Children can get threadworms when they accidentally get worm eggs on their hands and swallow them. 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.
Threadworm infections most commonly affect young children because they often forget to wash their hands and they share toys with other children. People who are in close contact with someone with a threadworm infection also have a high risk of infection.
Contaminated clothing and bedding should be washed in hot water. Other methods of preventing infection include regularly washing hands and scrubbing finger nails. A shower with a good bum wash is also a good idea, especially in the morning.
Kids in school get pinworms easily because they spend a lot of time with other kids, who may have pinworms. They might touch something with pinworm eggs on it when they're playing with other kids and eat the eggs without even knowing it.
Different people, different worm burdens
This recurrence of similar worm burden is called predisposition. It is often described as the 20/80 rule, where 20% of the population has 80% of the worm burden. Heavy worm burden is associated with more severe symptoms, making aggregation an important phenomenon to study.
You can get infected by: touching objects or surfaces with worm eggs on them if someone with worms doesn't wash their hands. touching soil or swallowing water or food with worm eggs in it – mainly a risk in parts of the world without modern toilets or sewage systems.
Eggs can pass to other people when they touch these surfaces and then touch their mouth. They take around 2 weeks to hatch. Children can get threadworms again after they've been treated for them if they get the eggs in their mouth. This is why it's important to encourage children to wash their hands regularly.
Your children may come into contact with eggs in schools or nurseries, particularly in the toilets if they are not cleaned properly. This is why your child may have recurring threadworms, even if your home and personal hygiene are of a very high standard.
How Are Pinworm Infections Treated? If your child has a pinworm infection, the doctor will recommend an over-the-counter or prescription antiworm medicine. This is given in one dose, then repeated in 2 weeks. The doctor may decide to treat the entire family, especially if your child has had a pinworm infection before.
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.
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.
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.
Although often asymptomatic, parasitic infections can lead to disruptions in mood, behavior and sleep – particularly in children with worms.
A single dose treatment is usually effective and is given to the infected person and all family members at the same time. You can buy worm treatment from pharmacies, without a prescription. Children do not need treatment regularly, just in case they have worms.
Complications. Typical pinworm infections don't cause serious problems. In rare circumstances, heavy infestations can cause infection of female genitals. The parasite can travel from the anal area up the vagina to the uterus, fallopian tubes and around the pelvic organs.
Treatments for worms in kids
Your GP will probably tell you to give your child a dose of antiparasitic tablets, which you can get over the counter from a pharmacy. Your child usually needs to repeat the dose after 2 weeks to make sure all the worms are gone.
Although anyone can become infected with pinworms, it's most common in children younger than 10 years old. Kids that age often have their fingers in their mouths, and they aren't always great about washing their hands.
Threadworm treatment is fairly straightforward. Your doctor will usually prescribe a medication called mebendazole - available in liquid or tablet form - and a single dose should clear the problem.
Reinfection does happen with pinworm
Eggs are swallowed, usually after hand-to-mouth contact, and the pinworm infection begins again. Pinworm eggs may spread to shared surfaces, such as bedding, curtains, toilets, doorknobs, towels, utensils, and furniture. These areas should be kept clean to avoid reinfection.
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.
You'll likely need to give your doctor a stool sample for a few months to make sure all the worms are gone. It's harder to treat an infection caused by tapeworm cysts. In addition to the medicine that kills the tapeworm, you may need medicine to reduce inflammation or other symptoms, like seizures, that you're having.
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.
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.
poor hand hygiene – handling contaminated soil/surfaces or faeces may transfer worm eggs from the environment into the mouth if good hand hygiene is not observed. walking barefoot on, or handling contaminated soil/sand - larvae present in soil/sand can penetrate skin and result in infection.