Severe or persistent threadworm infections can cause: loss of appetite. weight loss. skin infection around the anus if bacteria enter any scratches caused by itching – wearing cotton gloves while sleeping may help prevent this.
Threadworms do not go away by themselves, and people do not build up immunity to them, so they must be treated in order to eradicate them totally from the body.
Also, threadworm eggs can survive for up to two weeks outside the body. They fall off the skin around the anus and can fall on to bedding, clothes, etc. They can then get wafted in the air as you change clothes, bedding, etc, and become part of the dust in a home.
The worms die after about six weeks. Provided that you do not swallow any new eggs, no new worms will grow to replace them. So, if you continue the hygiene measures described above for six weeks, this should break the cycle of re-infection, and clear your gut of threadworms.
Are threadworms harmful? Not usually. The worst thing about them is the itch and discomfort around the anus. This sometimes wakes children from sleep.
This infection occurs after a person swallows tapeworm eggs. The larvae get into tissues such as muscle and brain, and form cysts there (these are called cysticerci).
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.
You can buy medicine (mebendazole) for threadworms from pharmacies. This is usually a chewable tablet or liquid you swallow. Treat everyone in your household, even if they do not have symptoms.
The tiny (microscopic) eggs can be carried to your mouth by contaminated food, drink or your fingers. Once swallowed, the eggs hatch in the intestines and mature into adult worms within a few weeks. Female pinworms move to the anal area to lay their eggs, which often results in anal itching.
"Changing and washing bedding can help to remove threadworm eggs within the linen," agrees Dr Luke Powles, clinical director at Bupa UK. "However, be careful when removing the sheets as shaking bedding around may cause the eggs to land on other surfaces and spread infection."
Threadworm begins with an itchy feeling around the anus (back passage), usually at night under warm sheets. Without treatment, threadworm may give rise to vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina) in girls and women. You can often see threadworms, a 1cm thread-like worm, wriggling in your child's stools or their bottom.
Some people may have intestinal worms for years without experiencing any symptoms.
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.
eating raw or undercooked beef, pork or freshwater fish (like salmon or trout) containing baby worms – more common in parts of the world with poor food hygiene standards.
If a child has large numbers of threadworms they may also have a mild stomach ache and feel irritable. In a small number of cases, threadworms can cause other problems include weight loss and loss of appetite. Scratching can also cause inflammation and, if the affected skin is broken, an infection.
This is why you may need to take another dose 2 weeks later to help prevent reinfection. How long does it take to work? 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.
Severe or persistent threadworm infections can cause: loss of appetite. weight loss. skin infection around the anus if bacteria enter any scratches caused by itching – wearing cotton gloves while sleeping may help prevent this.
Causes of an itchy bottom
infection and infestation – such as staphylococcal bacterial infections and scabies. a skin condition – such as atopic eczema or psoriasis. haemorrhoids (piles) – swellings that contain enlarged and swollen blood vessels in and around the anus.
You or your child can get threadworms by accidently swallowing worm eggs found on contaminated surfaces. This can happen by scratching the anal region and then touching your mouth or food.
Clean the home post-treatment
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.
You don't need to keep your child off school if they have threadworms. Speak to your pharmacist, who can recommend a treatment.
Most people don't experience serious complications from pinworm infections, but in rare cases the following complications can occur: Urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs can develop if you do not treat the pinworm infection. Vaginitis and endometritis.
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.
Pinworm infection (called enterobiasis or oxyuriasis) causes itching around the anus which can lead to difficulty sleeping and restlessness. Symptoms are caused by the female pinworm laying her eggs. Symptoms of pinworm infection usually are mild and some infected people have no symptoms.