The doctor will examine your child and may want to do blood or faeces (poo) tests. Also take your child to the GP if: your child passes a large worm. they have abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or low energy levels.
If you have worms, a GP will prescribe medicine to kill them. You take this for 1 to 3 days. The people you live with may also need to be treated. Any worms in your gut will eventually pass out in your poo.
Common signs include a cough, breathlessness or breathing difficulties but can include weight loss, lethargy, reduced appetite, anaemia and abnormal bleeding.
You only need to see your GP if you think you have threadworms and you're pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you think your child has threadworms and they're under 2 years old. In these circumstances, the recommended treatment is usually different. Severe or persistent threadworm infections can cause: loss of appetite.
Except in severe cases of heartworm infestation, worms do not usually constitute an emergency. However, worms should never be left untreated, as worm infestations can cause damage to your dog's internal organs. In a worst-case scenario, the effects of worms can even lead to a loss of consciousness and death.
Red flags to look out for:
Loss of appetite. Weight loss. Bedwetting (consider other diagnoses e.g. Type 1 diabetes) Skin infections around anus caused by scratching.
The worms will die after 6 weeks so provided you do not swallow any new eggs then no new worms will grow to replace them. Strict attention to hygiene should be sufficient.
Should I keep my child home from school? You usually don't need to keep your child home if they have a threadworm infection.
Symptoms may include diarrhoea, tiredness and weakness, abdominal pain and weight loss. Some worms cause anaemia.
Threadworm causes a very itchy bottom, which is usually worse at night. If your child is infected with threadworm, it is not usually serious and can be treated easily with medication.
Most worm infections aren't serious and can be easily treated with medicine.
In order to make sure any new adult worms that may have developed from the eggs and larvae are dealt with, a follow-up deworming treatment is recommended around two to four weeks after the initial dose if symptoms are still present.
At first, symptoms of intestinal worms may be mild or non-existent, but infections can lead to diarrhoea, abdominal pain, weakness, anaemia and nutritional problems. The disease can affect cognitive and physical development, and in severe cases can be fatal.
Check if it's threadworms
They look like pieces of white thread. You might also see them around your child's bottom (anus). The worms usually come out at night while your child is sleeping.
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.
If you or your child have threadworms that won't go away or keep coming back, speak to a doctor. You should also see a doctor if you see slime or blood in poo, even if you don't have other symptoms of a threadworm infection.
The main sign of threadworms is an itchy bottom. Sometimes children feel 'out of sorts' and do not want to eat much. Threadworms do not cause major health problems, and are usually not the cause of tummy pain. Scratching of the bottom can cause a red rash around the anus, which can sometimes become infected.
Threadworms are spread mainly from contact with already infected people, poor hygiene and ineffective or lack of hand washing.
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.
Nightcrawlers are nocturnal, meaning they go out hunting at night. Earthworms are diurnal and prefer to come out during the daytime (though you can find them outside of their homes in your garden any time).
Symptoms of the parasitic infection can be confused with symptoms of other conditions, so it is important to see a doctor for a confirmed diagnosis if you suspect you have become infected.
Although often asymptomatic, parasitic infections can lead to disruptions in mood, behavior and sleep – particularly in children with worms. The most common worm infection amongst Australian children is threadwork (pinworm, Enterobius vermicularis).
COMBANTRIN® is only effective against adult worms, which means any eggs or immature worms inside the body might still linger after the initial treatment. In order to minimise the risk of reinfestation, a follow-up treatment two to four weeks later is strongly recommended if symptoms are still present.