The female adult worms leave the anus in the middle of the night while the person is sleeping to deposit her eggs around the skin of the perianal region. The eggs become infectious within a couple of hours after being deposited and can survive for about 2 weeks outside the host.
It is especially active at night or early morning. Rarely, the pinworm is seen on the surface of a stool. The pinworm's secretions are a strong skin irritant and cause the itching.
While the infected person is sleeping, mature pinworms make their way out of the rectum to lay their eggs around the anal opening. Small, thin, grayish-white worms may be visible around the anus two-three hours after the person falls asleep.
A grown pinworm is yellowish white, slender and about one centimetre long. Around 4 weeks after ingestion, the adult female moves down the gut and exits the body via the anus to lay a batch of eggs on the surrounding skin, often at night. The worm then dies, her reproductive mission complete.
The most common symptom of infection is anal itching, particularly at night, as worms migrate to the host's anal area to lay their eggs.
Pinworm eggs continue to be present (excreted) in the feces of an infected person for up to a week after the treatment, so precautions should be taken to prevent reinfection by washing hands thoroughly, especially under the nails. Bathe daily. Change and wash clothing and bedding frequently.
Wash bedsheets, pajamas, underwear, washcloths and towels in hot water to help kill pinworm eggs. Dry on high heat.
Pinworm eggs can live on hard surfaces and in clothes and bedding for 2 to 3 weeks. In addition to your regular household cleaning, you'll want to take these steps to stop the spread: Pinworms lay their eggs at night. Wash your anal area in the morning to reduce the number of eggs on your body.
Chlorine dioxide gas inactivates pinworm eggs in a non-invasive and non-corrosive manner.
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.
The adult female worm crawls out of the infected person's anus at night and lays her eggs in the surrounding skin. This causes itching and scratching. The worms can also move to the vagina of a female child and cause itching. Eggs can live for 2 to 3 weeks outside the body.
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 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.
Bed bug egg shells appear as white, husk-like specks, according to the NHS. They can sometimes be mottled and are produced when the bugs shed their skin as they grow.
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. Scrub toys, countertops, floors, and other surfaces the infected child has touched. Vacuum carpets.
You can treat pinworms with over-the-counter or prescription medicine that kills the worms. Treatment can help keep you from getting infected again and from spreading the infection to other people. You will probably need two doses, 2 weeks apart. That's because the medicine kills the worms but not the eggs.
Pinworms can be a distressing nuisance and sometimes difficult to get rid of. Fortunately, this condition hardly ever leads to any serious illness. Pinworm infection is very common, occurring in children much more often than in adults. As many as one in five children will be bothered by this parasite.
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.
Strict hygiene measures can clear up pinworm infection without medication, and reduce the risk of reinfection. The worm has a lifespan of about six weeks, therefore the strict hygiene needs to last that long.
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.
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. Showering is a better method than taking a bath, because showering avoids potentially contaminating the bath water with pinworm eggs.
Pinworm eggs are infective within a few hours after being deposited on the skin. They can survive up to two (2) weeks on clothing, bedding, or other objects. The pinworms grow to adult size within two (2) to six (6) weeks. Pinworm infections can be spread as long as either worms or eggs are present.
Threadworms. An itchy bottom that's worse at night is often caused by threadworms, especially in children. Children under 2, and pregnant and breastfeeding women, cannot usually take medicine for threadworms – see a GP, midwife or health visitor instead.