Do not fan or fluff the bedding of a person with pinworms. Doing this can release pinworm eggs into the air. You can swallow eggs that are in the air when you breathe through your mouth.
avoid paddling, swimming and washing in fresh water – only swim in the sea or chlorinated swimming pools. boil or filter water before drinking – as the parasites could burrow into your lips or mouth if you drink contaminated water.
Pinworm eggs are infective within a few hours after being deposited on the skin. They can survive up to two (2) weeks on clothing, bedding, or other objects. The pinworms grow to adult size within two (2) to six (6) weeks. Pinworm infections can be spread as long as either worms or eggs are present.
If anyone in your home has pinworms, take these steps to get rid of the pinworm eggs. Doing so will minimize your chances of reinfection. Wash all the sheets, blankets, towels, and clothing in the house in hot water. Carefully clean everyone's fingernails (which may hold the worm eggs) and cut them short.
Strict observance of good hand hygiene is the most effective means of preventing pinworm infection. This includes washing hands with soap and warm water after using the toilet, changing diapers, and before handling food.
Return to School:
Children with pinworms do not need to miss any child care or school.
Yes. A pinworm infection can also be spread through: Bed sheets and undergarments: Eggs can spread through contact with contaminated sheets, towels or underwear of infected people.
In order to stop the spread of pinworm and possible re-infection, people who are infected should shower every morning to help remove a large amount of the eggs on the skin. Showering is a better method than taking a bath, because showering avoids potentially contaminating the bath water with pinworm eggs.
Chlorine dioxide gas inactivates pinworm eggs in a non-invasive and non-corrosive manner.
Earthworms breathe through their skin so when being exposed to a chemical like chlorine, the earthworms might have trouble breathing23. So overall, chlorine is a problem too.
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.
The female adult worms leave the anus in the middle of the night while the person is sleeping to deposit her eggs around the skin of the perianal region.
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.
It is especially active at night or early morning. Rarely, the pinworm is seen on the surface of a stool. The pinworm's secretions are a strong skin irritant and cause the itching.
Eggs may be inhaled from the air or deposited onto food and swallowed. Pinworms can survive up to two weeks on clothing, bedding or other objects, if kept at room temperature.
A person will remain infectious for as long as there are worms laying eggs on the skin around his or her rectum. Pinworm eggs can remain infectious in an indoor environment for two to three weeks.
However, there are only two ways for bed worms to get into your mattress: By laying eggs on the bed and bedding. When people or pets infected by pinworms transfer them onto the sheets.
The eggs may cause intense itching, especially at night, so children can easily reinfect themselves by scratching the anus and scraping eggs under their fingernails. These eggs can then be transferred to the mouth and the whole life cycle of the pinworm starts again.
Showering may help avoid possible re-contamination in bath water. Change underwear and bedding daily. This helps remove eggs.
Medicine can kill pinworms but not their eggs which can survive outside of the body for up to two weeks. Hand sanitiser is not effective against threadworms or their eggs, the best thing to do is wash hands regularly, scrub under fingernails, and wash clothing and bedsheets on hot cycles regularly.
Many anti-worm preparations, for example pyrantel (e.g. brand names Anthel, Combantrin and Early Bird) and mebendazole (e.g. Combantrin-1 with Mebendazole, Vermox) can be bought over-the-counter at pharmacies. However, some are only available on prescription, such as albendazole (Zentel).