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August promotion! Parasitic diseases profile from August 1 to 31, 2025
Parasites can live in your body for years, destroying you.
Profile composition:
- Ascariasis IgG
- Echinococcosis IgG
- Giardiasis IgA
- Giardiasis IgM
- Giardiasis IgG
- Opisthorchiasis IgM
- Opisthorchiasis IgG
- Toxocariasis IgG
- Trichinosis IgG
Individual price: 25 600 KZT.
Promotional price: 13 300 KZT.
Don't always wash your hands? Does your child bite their nails? Do you like kebabs and sushi? Seemingly harmless habits can lead to serious diseases caused by parasites. In adults, as in children, helminths are also common and often go unnoticed, destroying health from within. Parasites affect the liver, lungs, heart, brain, and even vision.
Parasitic diseases often have no symptoms or nonspecific symptoms, so laboratory diagnosis is necessary for accurate detection.
Worms (helminths) are parasitic worms that can live in the human body: in the intestines, liver, lungs, muscles, and even the brain. Some of them are microscopic, others reach lengths of tens of centimeters. And all of them exist at the expense of human resources: they feed, reproduce, and poison the body from within.
Helminths go through three key stages of development: egg, larva, and adult (sexually mature) individual. There are several types of helminthiasis:
- Geohelminthiasis - parasitic diseases that do not require an intermediate host for development. After leaving the human body, eggs or larvae enter the soil, where they mature to the next stage.
- Biohelminthiasis - worm infestations in which the parasite develops with the mandatory participation of an intermediate host. These can be animals, fish, mollusks, insects, or other organisms.
- Contagious helminthiasis - diseases in which infection occurs directly from person to person, without the need for the parasite to develop in the external environment or in an intermediate host. Such infections are easily transmitted in everyday life, especially when personal hygiene is not observed.
Ascaris
Roundworms are parasites that cause ascariasis. The main route of infection is through food: mature ascaris eggs from the soil get onto the surface of vegetables, fruits, and greens. If products are not properly processed, they become a source of infection—the swallowed eggs reach the intestines and start the parasite's life cycle.
Ascariasis proceeds in two phases: migration and intestinal.
The migration phase begins when the eggs enter the body. Larvae hatch from the eggs and travel through the blood and lymph currents to various organs and tissues. This stage ends when the larvae return to the intestine.
During migration, they release metabolites into the bloodstream—products of their vital activity that can cause allergies and symptoms of intoxication.
Possible manifestations of the migration phase:
- general malaise, weakness;
- fever (up to 37–39°C);
- abdominal pain, nausea, stool disorders;
- skin rash;
- cough, attacks of suffocation (in case of respiratory tract involvement).
The intestinal phase is characterized by mature roundworms settling in the small intestine, where they feed and reproduce.
Symptoms of the intestinal phase may include:
- abdominal pain and heaviness;
- heartburn, belching;
- rapid fatigue, sleep disturbances;
- headaches, dizziness.
Echinococcosis
A chronic parasitic disease caused by the larvae of tapeworms of the genus Echinococcus. It is characterized by damage to the liver, lungs, and other organs with the risk of serious complications, ranging from disability to death.
Most often, infection occurs through contact with animals that are intermediate hosts of the parasite. The parasite's eggs enter the human body through the mouth via unwashed hands, water, or food.
The main causative agents of echinococcosis are:
- Echinococcus granulosus - causes the cystic form. Often affects the liver and lungs.
- Echinococcus multilocularis - causes the alveolar form (alveococcosis). It progresses aggressively, with multiple small cysts in the liver.
- Echinococcus vogeli - forms multi-chambered cysts in the liver and lungs.
- Echinococcus oligarthrus - extremely rare, causes single cysts.
Symptoms:
General symptoms (early stage):
- chronic fatigue;
- headaches;
- decreased performance;
- skin rash;
- temperature (up to 38°C).
Echinococcosis of the liver
Progresses in stages:
Stage 1: asymptomatic. A cyst forms.
Stage 2:
- Loss of appetite;
- Intolerance to fried and spicy foods;
- Weight loss;
- Pain in the upper abdomen;
- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
Stage 3:
- Complications develop:
- Rupture of the cyst and spread of parasites;
- jaundice, itchy skin;
- dark urine (tea-colored);
- enlarged spleen, ascites (fluid in the abdomen);
- shortness of breath, heart pain, hypoxia.
Pulmonary echinococcosis
Develops when the parasite enters the respiratory system.
Early symptoms:
- cough;
- shortness of breath.
Late symptoms:
- chest pain;
- blood in sputum (may mimic tuberculosis or cancer);
- risk of cyst rupture and parasites entering the bloodstream.
Giardiasis
Giardiasis (giardiasis) is an infection caused by protozoan parasites called Giardia, which live in the small intestine of humans.
Forms of existence:
- Trophozoite - active form, reproduces in the intestine. Dies quickly in the external environment.
- Cyst - a stable form with a dense shell. Survives in water, resistant to chlorine and UV radiation, withstands freezing and heating up to 50°C, but is destroyed by boiling.
The main route of infection is through contaminated water: by drinking or accidentally swallowing while swimming in water bodies.
Symptoms:
Giardiasis is easy to confuse with other gastrointestinal disorders, as the symptoms are nonspecific. The infection is often asymptomatic.
The most typical symptoms are:
- frequent watery stools with an unpleasant odor;
- pain in the navel area;
- flatulence, belching;
- loss of appetite, nausea
- skin rashes.
Opisthorchiasis
A parasitic disease that affects the bile ducts, gallbladder, and pancreatic ducts. The causative agents are flat worms (trematodes) of the genus Opisthorchis, which enter the human body through the consumption of infected fish.
How does infection occur?
The intermediate hosts of the parasites are freshwater snails, then fish (especially carp). Human infection occurs through the consumption of undercooked or dried fish.
The pathogen found in Kazakhstan is
- Opisthorchis felineus arvicola - Shiderta River basin.
Symptoms
The incubation period is 2–3 weeks. The disease begins abruptly, with symptoms of intoxication:
- Temperature - from 37.5 to 39 °C,
- Weakness, chills, sweating, loss of appetite;
- Muscle and joint pain;
- Rash;
- Pain in the right upper quadrant — dull or burning, may radiate to the shoulder blade;
- Jaundice and itchy skin;
- Nausea, vomiting, heartburn
In severe cases, acute allergic reactions are possible: Lyell syndrome, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, myocarditis, Quincke's edema.
Toxocariasis
A parasitic infection caused by the larvae of the roundworm Toxocara canis. In most cases, the disease is asymptomatic, but in severe forms it can affect the eyes, brain, lungs, and other organs.
How does infection occur?
Adult worms live in the intestines of dogs, cats, and foxes. Only eggs enter the human body, from which larvae hatch—they do not develop into mature worms, but can move around the body, causing inflammation.
Life cycle:
- Egg-a stable form. Invisible to the naked eye, easily swallowed from dirty hands or products.
- Larva - active stage, migrates through the body.
- Adult - develops only in animals.
Tracks of infection
- Contact with infected soil (more often on playgrounds and in vegetable gardens);
- Playing with animals;
- Eating unwashed vegetables and fruits;
- Poor personal hygiene.
Children are infected more often.
Symptoms
The disease often does not manifest itself. In severe cases, symptoms depend on the immune system and the number of larvae.
In adults:
- fatigue, loss of appetite;
- fever, cough;
- abdominal pain, hives;
- convulsions (less common).
In children:
- cough, sleep disturbance;
- headaches.
Complications of toxocariasis
- Ophthalmotoxocariasis (eye infection) - blurred vision, redness, “white” pupil. May lead to blindness.
- Pneumonia and bronchitis - difficulty breathing, cough, chest pain.
- Bronchial asthma - attacks of suffocation due to allergy to larvae.
- Myocarditis - inflammation of the heart muscle, chest pain, tachycardia.
- Meningitis, meningoencephalitis - high fever, vomiting, headaches.
- Abscesses - purulent inflammation in organs, with fever up to 41°C.
Trichinosis
An acute parasitic disease caused by trichinella - thread-like nematodes. In the human body, adult individuals parasitize in the intestines, and larvae in the muscles.
The main route of infection is food. The source is meat infected with Trichinella larvae. Pork dishes, wild boar, bear, moose, and other animals that have not undergone sufficient heat treatment are especially hazardous.
Forms of the disease
By course:
- Typical - all characteristic symptoms develop.
- Abortive - limited to mild symptoms (weakness, abdominal pain, diarrhea).
- Asymptomatic - no clinical manifestations.
By severity:
- Mild - low-grade fever, mild muscle pain.
- Moderate - fever up to 39°C, facial edema, severe myalgia.
- Severe - high temperature (up to 2 weeks), massive edema, severe muscle pain, limited mobility.
Symptoms
Incubation period: from 5 days to several weeks. The disease begins acutely or with prodromal signs.
Main manifestations:
- Muscle pain, especially in the legs, masticatory muscles, and eye muscles. The pain intensifies with movement and can lead to immobility.
- Facial edema is a characteristic external sign, especially in severe cases.
- Weakness and headache are the result of general intoxication.
- Cough - allergic in nature, sometimes mixed with blood.