Enterobiasis in adults

Pinworms are one of the most well-known parasitic worms found throughout the world. Most often they are faced by children, but adults also suffer from this disease.

What is enterobiasis

This disease has been known since the time of Hippocrates and Aristotle, it was described in the first treatises on medicine. Enterobiasis or pinworm infection is a parasitic infection. The disease is typical only for humans, animals do not suffer from infection with pinworms.

Pathology occurs due to neglect of hygiene rules, as a result of which eggs of parasitic pinworms (Enterobius vermicularis) enter the intestines. The parasite provokes digestive disorders, neurotic reactions and toxic-allergic manifestations.

Causes of enterobiasis in adults

Today, enterobiasis is one of the most common parasitic diseases in the world and in our country. Adults in countries with a temperate climate are most often ill, usually parents of children infected with pinworms, pregnant women or adolescents.

The causative agent of enterobiasis is a small parasitic worm that belongs to the class of roundworms. The adult parasite has a grey-white, spindle-shaped body with pointed tips.

Males live only in the intestinal lumen and are difficult to detect. Sexually mature females live in the lumen of the cecum, at night, when the anal sphincter is relaxed, they crawl out of the anus to lay eggs in the anal region. The sticky secretion secreted by their body provokes skin irritation and itching. In general, parasites live in the intestines for up to 30 days, dying after laying eggs.

Parasite eggs can only be seen under a microscope – they are asymmetrical and oblong, about 0,1 mm in size. Embryos in the eggs of pinworms in warm conditions develop into larvae for 4-5 hours, and if they fall under the nails or on the hands, and from there into the mouth, a new cycle of infection is possible. In the external environment, pinworm eggs survive for several months, on bedding up to 3 weeks. But they do not withstand boiling and ironing with a hot iron.

The source of infection is an infected person. Transmission is fecal-oral and household, dust contamination is rare. There are frequent cases of self-infection due to non-compliance with personal hygiene. People who bite their nails are especially affected, since it is there that pinworm eggs can accumulate.

Also, parasites can get from bed linen, toys and objects in the house. Family outbreaks of enterobiasis are not uncommon.

Symptoms of enterobiasis in adults

The incubation period for enterobiasis can last up to 3 to 6 weeks. This time is necessary for the worms to grow to sexually mature individuals, mate, the female takes out the eggs and starts laying them. The key symptoms of enterobiasis occur when females crawl out of the anus and irritate the skin of the perianal zone, causing skin itching, sleep disturbances, abdominal pain, and digestive disorders.

In adulthood, the pathology may be asymptomatic or has erased clinical symptoms. If the infection is massive, many individuals live in the intestine at once, itching of the skin in the anus and perineum, irritation of the skin of the genitals is possible.

Itching can make it difficult to sleep. Scratching can provoke skin problems – dermatitis, weeping, small rashes. If a bacterial infection joins, pustular rashes may occur. Allergy manifestations, poor appetite, stool disorders are also possible.

Treatment of enterobiasis in adults

Usually treatment is carried out in parallel with other family members, on the same day, to prevent episodes of re-infection. But first you need to accurately determine the type of parasites by performing a series of tests.

Diagnostics

Perianal scraping is one of the main methods for detecting enterobiasis. With adhesive tape attached to the perianal folds in the morning, parasite eggs can be detected before washing.

In addition, the presence of parasites on toilet paper or the surface of feces will confirm the diagnosis.

According to a clinical blood test, no special changes are detected; in persons prone to allergies, a slight increase in the level of eosinophils is possible.

Modern treatments

With strict adherence to hygiene measures that exclude re-infection, enterobiasis can go away on its own, as all individuals exit the intestine at the end of the life cycle. But often the disease is treated with medication to prevent possible complications. Usually therapy is prescribed to all family members.

For the treatment of enterobiasis in adults, antiparasitic drugs based on pyrantel, levamisole or mebendazole, albendazole are used in an age dosage, taking into account their effectiveness and individual patient tolerance. The drug is taken 1 time per day, repeated administration – after 2 weeks.

Any drugs should be used only as prescribed by a doctor and prescription. Self-medication is unacceptable.

Prevention of enterobiasis in adults at home

In parallel with treatment, it is important to carry out preventive measures to prevent re-infection:

• use tight underwear;
• wash clothes with boiling;
• iron the linen with a hot iron on both sides;
• cut nails;
• monitor the cleanliness of the perineum;
• at home to carry out wet cleaning with disinfection and ventilation.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about the problems of enterobiasis in adults with infectious disease doctor Tatyana Kovaleva.