Although pinworm infection is more common in school-aged children, anyone can get it. As children who are infected move around the house, the eggs may be spread, and other family members can become infected. Sometimes adults breathe in the eggs when the bed covers are shaken.
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. Playmates, schoolmates, close contacts outside the home, and household members should be considered possible sources of infection.
Pinworms spread easily. When people who are infected touch their anus, the eggs attach to their fingertips. They can spread the eggs to others directly through their hands, or through contaminated clothing, bedding, food, or other articles. The eggs can live on household surfaces for up to 2 weeks.
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.
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. How is a person diagnosed?
Children with pinworms do not need to miss any child care or school.
Your child may be fussy and wake often at night. If your child is infected, it may take 2 to 8 weeks for symptoms to start.
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.
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.
Pinworms can survive up to two weeks on clothing, bedding or other objects, if kept at room temperature.
Chlorine dioxide gas inactivates pinworm eggs in a non-invasive and non-corrosive manner.
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)
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.
Wash bedsheets, pajamas, underwear, washcloths and towels in hot water to help kill pinworm eggs. Dry on high heat. Don't scratch. Avoid scratching the anal area.
Eggs can live for 2 to 3 weeks outside the body. 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.
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.
Pinworm infections are contagious. The worms get into the body when people swallow the tiny pinworm eggs. The eggs can be on contaminated hands, under fingernails, and on things people touch a lot, such as: clothing, bed linens, and towels.
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.
The eggs can survive on surfaces or objects (such as furniture, kitchen surfaces and toothbrushes) for up to 2 weeks in the right conditions and can infect other people if transferred to the mouth or food. Household pets cannot be infected with pinworms or pass them on to humans.
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. Scrub toys, countertops, floors, and other surfaces the infected child has touched. Vacuum carpets.
Change and wash underwear, nightwear and, if possible bed linen and towels, every day for a few days. A hot water wash, or the heat of an iron, will kill the eggs.
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 eggs become infectious within a couple of hours after being deposited and can survive for about 2 weeks outside the host.
Sometimes crusty areas develop, which may be mistaken for dandruff. If left untreated, the area can become boggy (spongy), discharge pus and develop areas of hair loss. This form of ringworm is most common in children.
The itching from the pinworms might wake you up in the middle of the night and make you squirm a lot. So if you're itchy and sore on your bottom, tell your mom or dad. And if you see worms in your underwear or in the toilet, you should tell a parent right away.
If the skin is irritated a dilute mild antiseptic can help. Applying Vaseline to the skin after cleaning can help protect the skin and prevent the eggs sticking.