Eggs that have been swallowed will hatch inside the intestine. After 2 weeks, the worms reach adult size and begin to reproduce, starting the cycle again. Read more about what causes threadworms.
Worms are mainly spread in small bits of poo from people with a worm infection. Some are caught from food. You can get infected by: touching objects or surfaces with worm eggs on them – if someone with worms doesn't wash their hands.
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.
find a large worm or large piece of worm in your poo. have a red, itchy worm-shaped rash on your skin. have sickness, diarrhoea or a stomach ache for longer than 2 weeks. are losing weight for no reason.
. Upon reaching the small intestine, they develop into adult worms. Between 2 and 3 months are required from ingestion of the infective eggs to oviposition by the adult female. Adult worms can live 1 to 2 years.
Threadworms live about 5-6 weeks in the gut, and then die. However, before they die the female worms lay tiny eggs around the anus. This tends to be at night when you are warm and still in bed. The eggs are too small to see, but cause an itch around the anus.
It takes about five months for larvae to become adult worms inside the human body. Larvae can become adults only inside the human body.
Lack of appetite, tiredness, anaemia, fever, itchy bottom, loose bowels, abdominal pain and vomiting are some of the common symptoms of worm infestation.
The spread of worm infections
Threadworms are easily spread so the slightest contact can pass on the infection, which is why many adults end up with the same infection as their children. To halt the spread of worms, it's crucial to treat all members of the family – not just the youngsters!
Sometimes worms are visible in the anal area, on underwear, or in the toilet. In stool, they look like small pieces of white cotton thread.
About half the world's population (over 3 billion people) are in infected with at least one of the three worms forming what Columbia University parasitologist Dickson Despommier calls the "unholy trinity"—large roundworm, hookworm and whipworm.
It moves. If it doesn't wiggle, it's probably lint or a thread. The worm may be seen around the anus or on the child's bottom. It is especially active at night or early morning.
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.
Following treatment with albendazole, infected individuals pass dying worms in their stool over a few days. Collecting and counting these worms provides a direct measurement of the actual burden of infection that each person carries.
In fact, you can get pinworms and tapeworms no matter how often you take a bath. But most of the time, these parasites are easy to get rid of. Pinworms are also called “threadworms.” They're the most common type of intestinal worm infection in the U.S., and one of the most common in the world.
Take the correct dewormer
When infected with worms, it should be dewormed periodically, for adults and children over 2 years old should be dewormed 2 to 3 times a year, ie every 4 to 6 months.
Deworm Once Every Six Months
Worms are, unfortunately, a very common and normal issue for children and adults alike. Worms are everywhere and contaminate public areas such as schools and playgrounds. From the age of two years old, children and adults should be dewormed once every six months.
They noted that not deworming children as specified by the World Health Organisation can lead to malnutrition, low blood count, intestinal perforation and death.
For most people, treatment will involve taking a single dose of a medication called mebendazole to kill the worms. If necessary, another dose can be taken after 2 weeks.
Other intestinal worm infections are also treated with medicines that kill the parasite without harming the person, such as albendazole, mebendazole, ivermectin and praziquantel. Your doctor or a gastroenterologist will advise on the appropriate medicine and the dose. The worms are then usually passed out of the body.
Some people may have intestinal worms for years without experiencing any symptoms.
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.
The swallowed larvae return to the small intestine and grow and mature into adults. This happens about 2 months after the egg was swallowed. Adult worms live in the small intestine for 1 to 2 years.