The adult female worm crawls out of the infected person's anus at night and lays her eggs in the surrounding skin. This causes itching and scratching. The worms can also move to the vagina of a female child and cause itching. Eggs can live for 2 to 3 weeks outside the body.
The worm may be seen around the anus or on the child's bottom. It is especially active at night or early morning. Rarely, the pinworm is seen on the surface of a stool.
Itching around the anus caused by a pinworm infection usually happens at night. Try wearing gloves, pyjamas, and close-fitting clothing to help prevent scratching. Bathe carefully every day. Be sure to clean the skin around the anus.
So many of us or our family members have experienced this relatively mild though distressing infection. Pinworm is the most common worm infection in North America with up to 50% of some groups of school aged children getting infected.
The eggs pass into the digestive system, where they hatch. About 1 to 2 months later, adult female pinworms lay eggs on the skin right around the anus, which makes the area itchy. Often, this happens at night.
Worms can sometimes be seen on the skin near the anus or on underclothing, pajamas, or sheets about 2 to 3 hours after falling asleep. Pinworm eggs can be collected and examined using the “tape test” as soon as the person wakes up.
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.
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.
Pinworms can survive up to two weeks on clothing, bedding or other objects, if kept at room temperature.
They can be found in house dust, on toilet seats, bed linens and toys and in play areas in or outside the home. Although pinworms only grow in humans, the eggs can be carried in a pet's fur. Pinworms are harmless but annoying. They spread easily to others.
They don't always cause symptoms, but people often experience itchiness around their bottom or vagina. It can be worse at night and disturb sleep. Read more about the symptoms of threadworms.
They look like pieces of white thread. You might also see them around your child's bottom (anus). The worms usually come out at night while your child is sleeping.
For the itching, wash the skin around the anus with warm water. For severe itch, use 1% hydrocortisone cream (such as Cortaid) 2 times per day. Use for 1 or 2 days. No prescription is needed.
Because pinworms usually crawl out of the anus while a child sleeps, the tape test is an easy way to find pinworms. It's best to do this right when your child wakes up and before they use the bathroom or take a bath.
Worms emerge at night, when the air is cool and moist. They feed on decaying organic matter on the soil surface.
After a few weeks, the female pinworms move to the end of the large intestine, and they come out of the body at night to lay their eggs around the anus (where poop comes out). The amount of time that passes from when someone swallows the eggs until the worms lay new eggs is about 1 to 2 months.
Because pinworms lay their eggs at night, washing the anal area in the morning can help reduce the number of pinworm eggs on your body. Showering may help avoid possible re-contamination in bath water. Change underwear and bedding daily. This helps remove eggs.
Chlorine dioxide gas inactivates pinworm eggs in a non-invasive and non-corrosive manner.
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.
Avoid simple carbohydrates, such as those found in refined foods, fruits, juices, dairy products, and all sugars, except honey. Eat more raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, and carrots, all of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites.
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.
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. Incubation of heat-treated samples is required when egg damage is not visible, in order to confirm die-off.
Pinworm infections are rarely spread through recreational water. Pinworm infections occur when a person swallows pinworm eggs picked up from contaminated surfaces or feces (poop).
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.