Currently the drugs are administered in single doses. Whilst this makes sense operationally it means that some people are not getting enough drugs to actually kill the worms. Over time this sup-optimal dosage potentially leaves the door open for the parasites to develop resistance to the deworming drugs.
A worm is said to be resistant if it survives exposure to the standard recommended dose of the anthelmintic. Anthelmintic resistance is said to exist in a population of worms if more than 5% of the worms survive treatment.
If you have tried a threadworm treatment for your child and their symptoms have not improved, take them to your GP. The doctor will examine your child and may want to do blood or faeces (poo) tests.
Treatment / Management
Young pinworms tend to be resistant to treatment and hence two doses of medication, two weeks apart are recommended.
Children can get threadworms again after they've been treated for them if they get the eggs in their mouth. This is why it's important to encourage children to wash their hands regularly.
COMBANTRIN® is only effective against adult worms, which means any eggs or immature worms inside the body might still linger after the initial treatment.
Ensure nails are short and clean underneath with a brush once a day and after defaecation. Avoid biting and scratching around the anus. Wash/shower every morning to remove eggs on skin. Wear pants, or tightfitting nightwear in bed – and change daily washing at 40ºC or above.
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)
If you are self-treating for pinworms, take the medication once only. Do not repeat the dose without talking with your doctor first. Depending on the type of worm infection you have, your doctor may direct you to take the medication only once or for several days.
If your symptoms do not improve after you have taken this medicine for the full course of treatment, or if they become worse, check with your doctor. Mebendazole can temporarily lower the number of white blood cells in your blood, increasing the chance of getting an infection. If you can, avoid people with infections.
So there's… autoinfection is huge. And we know that this is one of the main reasons why an infestation can become chronic. That it can actually go on for months and years because we're just never getting our head above water in terms of preventing those kinds of re-exposure risks.
Roundworm, whipworm & hookworm:
Adults and children of 2 years and over : 1 chocolate square (100mg) twice each day for 3 consecutive days.
If pinworm infection occurs again, the infected person should be retreated with the same two-dose treatment. The infected person's household contacts and caretakers also should be treated. If pinworm infection continues to occur, the source of the infection should be sought and treated.
Medication kills the worms, but not their eggs, which can survive for two weeks. Therefore, you also need strict hygiene measures for two weeks after taking medication to prevent you from swallowing eggs which may cause a new infection.
spiralis larvae, the collagen capsule can first be detected 11 days after the larva invades the muscle cell [10], which corresponds to day 16 or 17 after infection [11]. Our results show that, once encapsulation has begun in humans, T. spiralis larvae are resistant to mebendazole treatment.
If you take too much
Taking an extra dose of mebendazole is unlikely to harm you. However, you may get side effects such as: stomach cramps. feeling or being sick (nausea or vomiting)
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.
Although medicine takes care of the worm infection, the itching may continue for about a week. So the doctor also might give your child a cream or other medicine to help stop the itching.
Complications. 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 key is to break the 6-week cycle of pinworm reinfection by killing any live pinworms and preventing the ingestion of eggs. A diagnosis should be confirmed before treating with medications. Medications kill only the adult worms and have no effect on developing eggs and larvae.
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.
You can catch threadworm if you get worm eggs on your hands and put your hands in your mouth. You can treat threadworm with a single dose of medicine available over-the-counter from the pharmacy. To prevent the spread of threadworm, treat the whole family at the same time and encourage good hygiene.
Reinfection does happen with pinworm
Eggs are swallowed, usually after hand-to-mouth contact, and the pinworm infection begins again. Pinworm eggs may spread to shared surfaces, such as bedding, curtains, toilets, doorknobs, towels, utensils, and furniture. These areas should be kept clean to avoid reinfection.
If a child swallows – or possibly inhales – any threadworm eggs, they hatch and grow into adult worms in their intestines, becoming adult worms within a couple of months. So, unless steps are taken to eradicate threadworms, the infection can go on and on.