Daily morning bathing and changing of underclothes helps remove a large proportion of pinworm eggs and can help prevent infection and reinfection.
Be sure to clean the skin around the anus. This will remove pinworm eggs. Showers may be better than baths because you have less chance of getting water that has pinworm eggs into your mouth.
Launder in hot water. Wash bedsheets, pajamas, underwear, washcloths and towels in hot water to help kill pinworm eggs. Dry on high heat. Don't scratch.
Pinworm eggs become infective within a few hours after being deposited on the skin around the anus and can survive on objects for 2 to 3 weeks.
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.
When and for how long is a person able to spread the disease? 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.
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.
Scrub washable areas. Vacuum or brush upholstered furniture. Change the vacuum cleaner bag daily and seal it before throwing it away. so that they can take extra care with linens and hand washing.
Launder in hot water.
Wash bedsheets, pajamas, underwear, washcloths and towels in hot water to help kill pinworm eggs. Dry on high heat.
Avoid shaking clothing and bedding to keep pinworm eggs from spreading through the air. Do not allow children to bathe together, as pinworm eggs can potentially spread in bath water and on washcloths.
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.
Pinworm eggs can also be transferred to the fingers from clothing or bedding, and then spread around the home. Eggs may be inhaled from the air or deposited onto food and swallowed. Pinworms can survive up to two weeks on clothing, bedding or other objects, if kept at room temperature.
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.
How long after exposure do symptoms begin? Two to six weeks.
So many of us or our family members have experienced this relatively mild though distressing infection.
Summary. Pinworm is the most common worm infection in Australia. The major symptom is an itchy bottom, particularly at night. Treatment usually includes a single or 2-dose course of medication that should be taken by all members of the affected household.
The eggs may be easily seen under a microscope. To obtain a sample, a piece of cellophane tape is pressed against the patient's anal opening. The sticky side of the tape picks up the pinworm eggs and the tape is then stuck to a microscope slide. The eggs can be viewed under the microscope, as seen above.
Female threadworms lay an average of 11,000 tiny eggs, which are invisible to the naked eye. She lays these eggs outside the anus, or, in girls, around the vagina and urethra. Eggs are usually laid at night whilst the child sleeps.
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.
Pyrantel pamoate is in most over-the-counter (OTC) treatments for pinworms. This includes Reese's Pinworm Medicine and Pin-X. Prescription-strength medications are also available. Your doctor may prescribe a two-dose treatment of mebendazole or albendazole to help you clear the infection.
Adults are rarely affected, except for parents of infected children. Infection often occurs in more than one family member. While an infected person sleeps, female pinworms crawl out of the anus and lay their eggs on the surrounding skin.
Prevention of Pinworm Infestation
Pinworm reinfestation is common because viable ova may be excreted for 1 week after therapy, and ova deposited in the environment before therapy can survive 3 weeks. Multiple infestations within the household are common, and treatment of the entire family may be necessary.
How long does pinworms last? The life cycle of a pinworm is 4 to 6 weeks. 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.
For the itching, wash the skin around the anus with warm water. For severe itch, use 1% hydrocortisone cream (such as Cortaid) 2 times per day. Use for 1 or 2 days. No prescription is needed.