You can get infected by: touching objects or surfaces with worm eggs on them – if someone with worms does not wash their hands. touching soil or swallowing water or food with worm eggs in it – mainly a risk in parts of the world without modern toilets or sewage systems.
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.
Have your child wash their hands and under their nails thoroughly after going to the toilet. Wash your child's bedding, towels and toys in hot water. Vacuum your floor often to remove any eggs. Clean surfaces in your house that your children may touch, in particular door handles.
Children can get threadworms again after they've been treated for them if they get the eggs in their mouth. This is why it's important to encourage children to wash their hands regularly.
Threadworms (Enterobius vermicularis) are the only type of worm infection commonly seen in Australia, and they are widespread. Although people of any age can get them, children are the most susceptible.
How can pinworm infection and reinfection be prevented? Strict observance of good hand hygiene is the most effective means of preventing pinworm infection. This includes washing hands with soap and warm water after using the toilet, changing diapers, and before handling food.
This may happen when shaking contaminated bedding, towels, or clothing. Scratching an affected area and then eating can lead to unintentionally ingesting pinworm eggs. This can lead to a repeat pinworm infection. Sometimes eggs on the anus hatch, and the larvae can reenter the large intestine.
Medications kill only the adult worms and have no effect on developing eggs and larvae. The prescription of choice is mebendazole* and the non-prescription medication of choice is pyrantel pamoate. Both mebendazole and pyrantel pamoate are given as a single dose and repeated in 2 weeks to kill any newly ingested eggs.
Do not scratch. 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.
Call Your Doctor If:
Pinworm is seen. Skin around the anus gets red or tender. Anal itching lasts more than 1 week. You think your child needs to be seen.
If left untreated, the intense itching and scratching associated with these infections will result in secondary bacterial infections. Some of these may be difficult to treat. Untreated people can continue to infect other people.
People of all ages can become infected with pinworms, but the infections are found most often in children. Caregivers and family members of infected children have a higher risk of infection.
Most of the time, pinworm infections don't cause serious problems. In rare cases, and especially if you have a lot of them, the pinworms can travel from the anal area up the vagina to the uterus, fallopian tubes, and around the pelvic organs.
Pinworm infestation is very rarely fatal; death and morbidity are from secondary infection. A 28% to 68% increased risk for appendicitis is associated with pinworm infestation.
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.
Reinfection does happen with pinworm
Reinfection can happen by touching surfaces that have already been contaminated with pinworm eggs by another person. Eggs are swallowed, usually after hand-to-mouth contact, and the pinworm infection begins again.
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.
Most of the time, there aren't any. You might have anal itching, especially at night. You could also have stomach pain, nausea, or vaginal itching. Sometimes pinworms can be seen around your anus or on your underwear or bed sheets about 2 to 3 hours after you've gone to bed.
Pinworms can come back if your child comes into contact with pinworm eggs again. They can stay alive in your home for up to 2 to 3 weeks. Make sure everyone in your family washes their hands carefully after going to the toilet, changing diapers, and before preparing or eating food. Wash your bed linens and clothes.
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.
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.
Drink a lot of water to help flush out your system. Eat more fiber, which may help get rid of worms. Probiotics ( Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacilus plantarum, Saccharomyces boulardii, and bifidobacteria ). Help keep your digestive tract healthy.
Your puppy will pass worms with their poo after deworming. This happens for up to 3 days after the deworming process. If you do not dispose of the excrement properly, the eggs in the poop can cause reinfection if your pup comes into contact with them.
While the other medicinal effects of alcohol have long been studied, this study is the first to show that alcohol can be used to kill a blood-borne parasite, and protect against future infection, Schlenke said. But some biologists are skeptical about the study's application to other organisms, particularly mammals.