What are pinworms and how do they cause infections. How can you recognize the symptoms of a pinworm infection. What are the most effective prevention and treatment methods for pinworm infections. How do pinworms spread and who is most at risk. What complications can arise from severe pinworm infestations. How can you protect your family from pinworm infections.

What Are Pinworms and How Do They Infect Humans?

Pinworms, scientifically known as Enterobius vermicularis, are small, thread-like parasitic worms that commonly infect the human intestinal tract. These tiny creatures measure about 1/4 to 1/2 inch (6 to 13 millimeters) in length and are characterized by their thin, white appearance. Pinworm infections are remarkably prevalent, ranking as the most common type of intestinal worm infection in the United States and one of the most widespread globally.

How do pinworms enter the human body? The infection cycle typically begins when a person accidentally ingests or inhales pinworm eggs. These microscopic eggs can be present on contaminated surfaces, food, or drinks. Once inside the body, the eggs hatch in the intestines and mature into adult worms within a few weeks. The female pinworms then migrate to the anal area to lay their eggs, perpetuating the cycle of infection.

Recognizing the Symptoms of Pinworm Infection

While many individuals with pinworm infections may not experience any noticeable symptoms, others can develop several telltale signs. The most common and characteristic symptom is anal itching, particularly intense during nighttime hours. This occurs because female pinworms typically lay their eggs in the folds of skin surrounding the anus while the infected person sleeps.

Other symptoms of pinworm infection may include:

• Insomnia and restlessness
• Irritability
• Teeth grinding
• Occasional stomach pain
• Nausea
• Itching of the vaginal area (in females)

Is severe anal itching always indicative of a pinworm infection? While it can be a strong indicator, it’s essential to consult a healthcare professional for an accurate diagnosis, especially if the itching is persistent and primarily occurs at night.

The Lifecycle and Transmission of Pinworms

Understanding the lifecycle of pinworms is crucial in comprehending how these parasites spread and persist in human populations. The pinworm lifecycle involves several stages:

1. Egg ingestion or inhalation
2. Hatching in the intestines
3. Maturation into adult worms
4. Migration of female worms to the anal area
5. Egg-laying and subsequent spread

How long can pinworm eggs survive outside the human body? Remarkably, these resilient eggs can remain viable on surfaces for two to three weeks, contributing to their ease of transmission. This prolonged survival time allows for multiple opportunities for new infections or reinfections to occur.

Common Transmission Routes

Pinworm eggs are primarily spread through the following routes:

• Direct contact with contaminated surfaces
• Ingestion of contaminated food or drinks
• Touching the mouth with fingers that have come into contact with eggs
• Inhaling airborne eggs in dust particles

The microscopic nature of these eggs makes them easily transferable, often unnoticed, from person to person or from contaminated environments to potential hosts.

Who Is Most at Risk for Pinworm Infections?

While pinworm infections can affect individuals of all ages, certain groups are more susceptible to these parasitic invaders. Understanding who is at higher risk can help in implementing targeted prevention strategies.

Age-Related Risk Factors

Children between the ages of 5 and 10 are particularly vulnerable to pinworm infections. Why are school-age children more likely to contract pinworms? This increased risk is primarily due to their frequent close contact with peers in school or daycare settings, coupled with less developed hygiene practices. The ease with which pinworm eggs can spread in these environments contributes to their prevalence among this age group.

Interestingly, pinworm infections are uncommon in children younger than 2 years old. This lower incidence in very young children may be attributed to limited contact with contaminated surfaces and more supervised hygiene practices.

Environmental Risk Factors

Living conditions can also influence the likelihood of pinworm infections. Individuals residing in crowded spaces, such as institutions or densely populated areas, face a higher risk of developing these infections. The close proximity of people in these settings facilitates the easy transmission of pinworm eggs from person to person.

Potential Complications of Severe Pinworm Infestations

While typical pinworm infections are generally harmless and easily treatable, heavy infestations can occasionally lead to more serious complications. It’s important to be aware of these potential issues, especially in cases of prolonged or untreated infections.

Genital Infections in Females

In rare cases, severe pinworm infestations can cause infections of the female genital tract. How does this occur? The parasites can migrate from the anal area up the vagina, potentially reaching the uterus, fallopian tubes, and surrounding pelvic organs. This migration can result in conditions such as:

• Vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina)
• Endometritis (inflammation of the inner lining of the uterus)

Other Rare Complications

Although uncommon, other potential complications of severe or chronic pinworm infections may include:

• Urinary tract infections
• Weight loss
• Infection of the peritoneal cavity (part of the abdomen)

These complications underscore the importance of prompt treatment and proper hygiene practices to prevent heavy infestations from developing.

Effective Prevention Strategies for Pinworm Infections

Preventing pinworm infections requires a multi-faceted approach that combines personal hygiene practices with environmental cleaning. By implementing these strategies, you can significantly reduce the risk of infection or reinfection.

Personal Hygiene Measures

• Morning washing: Since pinworms lay their eggs at night, washing the anal area thoroughly in the morning can help reduce the number of eggs on the body. Showering is preferable to bathing to avoid potential recontamination in bathwater.
• Hand hygiene: Frequent and thorough handwashing, especially after using the toilet, changing diapers, and before eating, is crucial in preventing the spread of pinworm eggs.
• Nail care: Keeping fingernails short and discouraging nail-biting can reduce the space where eggs can collect and minimize the risk of accidental ingestion.
• Avoid scratching: Resisting the urge to scratch the anal area can prevent the spread of eggs to fingers and under nails.

Environmental Cleaning

• Daily changing of underwear and bedding: This practice helps remove eggs that may have been deposited during the night.
• Hot water laundry: Wash bedsheets, pajamas, underwear, washcloths, and towels in hot water to kill pinworm eggs. Use high heat for drying as well.
• Regular cleaning of surfaces: Pay special attention to toys, faucets, toilet seats, and other frequently touched surfaces.

How often should you clean to effectively prevent pinworm infections? While daily cleaning is ideal, focusing on thorough cleaning at least twice a week can significantly reduce the risk of egg survival and transmission.

Treatment Options for Pinworm Infections

When prevention measures fail and a pinworm infection occurs, prompt and effective treatment is essential. The good news is that pinworm infections are generally easy to treat with the right approach.

Medication

The primary treatment for pinworm infections involves oral medications that effectively kill the parasites. These antiparasitic drugs are typically prescribed by a healthcare provider and may include:

• Mebendazole
• Albendazole
• Pyrantel pamoate (available over-the-counter in some countries)

How many doses of medication are typically required to treat a pinworm infection? Most treatments involve taking a single dose of medication, followed by a second dose two weeks later. This two-dose regimen helps ensure that any newly hatched worms are also eliminated.

Treating the Entire Household

For the most effective results, it’s often recommended that all members of the household be treated simultaneously, even if they don’t show symptoms. Why is treating the whole family important? This approach helps prevent reinfection from asymptomatic carriers and breaks the cycle of transmission within the household.

Combining Medication with Hygiene Practices

To maximize the effectiveness of treatment, it’s crucial to combine medication with stringent hygiene practices. This includes:

• Thorough hand washing
• Regular cleaning of living spaces
• Washing bedding and clothing in hot water
• Avoiding scratching the anal area

By following these comprehensive treatment and prevention strategies, most pinworm infections can be successfully eliminated, and the risk of reinfection can be significantly reduced.

Understanding the Impact of Pinworm Infections on Daily Life

While pinworm infections are generally not serious, they can have a noticeable impact on the quality of life for those affected. The discomfort and disruption caused by symptoms can influence various aspects of daily living.

Sleep Disturbances

One of the most significant impacts of pinworm infections is on sleep quality. The intense itching, particularly at night when female worms are most active, can lead to:

• Difficulty falling asleep
• Frequent night-time awakenings
• Restless sleep
• Daytime fatigue due to poor sleep quality

How does lack of sleep from pinworm infections affect daily functioning? Chronic sleep disturbances can lead to irritability, decreased concentration, and reduced performance in school or work.

Psychological Impact

The knowledge of having a parasitic infection, coupled with the discomfort of symptoms, can have psychological effects on infected individuals, particularly children. These may include:

• Embarrassment or shame
• Anxiety about spreading the infection to others
• Frustration with recurring infections
• Stress related to treatment and prevention measures

Social Considerations

Pinworm infections can also have social implications, especially in school or daycare settings. Parents and caregivers may need to navigate:

• Informing school or daycare staff about the infection
• Temporary exclusion from group activities during treatment
• Educating other parents to prevent stigma and misinformation

Understanding these impacts underscores the importance of prompt treatment and effective prevention strategies to minimize the disruption to daily life caused by pinworm infections.

Debunking Common Myths About Pinworm Infections

Misinformation about pinworm infections can lead to unnecessary anxiety and ineffective prevention methods. Let’s address some common misconceptions to provide a clearer understanding of these parasitic infections.

Myth: Pinworms are a sign of poor hygiene

While good hygiene practices are crucial in preventing pinworm infections, these parasites can affect anyone, regardless of their cleanliness. Pinworms are highly contagious and can spread easily in environments where children gather, such as schools and daycare centers. Even individuals with excellent hygiene can contract pinworms if they come into contact with eggs in their environment.

Myth: Only children get pinworm infections

Although pinworm infections are most common in school-age children, they can affect people of all ages. Adults, particularly parents of infected children or caregivers in institutional settings, can also contract pinworms. The misconception that only children get pinworms may lead adults to overlook their own symptoms or neglect preventive measures.

Myth: Pinworms can be seen crawling on the skin

Pinworms are typically too small to be seen crawling on the skin with the naked eye. The itching sensation often associated with pinworm infections is caused by the female worms laying eggs around the anus, not by worms moving on the skin’s surface. Visible worms in stool or around the anal area are possible but uncommon.

Myth: Pets can transmit pinworms to humans

Pinworms are species-specific parasites that infect humans. They do not infect pets like dogs or cats, and these animals cannot transmit pinworms to humans. Other types of intestinal parasites can be transmitted between pets and humans, but pinworms are not among them.

By dispelling these myths, we can focus on effective prevention and treatment strategies based on accurate information about pinworm infections.

Pinworm infection – Symptoms & causes

Overview

Pinworm infection is the most common type of intestinal worm infection in the United States and one of the most common worldwide. Pinworms are thin and white, measuring about 1/4 to 1/2 inch (about 6 to 13 millimeters) in length.

Pinworm

An adult pinworm generally is 1/4 to 1/2 inch (about 6 to 13 millimeters) in length. The most common symptom of infection is anal itching, particularly at night, as worms migrate to the host’s anal area to lay their eggs.

While the infected person sleeps, female pinworms lay thousands of eggs in the folds of skin surrounding the anus. Most people infected with pinworms have no symptoms, but some people experience anal itching and restless sleep.

Pinworm infection occurs most often in school-age children, and the tiny (microscopic) eggs are easily spread from child to child. Treatment involves oral drugs that kill the pinworms and thorough washing of pajamas, bedding and underwear. For best results, the entire family should be treated.

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Symptoms

Symptoms of pinworm infection may include:

• Itching of the anal or vaginal area
• Insomnia, irritability, teeth grinding and restlessness
• Occasional stomach pain and nausea

Pinworms often cause no symptoms.

When to see a doctor

Consult your doctor if you have severe anal itching, especially at night.

Causes

Accidentally swallowing or breathing in pinworm eggs causes a pinworm infection. 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. When you scratch the itchy area, the eggs cling to your fingers and get under your fingernails. The eggs then get transferred to other surfaces, such as toys, bedding or toilet seats. The eggs can also be transferred from contaminated fingers to food, liquids, clothes or other people.

Pinworm eggs can survive for two to three weeks on surfaces.

Risk factors

Risk factors for pinworm infection include:

• Being young. Pinworm infections are most likely to occur in children ages 5 to 10. The tiny (microscopic) eggs are easily spread to family members, caregivers, or other children at school or child care centers. Pinworm infections are uncommon in children younger than age 2.
• Living in crowded spaces. People who live in institutions are at higher risk of developing pinworm infections.

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. This can cause problems such as inflammation of the vagina (vaginitis) and inflammation of the inner lining of the uterus (endometritis).

Although rare, other complications of a pinworm infection may include:

• Urinary tract infections
• Weight loss
• Infection of part of the abdomen (peritoneal cavity)

Prevention

Pinworm eggs can cling to surfaces, including toys, faucets, bedding and toilet seats, for two weeks. So besides regular cleaning of surfaces, methods to help prevent the spread of pinworm eggs or to prevent reinfection include:

• Wash in the morning. Because pinworms lay their eggs at night, washing the anal area in the morning can help reduce the number of pinworm eggs on your body. Showering may help avoid possible re-contamination in bath water.
• Change underwear and bedding daily. This helps remove eggs.
• 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. Avoid scratching the anal area. Trim your child’s fingernails so there’s less space for eggs to collect. Suggest that your child avoid biting his or her nails.
• Wash your hands. To reduce your risk of getting or spreading an infection, wash your hands well after using the toilet or changing a diaper and before eating.

Pinworm infection – Symptoms & causes

Overview

Pinworm infection is the most common type of intestinal worm infection in the United States and one of the most common worldwide. Pinworms are thin and white, measuring about 1/4 to 1/2 inch (about 6 to 13 millimeters) in length.

Pinworm

An adult pinworm generally is 1/4 to 1/2 inch (about 6 to 13 millimeters) in length. The most common symptom of infection is anal itching, particularly at night, as worms migrate to the host’s anal area to lay their eggs.

While the infected person sleeps, female pinworms lay thousands of eggs in the folds of skin surrounding the anus. Most people infected with pinworms have no symptoms, but some people experience anal itching and restless sleep.

Pinworm infection occurs most often in school-age children, and the tiny (microscopic) eggs are easily spread from child to child. Treatment involves oral drugs that kill the pinworms and thorough washing of pajamas, bedding and underwear. For best results, the entire family should be treated.

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Symptoms

Symptoms of pinworm infection may include:

• Itching of the anal or vaginal area
• Insomnia, irritability, teeth grinding and restlessness
• Occasional stomach pain and nausea

Pinworms often cause no symptoms.

When to see a doctor

Consult your doctor if you have severe anal itching, especially at night.

Causes

Accidentally swallowing or breathing in pinworm eggs causes a pinworm infection. 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. When you scratch the itchy area, the eggs cling to your fingers and get under your fingernails. The eggs then get transferred to other surfaces, such as toys, bedding or toilet seats. The eggs can also be transferred from contaminated fingers to food, liquids, clothes or other people.

Pinworm eggs can survive for two to three weeks on surfaces.

Risk factors

Risk factors for pinworm infection include:

• Being young. Pinworm infections are most likely to occur in children ages 5 to 10. The tiny (microscopic) eggs are easily spread to family members, caregivers, or other children at school or child care centers. Pinworm infections are uncommon in children younger than age 2.
• Living in crowded spaces. People who live in institutions are at higher risk of developing pinworm infections.

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. This can cause problems such as inflammation of the vagina (vaginitis) and inflammation of the inner lining of the uterus (endometritis).

Although rare, other complications of a pinworm infection may include:

• Urinary tract infections
• Weight loss
• Infection of part of the abdomen (peritoneal cavity)

Prevention

Pinworm eggs can cling to surfaces, including toys, faucets, bedding and toilet seats, for two weeks. So besides regular cleaning of surfaces, methods to help prevent the spread of pinworm eggs or to prevent reinfection include:

• Wash in the morning. Because pinworms lay their eggs at night, washing the anal area in the morning can help reduce the number of pinworm eggs on your body. Showering may help avoid possible re-contamination in bath water.
• Change underwear and bedding daily. This helps remove eggs.
• 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. Avoid scratching the anal area. Trim your child’s fingernails so there’s less space for eggs to collect. Suggest that your child avoid biting his or her nails.
• Wash your hands. To reduce your risk of getting or spreading an infection, wash your hands well after using the toilet or changing a diaper and before eating.

Enterobiasis – pinworm invasion. Causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of enterobiosis

Author

Vanyukova Irina Alexandrovna

Leading physician

Pediatrician, pediatric gastroenterologist, doctor of the highest category

Pediatrician

9 0002 Creation date: 2016. 03.29

Pinworms

Enterobiasis is a parasitic disease, one of the most common helminthiases. Enterobiasis is caused by pinworms. In Latin pinworms are called Enterobius vermicularis, hence the name of the disease.

Pinworms are small round worms of a grayish-white color. The length of male pinworms is up to 5 mm, females – up to 13 mm. The living environment of pinworms is the human intestine (caecum, lower small intestine, large intestine). Pinworm eggs enter the human body by the oral route (through the mouth). In the intestines, larvae emerge from the eggs, which turn into sexually mature individuals. This process takes 2 to 4 weeks. The fertilized female crawls out of the anus and lays eggs around it. Eggs require a temperature of 34-36 °C and high humidity for maturation. The skin folds in the perianal region ideally provide these conditions. The exit of female pinworms most often occurs at night, when the muscles of the anal sphincter are relaxed. After that, the life cycle of the pinworm is completed. Thus, pinworms live no longer than a month.

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Causes of enterobiasis

How pinworm infection occurs

Enterobiasis can only be contracted from a person who is a carrier of pinworms. Pinworms do not live in the body of animals, and enterobiasis cannot be infected from animals.

Self-infection is common. The female pinworm lays up to 13,000 eggs, sealing them with an acid that causes intense itching. A person wants to scratch, and when he does this, the eggs fall under the nails, on the fingers, and from them – on the bed and underwear, household items. During life in a team, the spread of enterobiasis is very likely. If someone in the family becomes infected with pinworms, after some time enterobiasis can affect all family members.

Enterobiasis is a predominantly childhood disease

Most often, enterobiasis is detected in children aged 4 to 9 years. This is
due to the fact that children at this age already take care of their own
hygiene, but have not yet fully mastered all the necessary skills.

Enterobiasis symptoms

The main symptom of enterobiasis is severe itching in the anus. Itching usually begins 12-14 days after infection, when the first female pinworms crawl out to lay eggs. Enterobiasis is characterized by itching (or intensification of itching) at night.

Intensive scratching can lead to dermatitis, the addition of a secondary infection.

At the same time, very often the child suffers from enterobiasis unnoticed by the parents. If there are no other symptoms besides itching, the child may scratch, not considering this a problem and not complaining about anything. Therefore, enterobiasis is often detected only during preventive examinations of children.

Other symptoms of enterobiasis:

Abdominal pain

If there are many parasites in the intestines, abdominal pain and flatulence may occur.

Stool disorder

The presence of pinworms in the intestine leads to disruption of its work, dysbacteriosis develops, stool disorder is observed (alternating diarrhea and constipation).

Allergic manifestations

Pinworms release toxins that poison the body and cause a response in the form of allergic manifestations. With enterobiasis (especially in children), headache, dizziness, increased fatigue, and decreased performance are possible. Children can become capricious, excitable; such children are difficult to put to sleep, their sleep is easily interrupted. In a dream, they can scream, cry, grind their teeth.

Disease of the genitourinary system in women

In women, pinworms, migrating, can leave the anus and enter the vagina. At the same time, intestinal microflora (in particular, E. coli) can be introduced into the genital tract, which can lead to the development of inflammation – colpitis, urethritis.

Diagnostic methods for enterobiasis

Diagnosis of enterobiasis is made on the basis of the results of laboratory tests. Analysis of feces for eggs of helminth pinworms, as a rule, does not detect. This is due to the fact that pinworm eggs do not enter the feces. To detect pinworm lesions, scraping from the folds of the skin around the anus (scraping for enterobiasis) is used.

Scraping for enterobiasis

Scraping for enterobiasis in a child can be done in the treatment room of any of the clinics of the Family Doctor. The procedure is carried out quickly and does not cause any discomfort in children.

Biological material is transferred to the Family Doctor’s own laboratory for microscopic examination.

To accurately diagnose the disease, make an appointment with the specialists of the Family Doctor network.

Enterobiasis treatments

Enterobiosis

Treatment of enterobiasis is carried out by pediatricians, and in adult patients – by gastroenterologists.

For the success of treatment, it is important that all family members are treated at the same time. Careful observance of personal hygiene is also necessary. When treating children, parents should pay special attention to the hygiene of the child.

Anthelmintic drugs

Anthelmintic drugs are used in the treatment of enterobiasis.

Do not self-medicate. Contact our specialists who will correctly diagnose and prescribe treatment.

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11/10/2022

Worms are worms that lead a parasitic way of life in the body of their host – a man. Age doesn’t matter. Both adults and children are equally susceptible to infection. The classification of helminthiases is very extensive, especially in countries with a hot climate.

There are 3 classes of parasitic worms:

• round (nematodes) – pinworms, roundworms;
• tape (cestodes) – pork tapeworm, bovine tapeworm, echinococcus;
• flatworms, flukes (trematodes).

The most common worms in children are pinworms that cause enterobiasis . These are helminths of small size, on average up to 1 cm, white-gray in color with a curved body. The place of localization of these parasites is the large intestine, but they can also penetrate into the lower sections of the small intestine. Reproduction of pinworms occurs on the skin near the anus. At night, female pinworms get out to debug eggs in the folds of the skin, often penetrating the labia in girls, which ends with infectious diseases of the genitals. In total, these helminths live for about 1-1.5 months. The process of self-infection in a child can lead to the fact that the malaise will continue for many years. Parasites can be detected with the naked eye in the stool.

Another type of worm most commonly found in children is Ascaris . Characteristic species, reaching a length of 15 cm, these nematodes settle in the lumen of the loops of the small intestine, advancing towards the moving food bolus. In the feces, roundworms are very rare. Females periodically release eggs, which can be found in the analysis of feces. But if they were not found during the study, this does not mean that the child is not infected. The life cycle of roundworm can last several years.

Causes

The child’s curiosity is realized by his fingers, the child, learning the world, actively touches everything that comes to his hand and immediately puts it into his mouth, testing for strength and taste. Thus, pinworm eggs safely enter the digestive tract of their future little host.

A child becomes infected with helminth eggs from the surface of unwashed fruits when drinking contaminated water. Very often, infection occurs when communicating with animals, or when playing in the ground, a sandbox, where cats and dogs like to solve their physiological problems. After a walk, children often do not wash their hands, and all the dirt, along with parasitic eggs, gets into their mouths.

Symptoms of worms

How can you tell if a child has worms? If the child was infected with a large number of eggs of parasitic worms, then after a few days a sharp deterioration in the condition may occur. In milder cases, the first symptoms of invasion appear after a few weeks or even months. Much depends on immunity. It can quite cope with parasites and restrain their development. But gradually the defenses are reduced, and the helminths infect the body, causing serious problems.

The first signs of worms are symptoms of poisoning (intoxication). The vital activity of worms is accompanied by the release of a large number of animal toxins that can poison the child’s body. In the intestines, parasitic worms use nutrients, as a result of which the baby gradually becomes deficient in proteins, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins.

The child develops:

• emaciation,
• pale skin,
• weakness, frequent dizziness,
• rise in body temperature, headache,
• bad dream,
• tearfulness,
• depressed mood.

Manifested intestinal ailments – constipation, loose stools, rumbling and pain in the abdomen, bouts of nausea and vomiting, pain in different parts of the abdomen, bloating. The disease may be accompanied by allergic conditions: itching, rashes, cough, inflammation of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. Weakened immunity leads to the addition of infectious diseases.

Diagnosis and treatment of helminthiasis

Diagnosis of helminthiasis by feces is quite difficult. This is due to the fact that ascaris or pinworm eggs do not appear in the feces every day, and the technique of microscopy of smears from the analysis requires great care. To increase reliability, it is desirable to take a stool test for worm eggs for at least 3 days in a row.

In cases of increased risk of infection with worms (contact with animals, the child’s play on the ground or in open sandboxes, the child’s habit of taking things in his mouth, biting his nails or licking his fingers, etc. ), it is advisable to undergo an in-depth examination, which includes, in addition to a threefold analysis of feces special blood tests that detect antibodies to helminths.

In the presence of allergic manifestations of unknown origin, an increase in the number of eosinophils in the blood test, persistent intestinal dysbacteriosis, it is advisable to donate blood for the determination of class E immunoglobulins (Ig E and G) to ascaris and other helminths. You can check for worms in pets.

Based on the totality of indirect signs and history, the physician may recommend antihelminthic therapy without direct evidence of the presence of worms in the child, if other pathologies that cause similar clinical manifestations are excluded.
If worms are found in a child or in one of the family members, it is necessary, if possible, to treat all family members in order to avoid the formation of a focus of infection of each other with helminth eggs. In this situation, in addition, it is necessary to strengthen hygiene measures, in particular, boil and iron bed and personal linen on both sides.