Symptoms of threadworms Threadworms often go unnoticed by people who have them. However, they can cause intense itching around the anus (and the vagina in girls), particularly at night when the female worms are laying eggs. This can disturb sleep.
Symptoms may include diarrhoea, tiredness and weakness, abdominal pain and weight loss. Some worms cause anaemia.
Without treatment, threadworm may give rise to vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina) in girls and women. You can often see threadworms, a 1cm thread-like worm, wriggling in your child's stools or their bottom.
In the majority of children and adults, infection is asymptomatic. The migration of the female worm from the rectum and then the anus to lay eggs on the perianal skin during the night can lead to perianal pruritus or disturbed sleep or irritability. Sometimes, secondary infection of the scratched skin occurs.
small, white worms in your poo that look like pieces of thread. extreme itching around your anus, particularly at night.
Red flags to look out for:
Loss of appetite. Weight loss. Bedwetting (consider other diagnoses e.g. Type 1 diabetes) Skin infections around anus caused by scratching.
Threadworm gets its name because the worms look like white threads, which are about 1 cm long. The worms live in the lower intestine, but they come out of the anus over night to lay their eggs in the area between the buttocks, which causes your child's bottom to feel very itchy.
Low-grade, persistent symptoms are the ones most likely to be dismissed as insignificant. This is unfortunate, as long term symptoms like dairy sensitivity, anxiety, frequent headaches and overall tiredness are frequently the only symptoms of a parasitic infection.
Although often asymptomatic, parasitic infections can lead to disruptions in mood, behavior and sleep – particularly in children with worms. The most common worm infection amongst Australian children is threadwork (pinworm, Enterobius vermicularis).
Are threadworms harmful? Not usually. The worst thing about them is the itch and discomfort around the anus. This sometimes wakes children from sleep.
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.
Parasitic infections can cause a whole host of problems including chronic fatigue, digestive issues, and mineral depletion.
The worms die after about six weeks. Provided that you do not swallow any new eggs, no new worms will grow to replace them. So, if you continue the hygiene measures described above for six weeks, this should break the cycle of re-infection, and clear your gut of threadworms.
Check if it's 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.
Although not all infected people will have symptoms, many will experience itching around the rectum. Some females may also experience itching in the genital area. How soon do symptoms appear? Symptoms usually are noticed one to two months after infection.
In order to make sure any new adult worms that may have developed from the eggs and larvae are dealt with, a follow-up deworming treatment is recommended around two to four weeks after the initial dose if symptoms are still present.
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 best way to diagnose this infection is to do a tape test. The best time to do this is in the morning before bathing, because pinworms lay their eggs at night. Steps for the test are: Firmly press the sticky side of a 1-inch (2.5 centimeters) strip of cellophane tape over the anal area for a few seconds.
Chlorine dioxide gas inactivates pinworm eggs in a non-invasive and non-corrosive manner.
Mebendazole is the main medication used to treat threadworm infections. It can be bought over the counter from your local pharmacy or prescribed by your GP. It's available as a chewable tablet or a liquid. Mebendazole works by preventing the threadworms absorbing sugar, which means they should die within a few days.