Causes of threadworms A threadworm infection is passed from person to person by swallowing threadworm eggs. A female threadworm can lay thousands of tiny eggs around the anus or vagina. The female threadworm also releases mucus, which can cause an itchy bottom.
Where do threadworms come from? Threadworms have only one host – humans. The adult threadworms live in the colon and rectum. The females produce large numbers of microscopic eggs, which they lay around the anus at night.
Threadworms are very common and easily spread, so it's hard to completely avoid them. Having threadworms doesn't mean you have poor hygiene.
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.
However, hygiene measures alone may work. 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.
Causes of threadworms
Scratching the anus or vagina, or wiping them after going to the toilet, can cause the eggs to stick to your fingertips or under your fingernails. If you don't wash your hands, the eggs can be transferred to your mouth or on to food or objects, such as toys and kitchen utensils.
Chlorine dioxide gas inactivates pinworm eggs in a non-invasive and non-corrosive manner.
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.
You can spot worms in your poo. 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.
Often people call a threadworm infection 'worms'. There are different types of worms that can infect people. Threadworm is the most common. Threadworm is not usually harmful, but it can be very uncomfortable.
Worm infections are very common worldwide, although they mainly occur in areas with poor sanitation and hygiene, and are usually associated with poverty. They are spread in a variety of ways.
This might happen if they put their hands in their mouths or bite their nails after coming into contact with people with worms or with worm-infected dust, toys or bed linen. Once swallowed, the eggs get into children's small intestines, where they hatch and lay more eggs around the anus.
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).
A hot water wash, or the heat of an iron, will kill the eggs. Do not shake bed linen indoors as this can spread eggs around. Shower each morning, and wash around anus.
Parasites can live in the intestines for years without causing symptoms.
COMBANTRIN® is only effective against adult worms, which means any eggs or immature worms inside the body might still linger after the initial treatment. In order to minimise the risk of reinfestation, a follow-up treatment two to four weeks later is strongly recommended if symptoms are still present.
It's also important to wash any bedding and towels to get rid of any eggs, as they can live for up to two weeks outside the body. “Worms like sugar,” says Dr Snell, “so it can also be a good idea to cut back on sugar in your child's diet, too.”
Daily morning bathing and changing of underclothes helps remove a large proportion of pinworm eggs and can help prevent infection and reinfection. Showering may be preferred to avoid possible contamination of bath water.
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.
Pinworm eggs can cling to surfaces, including toys, faucets, bedding and toilet seats, for two weeks. So besides regular cleaning of surfaces, methods to help prevent the spread of pinworm eggs or to prevent reinfection include: Wash in the morning.
Apple cider vinegar has numerous health benefits and is known to be effective in treating worms in dogs. Unlike other vinegar, apple cider vinegar increases the alkaline levels in the intestines of the dog. As a result, it creates an inhospitable environment for worms and other parasites.
Coconut is the most effective home remedy to treat intestinal worms. Consume a tbsp of crushed coconut in your breakfast. After 3 hours, drink about one glass of lukewarm milk mixed with 2 tbsps of castor oil. Drink this for a week to get rid of all types of intestinal worms.
Both mebendazole and piperazine are believed to be between 90 - 100 per cent effective at killing threadworms (v). Other possible drugs for treating a threadworm infection include albendazole and pyrantel pamoate (vi).
COMBANTRIN® is only effective against adult worms, which means any eggs or immature worms inside the body might still linger after the initial treatment. In order to minimise the risk of reinfestation, a follow-up treatment two to four weeks later is strongly recommended if symptoms are still present.