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.
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.
If you or your child has worms, regularly wash clothes and bed linen in hot soapy water every day for several days after treatment. Clean toilet seats and potties regularly. Encourage your child to take a shower or bath regularly (morning is better to help with removing eggs).
Wipe down any toys that your child usually puts in his mouth or hard surfaces that he has touched with disinfectant or soap and water. Change bed linens and put clean underwear and clothes on every day. Avoid shaking these things so that eggs are not put into the air.
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.
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.
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.
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). All family members should take the medication, regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms.
Cleaning potentially contaminated surfaces is important because pinworm eggs can stick to things you touch such as clothing, toys, dishes, and furniture. The eggs can also survive two to three weeks outside the body. Toilet seats should be cleaned daily. Clean and disinfect counters and other surfaces regularly.
❖ Change and wash underwear, nightwear (and bed linen if possible) each day. Avoid shaking clothes and linen as any eggs on them may be wafted into the air and be swallowed. ❖ Also, each day for the same 14 days it is advisable to: Vacuum and dust all household carpets, particularly those where children play.
Avoid simple carbohydrates, such as those found in refined foods, fruits, juices, dairy products, and all sugars, except honey. Eat more raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, and carrots, all of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites.
If you or your child has threadworms there's no need to stay off nursery, school or work.
Anyone can get pinworms
While an infected person sleeps, female pinworms crawl out of the anus and lay their eggs on the surrounding skin. People get pinworm infections from swallowing these eggs after touching an infected person's skin or personal belongings, such as clothing, bedding, and toys.
Strict hygiene measures can help clear up a threadworm infection and reduce the likelihood of reinfection. The lifespan of threadworms is approximately 6 weeks, so it's important that hygiene measures are followed for at least this length of time.
The medicine should start to work straight away but it may take several days to kill all the worms. It's important to take the medicine as a pharmacist or doctor tells you. Do not stop early if you have been told to take it for several days.
Pinworms can survive up to two weeks on clothing, bedding or other objects, if kept at room temperature.
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 survive for 2-3 weeks on fingers, under fingernails, and on surfaces such as linens, clothing or toilet seats. The tiny eggs can only be seen under a microscope.
Bedlinen and clothing should be machine-washed in hot water to ensure that all the eggs are killed. Vacuum and dust the house, paying particular attention to the bedrooms on a regular basis. Clean the bathroom and kitchen surfaces regularly. Exclusion is not necessary if your child has threadworms and is being treated.
Clean the home post-treatment
Wash all the bedsheets and linen that family members have been sleeping on with hot water, to kill any remaining eggs. Don't forget the favourite teddy or security blanket, and take care not to shake linen when removing bedclothes - you could be spreading infectious eggs into the air.
Pinworms are small worms that live in the human intestine (gut) and crawl out at night to lay eggs in the anal area. pinworms, tell your childcare provider or call the school. Childcare and school aged children do not need to stay home.
Foods to keep worms at bay
- Eat raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets and carrots, all of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites. - Drink a lot of water to help flush out your system. - Eat fibre, which may help get rid of worms.
So many of us or our family members have experienced this relatively mild though distressing infection.