itching, on the body there are purulent blisters. Sometimes even wounds can be seen from the worm itself, but it is almost impossible to remove it - it immediately goes deep into the tissues. However, doctors and scientists do not recognize the existence of such a disease, "horse hair", and call it just fiction. Often, for such a symptomatology, which is attributed to "live hair", in fact there is some common infection, "pick up" which is not difficult when swimming in natural water bodies, usually infested with various bacteria. Through a small puncture in the leg, it comes from the water into the tissues, in which the suppuration begins, accompanied by pain and itching. However, many people, instead of seeking qualified medical care, are beginning to actively "drive out" horsehair, believing that it was he who made a "hole" in his leg and now settled there. And to date no science has so far discovered a parasite that lives freely in the water and knows how to "attack" people who bathe.

But the legendary "horse hair" reallythere is a living prototype. Most often such a terrible ability - to settle in a person and crawl inside his body, is attributed to an invertebrate worm, inhabiting the open waters of Russia - the hairy (Nematomorpha). Adult individuals reach a length of up to 40 cm at a thickness of 3-5 mm, color - from white to dark brown. For this appearance, he received his name, previously even believed that this is the real hair, revived in the water. This worm is really a parasite, but its "masters" are often insects. The worm's larva changes its habitat twice before becoming an adult, first it is introduced into the body of any of the benthic inhabitants, most often it's the bloodworm, the larvae of the young birds, etc., then the host changes after the parasite has eaten the bloodworm more a large insect. But his fate is predetermined - in his body the larva will stay for about a month, having developed during this time into an adult, and will leave it, gnawing his way out straight through his body. Further, the worm lives in water, actively moving in it. Vosatory live not for long - no more than 4 weeks. During this time, they will pair and lay eggs, after which their life cycle will be completed. Adult worms do not feed - they completely lack digestive system. So to think that they can gnaw through the human skin "hole" is nothing more than a myth.

Hair weights can be found in summer in allnatural reservoirs with standing water. They can be seen floating in the water column, or detect their congestion on the bottom. Sometimes the fishermen get them out of the water along with the catch. But in fact, all hair follicles that we can see in rivers and lakes are already adults, and they do not need any "master". To get into the body the parasite can only through the digestive system - that is, for this it is necessary to swallow the insect infected by it. Occasionally, snails, fish and even mammals (including humans) that swallowed the worm's larva are the host of the hairy, but since these people are not really a "master" of the worm, in his body he lives for a long time can not and described in horror stories terrible torture does not cause.

However, in the world there is still a parasite thatreally very similar to the legendary "horse hair". The disease dracunculiasis, the causative agent of which is the rust-parasite worm, like no other fits the description of "living hair," but this parasite does not wait for its prey to attack it and gnaw its way into her skin. Parasite infection occurs through the use of untreated water. The disease proceeds asymptomatically, until the parasite reaches maturity and begins to lay eggs. To do this, he migrates through the body of the person to the lower limbs and boravit skin to go outside, delivering to the owner of his considerable torment. The only thing to consider is that this parasite lives exclusively in a very warm tropical climate and does not present any threat to the inhabitants of Russia.

There is another kind of parasite that cancause symptoms similar to horse hair disease. It is a parasite of the dirofilaria, the infection of which is not peculiar to man, but, nevertheless, occasionally occur. Dirofilariasis is a disease that affects mainly the mammals of the canine family, less often the feline. Its carriers are ordinary mosquitoes, when they bite, and there is infection. Once in the bloodstream of the host, the dirofilaria migrates through the body, gradually reaching up to the large vessels and heart. Adult individuals constantly live in the right ventricle of the heart, interfering with blood flow, causing symptoms of heart failure and, sometimes, even clogging adjacent vessels. Treatment of this disease is rather difficult, and the only effective measure is prevention - use of repellents to avoid mosquito bites.

A hundred years ago the disease was rare for Russia,but now occurs even in cold areas. A person becomes infected with it very seldom, but in case this happens, exactly the same symptoms of "horse hair" appear. With a blood stream, a parasite can enter anywhere in the human body and sometimes its movement through the tissues begins to be greatly disturbed when there is pain, itching, or a sense of the presence of a foreign body. In some cases described in medicine, the parasite was removed from the tissues of the eye, in others - from under the skin. They are found in both muscle tissue and internal organs, but since a person is not a real "host" of dirofilaria, this ends their life cycle, and the body of the parasite is encapsulated. Treatment for this scourge of medicine has long been known, and the disease itself is well understood, which takes it out of the category of "mythical".