How do you get threadworms? 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.
Causes of threadworms
Scratching the anus or vagina, or wiping them after going to the toilet, can cause the eggs to stick to your fingertips or under your fingernails. If you don't wash your hands, the eggs can be transferred to your mouth or on to food or objects, such as toys and kitchen utensils.
People, usually children, get infected with threadworms by getting threadworm eggs on their hands and then putting their hands in their mouths. They swallow the eggs, which travel to the lower intestine where they grow into worms. The worms then move to the anus (back passage, bottom) to lay their eggs.
Threadworm eggs may be found in house dust, they stick to clothing, carpets, towels and bed linen. They can also be picked up in garden soil, on unwashed vegetables and salads, or from someone who already has worms. Because the eggs are so small and so widespread, it is easy for them to be swallowed.
History. The earliest known instance of pinworms is evidenced by pinworm eggs found in coprolite, carbon dated to 7837 BC at western Utah. Pinworm infection is not classified as a neglected tropical disease unlike many other parasitic worm infections.
Enterobiasis (pinworms, Enterobius vermicularis) and trichuriasis (whipworms, Trichuris trichiura) can be acquired through environmental contact with soil or food contaminated with eggs. The infective eggs are ingested, and the larvae hatch within the small intestine.
The eggs hatch in the duodenum (i.e., first part of the small intestine). The emerging pinworm larvae grow rapidly to a size of 140 to 150 μm, and migrate through the small intestine towards the colon. During this migration, they moult twice and become adults. Females survive for 5 to 13 weeks, and males about 7 weeks.
Change and wash underwear, nightwear and, if possible bed linen and towels, every day for a few days. A hot water wash, or the heat of an iron, will kill the eggs.
This might happen if they put their hands in their mouths or bite their nails after coming into contact with people with worms or with worm-infected dust, toys or bed linen. Once swallowed, the eggs get into children's small intestines, where they hatch and lay more eggs around the anus.
However, hygiene measures alone may work. 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.
Threadworms live for about 5-6 weeks in the gut, and then die. Before they die, the female worms lay tiny eggs around the anus (back passage). This tends to occur at night when you are warm and still in bed.
Chlorine dioxide gas inactivates pinworm eggs in a non-invasive and non-corrosive manner.
If a child swallows – or possibly inhales – any threadworm eggs, they hatch and grow into adult worms in their intestines, becoming adult worms within a couple of months. So, unless steps are taken to eradicate threadworms, the infection can go on and on.
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.
The worms live in the lower intestine, but they come out of the anus over night to lay their eggs in the area between the buttocks, which causes your child's bottom to feel very itchy. It is estimated that one female threadworm can lay up to 16,000 eggs.
Other names for this parasite include threadworm and Enterobius vermicularis, or the common term 'worms'. Children are more likely to pick up an infection than an adult, probably because of children's tendency to put their fingers in their mouths.
Experts advise deworming to be done twice a year or every six months, beginning at the age of two. Deworming is a method that uses medication to get rid of intestinal parasites and other microbes.
Threadworms live about 5-6 weeks in the gut, and then die. However, before they die the female worms lay tiny eggs around the anus. This tends to be at night when you are warm and still in bed. The eggs are too small to see, but cause an itch around the anus.
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.
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).
If the skin is irritated a dilute mild antiseptic can help. Applying Vaseline to the skin after cleaning can help protect the skin and prevent the eggs sticking.
The key is to break the 6-week cycle of pinworm reinfection by killing any live pinworms and preventing the ingestion of eggs. A diagnosis should be confirmed before treating with medications. Medications kill only the adult worms and have no effect on developing eggs and larvae.
Threadworms (Enterobius vermicularis) are the only type of worm infection commonly seen in Australia, and they are widespread. Although people of any age can get them, children are the most susceptible.
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.