Scientists Explain Why You Should Wash Your Hands After Any Contact With Animals
When you wash your hands after contact with your pet, you are not just performing a hygienic procedure. In this way, you are taking care of your health and that of your pet. Scientists from the Perm Polytechnic University explained what ignoring this rule can lead to and whether people and pets can infect each other with their diseases.
Since childhood, everyone knows that cats and dogs can infect you with worms. Their fur can contain pathogens of various diseases, among which the most common are parasitic worms - helminths. The most common are pinworms, which negatively affect the nervous system, cause severe itching and contribute to the formation of wounds. Other infections can penetrate the body through these lesions.
In addition, pinworms, being foreign organisms, secrete waste products that weaken the immune system and cause allergic reactions. All this depletes the body, and pinworms are especially dangerous for children with weakened immunity. And it is children who most often become infected with these parasites from animals.
Toxocariasis is a more serious disease caused by nematode worms that can grow up to 40 cm in length. The disease occurs in two scenarios. In the first case, larval, the parasite larvae settle in the eyes, brain, lungs or liver. Their accumulation can lead to death. In the second case, adult worms parasitize the intestines, depriving the body of nutrients and releasing toxic waste products.
Echinococcosis is a serious disease caused by tapeworms. The parasite's egg can travel through the bloodstream throughout the body. The end point can be the liver, heart, brain or kidney. There, the worm forms a protective capsule around itself, the diameter of which can be 10-12 cm. It can cause rupture of internal organs.
Animals easily become infected with various types of worms by running on the ground or sand. After that, they lick their paws, and the parasite eggs enter their body. There are other ways of infection, for example, through an insect bite. A flea, having sated itself with the blood of an infected animal, can bite a healthy pet or a person, transmitting the parasite eggs through saliva.
Sometimes a sick animal, on whose fur particles of feces with worm eggs remain, comes into contact with a healthy pet, and the disease thus enters the house after a walk. However, if you have a cat that never goes outside, this does not guarantee complete safety. Parasite eggs can enter the house on the soles of your shoes or the shoes of family members.
Pets can also become infected through food, especially meat. If you are unsure about its quality, it is best to freeze it. Meat that has been frozen in the freezer for 10-14 days is relatively safe. But remember that larger pieces may require more time to fully process.
Dermatophytes are fungi that feed on keratin, which is found in the skin, hair, and nails. They are the cause of ringworm. The three most common pathogens are Trichophyton, Microsporum, and Epidermophyton. Ringworm is not a life-threatening but very unpleasant disease.
In advanced cases, ringworm can lead to long-term hair loss. The disease develops especially quickly in young children. The areas of skin affected by the fungus itch intensely, which increases the risk of infection and worsening the condition.
As for scabies mites, parasites living on animals do not pose a danger to humans. But human scabies mites can briefly move to pets. They cause severe itching, which causes the animal to scratch the skin until it bleeds. Infection easily penetrates such wounds, which can lead to the development of sepsis.
The danger of single-celled protozoan parasites is that they can be contracted from animals that look absolutely healthy. The most common infection in our country is giardiasis. This is a dangerous and difficult to diagnose disease. Giardia settles in the bile ducts and gradually suppresses the body, disrupting its functioning.
First of all, the immune system suffers from giardiasis, which perceives parasites as dangerous foreign organisms. This can manifest itself in the form of skin rashes, eczema or even asthma. Damage to the bile ducts, where giardia live, leads to liver failure. Children suffer especially badly from giardiasis.
Another disease that can be contracted from cats or dogs is piroplasmosis. Its pathogen is a protozoan parasite that moves through the circulatory system, destroying blood cells. This causes serious harm to the human body. Piroplasmosis resembles leukemia in its consequences and can also lead to death.
Toxoplasmosis poses the greatest threat to pregnant women. The pathogen of this disease can cause irreversible damage to the fetus, which can affect the health of the child or even lead to the death of the embryo. Often, the infection causes a miscarriage, which can occur both in the early and late stages of pregnancy.
It is also worth mentioning rabies. There is an opinion that you can only become infected through the bite of a sick animal. This is a dangerous misconception, because for infection it is enough for the saliva of a sick mammal to get on the skin or mucous membranes of a person. The virus gets into the blood through the smallest cracks and pores of the skin, invisible to the eye.
A small, harmless scratch from claws can cause two serious illnesses. The first is bacterial pasteurellosis, which has several forms. The first of these is cutaneous, when abscesses and phlegmons appear on the body, as well as deep fistulas. Often, doctors cannot immediately determine what caused the disease and that the problem was caused by an ordinary scratch.
The second type of pasteurellosis is even more severe, pulmonary. It all begins with a strong cough and difficulty breathing. The course of the disease is similar to pneumonia and the patient may die. The third form is septic, with the spread of bacteria through the bloodstream. In this case, the patient's joints may be destroyed, kidneys may fail. If the lesion is in the pericardium, heart failure develops.
Another infection that enters the body through scratches is bartonellosis. The bacteria causes fever, body aches, and inflammation of the lymph nodes. The symptoms are very similar to flu, so it is difficult to diagnose the disease. Only a special test can show the presence of infection in the blood.
In the case of pasteurellosis and bartonellosis, the animals themselves do not get sick, but only act as carriers of the infection. Cats can carry the bacteria on their claws, which become dirty when walking outside. Transmission of the infection is also possible through flea bites or direct contact between animals.
It is quite clear that if you do not wash your hands after contact with animals and do not treat scratches, you can become infected with something very unpleasant. But can dogs and cats get "human" diseases, such as the flu? Scientists believe that this is impossible. People and their pets have their own, separate forms of viruses that are not transmitted between species.
This applies not only to respiratory diseases, but also to hepatitis. Even the strains of coronavirus are completely different. There are only two human diseases that are potentially dangerous for dogs and cats. These are tuberculosis and mumps, which is also called "mumps".
Taking care of cleanliness after contact with pets is not only respect for hygiene, but also a step towards maintaining the health of the whole family. How do you monitor interactions with your pets? Have you often encountered situations when hygiene rules helped avoid trouble? Share your experience and opinion in the comments!