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.
Keep fingernails short. Daily bathing and showering. Wash all sheets, bed linen, pyjamas and sleepwear in hot water to kill any pinworm eggs. Clean toilet seats and potties regularly with disinfectant (remember to store the disinfectant out of reach of children).
Because it is common for everyone in a household to have pinworms at the same time, the doctor may recommend that everyone be treated at the same time. The doctor may also recommend tap water enemas to help flush out the pinworms and reduce symptoms.
❖ Every morning have a bath, or wash around the anus, to get rid of any eggs laid overnight. You must do this straight away after getting up from bed.
In order to stop the spread of pinworm and possible re-infection, people who are infected should shower every morning to help remove a large amount of the eggs on the skin.
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.
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 eggs get stuck on your fingers when you scratch. They can then pass on to anything you touch, including: clothes.
Worm eggs can survive for several days on external surfaces, but you can play your part in preventing a reinfestation by doing the following: Wash all the bedsheets and linen that family members have been sleeping on with hot water, to kill any remaining eggs.
Threadworm eggs can survive on surfaces for up to two weeks. As well as being swallowed by a person who touches a contaminated object or surface, threadworm eggs can also be swallowed after being breathed in. This can happen if the eggs become airborne – for example, after shaking a contaminated towel or bed sheet.
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.
If anyone in your home has pinworms, take these steps to get rid of the pinworm eggs. Doing so will minimize your chances of reinfection. Wash all the sheets, blankets, towels, and clothing in the house in hot water. Carefully clean everyone's fingernails (which may hold the worm eggs) and cut them short.
Based on data from the current study, 4–5 seconds of exposure at 80°C appears sufficient to inactivate Ascaris eggs. At 75°C and 70°C treatment may also be effective, but exposure time should be increased to achieve the same level of inactivation.
Absolute alcohol kills eggs in 30 minutes.
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.
If you have pinworms, you might see the worms in the toilet after you go to the bathroom. They look like tiny pieces of white thread. You also might see them on your underwear when you wake up in the morning. But the pinworm eggs are too tiny to be seen without a microscope.
Launder in hot water.
Wash bedsheets, pajamas, underwear, washcloths and towels in hot water to help kill pinworm eggs.
Pinworm eggs become infective within a few hours after being deposited on the skin around the anus and can survive for 2 to 3 weeks on clothing, bedding, or other objects.
Once the eggs are ingested, it takes 3-4 weeks until the adult threadworms hatch in the gut. The threadworms will lay new eggs around the anus before they die.
Investigators visited homes and schools of infested children and identified pinworm eggs in 90% of samples taken from such diverse surfaces and locations as bars of soap, pet fur, swimming pools, walls of school dining rooms, and house dust samples.
If you are self-treating for pinworms, take the medication once only. Do not repeat the dose without talking with your doctor first. Depending on the type of worm infection you have, your doctor may direct you to take the medication only once or for several days.
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.
Many anti-worm preparations, for example pyrantel (e.g. brand names Anthel, Combantrin and Early Bird) and mebendazole (e.g. Combantrin-1 with Mebendazole, Vermox) can be bought over-the-counter at pharmacies. However, some are only available on prescription, such as albendazole (Zentel).