Scratching an affected area and then eating can lead to unintentionally ingesting pinworm eggs. This can lead to a repeat pinworm infection. Sometimes eggs on the anus hatch, and the larvae can reenter the large intestine. If not treated, this can cause the infection to continue indefinitely.
They live for an average of eight to 13 weeks. Although the reproductive habits of pinworm may be unpleasant to contemplate, pinworms are equipped with the requisite instincts to ensure survival of their species.
How long does pinworms last? The life cycle of a pinworm is 4 to 6 weeks. Without treatment, infestation will continue as long as fresh eggs are being swallowed, unless a person develops immunity to pinworms, which is unusual before age 15.
Pinworms can usually be treated completely with two doses of over-the-counter medicine called pyrantel pamoate, available in the United States under the brand names Pin-X and Reese's Pinworm Medicine.
Reinfection occurs easily. Prevention always should be discussed at the time of treatment. Good hand hygiene is the most effective means of prevention. If pinworm infection occurs again, the infected person should be retreated with the same two-dose treatment.
If left untreated, the intense itching and scratching associated with these infections will result in secondary bacterial infections. Some of these may be difficult to treat. Untreated people can continue to infect other people.
Call Your Doctor If: Pinworm is seen (white, ¼ inch or 6 mm, and moves) Anal itching lasts more than 1 week. You think your child needs to be seen.
Pinworm infection is very common, occurring in children much more often than in adults. As many as one in five children will be bothered by this parasite. Between 30 and 40 million people in the United States get this infection, many without even knowing it.
Typical pinworm infections don't cause serious problems. In rare circumstances, heavy infestations can cause infection of female genitals. The parasite can travel from the anal area up the vagina to the uterus, fallopian tubes and around the pelvic organs.
The medications used for the treatment of pinworm are either mebendazole, pyrantel pamoate, or albendazole. Any of these drugs are given in one dose initially, and then another single dose of the same drug two weeks later. Pyrantel pamoate is available without prescription.
Pinworms are white, parasitic worms that can live in the large intestine of humans. They are about one-half inch long. While the infected person sleeps, female pinworms leave the intestinal tract and lay their eggs on the skin around the anus.
Medications kill only the adult worms and have no effect on developing eggs and larvae. The prescription of choice is mebendazole* and the non-prescription medication of choice is pyrantel pamoate. Both mebendazole and pyrantel pamoate are given as a single dose and repeated in 2 weeks to kill any newly ingested eggs.
To treat pinworm infection, your doctor may recommend over-the-counter pyrantel pamoate or prescribe medication to all members of your household to prevent infection and reinfection. The most common prescription anti-parasite medications for pinworms are: Mebendazole. Albendazole (Albenza)
Adults are rarely affected, except for parents of infected children. Infection often occurs in more than one family member. While an infected person sleeps, female pinworms crawl out of the anus and lay their eggs on the surrounding skin.
A person is infected with pinworms by ingesting pinworm eggs either directly or indirectly. These eggs are deposited around the anus by the worm and can be carried to common surfaces such as hands, toys, bedding, clothing, and toilet seats.
Most people don't experience serious complications from pinworm infections, but in rare cases the following complications can occur: Urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs can develop if you do not treat the pinworm infection. Vaginitis and endometritis.
If your child develops a pinworm infection, try not to worry. Pinworms don't cause any harm (just itching and restless sleep), and it won't take long to get rid of them.
While serious complications are rare, pinworms can lead to: Bacterial infections: When the infected person scratches the anal area, the skin can bleed and become infected. Urinary tract infections (UTIs): In females, the worms can travel to the vagina and cause infections.
If a person with a pinworm infection touches their underwear, bedsheets, or their anus, they can pick up eggs on their fingers. If they touch another surface, they can leave the eggs there. Anyone who touches that surface and then touches their mouth is at risk of infection.
A grown pinworm is yellowish white, slender and about one centimetre long. Around 4 weeks after ingestion, the adult female moves down the gut and exits the body via the anus to lay a batch of eggs on the surrounding skin, often at night. The worm then dies, her reproductive mission complete.
Threadworms do not go away by themselves, and people do not build up immunity to them, so they must be treated in order to eradicate them totally from the body.
Almost the entire body of a gravid female becomes filled with eggs. The estimations of the number of eggs in a gravid female pinworm range from about 11,000 to 16,000. The egg-laying process begins about five weeks after initial ingestion of pinworm eggs by the human host.
Complete die-off within the tested exposure time range was noted for 70 °C, 75 °C and 80 °C, however treatment at 60 °C and 65 °C allowed for development of a few eggs after incubation.
Pinworm infection may present atypically with rectal bleeding, chronic diarrhea and weight loss, mimicking an inflammatory bowel disease.