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Oatmeal is one of the most common parasitic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. It only occurs in humans. It is caused by pinworms – about 1 cm long nematodes. It mainly affects young children, whose hygienic behavior is not yet a habit, and members of their families. Oatmeal is very easy and quick to transfer.
- Oat is a disease not only caught by children. An adult can get it by eating contaminated food or using items with pinworm eggs on it
- When the pinworm eggs enter the gastrointestinal tract, the larvae hatch and travel deeper into the large intestine. They mature there for about 3 months
- If a child is ill, treatment should extend to the whole family. The medications should be restarted 2-3 weeks after the first dose
– Oatmeal is often associated with a lack of hygiene, but this is due to the fact that young children do not yet have established hygiene habits. In addition, many parents are still ashamed to report this disease in the immediate vicinity of an infected child. As a result, pinworms can be chronic. In addition, there is a lot of false information on this subject – emphasizes Dr. Jolanta Popielska, pediatrician, infectious diseases specialist, expert of the bezowsików.pl campaign.
We contract the disease primarily through 3/7 close contact between household members or people who are constantly in a “closed” environment, eg in orphanages, boarding schools. Infection can occur by eating contaminated food, putting fingers or objects with pinworm eggs in the mouth. Dirty hands, everyday items such as toys, towels, bedding, cutlery – there can be outbreaks of disease everywhere. The pinworm disease affects, above all, preschool and early school children (XNUMX-XNUMX years), to whom the admonitions: Do not put your fingers in your mouth! Wash your hands! – although often repeated, they are not always effective. For this reason, pinworm spreads quickly among people in the immediate vicinity of the patient – for example, among household members or peers with whom he has contact. However, you can get infected not only at home, but also in public spaces: in kindergarten, at school.
– Oatmeal is often associated with a lack of hygiene, but this is due to the fact that young children do not yet have established hygiene habits. In addition, many parents are still ashamed to report this disease in the immediate vicinity of an infected child. As a result, pinworms can be chronic. In addition, there is a lot of false information on this subject – emphasizes the specialist.
This is what you need to know
If a child is attending kindergarten, the institution must be notified. Then the management should inform all parents and educators about the case of pinworms among the charges and intensify hygiene procedures in the kindergarten. Unfortunately, many parents still find this topic embarrassing and do not talk about it in their immediate surroundings. And for the treatment to be successful, it is also necessary to eliminate the sources of secondary infection.
– When the invasive pinworm eggs enter the digestive tract, the larvae hatch and travel deep into the large intestine. They mature there for about 3 months. Then the fertilized females move towards the anus, leave the body (usually at night) and lay around 10-12 thousand eggs covered with sticky discharge around the anus. The skin in this area then begins to itch, the child may be restless during sleep, scratching, and accumulates eggs under the nails. It is enough for a toddler to put in his mouth not thoroughly washed hands and the infection becomes re-infected. Eggs also fall on the sheet, the inside of the clothes. When the mucus dries, it rises with the dust and can be inhaled with air or settle on nearby objects. Outside the human body, pinworm eggs can survive up to 20 days, retaining the ability to be infected for up to 3 weeks – explains Dr. Jolanta Popielska.
How to get rid of uninvited guests?
The treatment cycle should begin with taking the drug (for small patients, e.g. in the form of a suspension). All household members should undergo pharmacological treatment. A visit to the doctor is advisable to confirm the diagnosis. For the treatment to be effective, the treatment should be repeated after two or three weeks. Because the drugs work on adults and not on their eggs, re-taking the drug increases the chance of poisoning those parasites that hatch from eggs after the first dose of the drug. All residents of the house must undergo pharmacological treatment.
It is mainly small children that fall into the disease, but of course the whole family can “take over” the disease – both parents, siblings (younger and older), and pregnant women.
The youngest
Unfortunately, newborns / infants can also become infected with pinworms. Oatmeal is very easy and quick to transfer. It mainly affects young children, whose hygienic behavior is not yet a habit, and members of their families. You can get infected with it, especially with XNUMX/XNUMX close contact between household members. As in any case of neonatal health, you should visit your pediatrician, make a thorough diagnosis and decide what to do next. None of the antiparasitic drugs are approved for use in the neonate.
Pregnant
There is no clear answer to the question of whether a pregnant woman with confirmed pinworm should be treated causally. This is a therapeutic problem and the approach to it should be individual. None of the drugs are approved for use during pregnancy. There are insufficient data (controlled studies) on the safety of use of drugs against pinworm in pregnant women. Animal studies have shown no harmful effects to the fetus with medicines containing pyrantel. However, due to the lack of controlled clinical trials on the use of pyrantel pamoate in pregnant women, this medicinal product is not recommended, unless the expected benefit to the mother outweighs the risk to the fetus. The decision on treatment should therefore be made after careful consideration of the situation, an attempt to determine the massiveness of the infection in the pregnant woman, and the complaints she reports.
Check what drugs are in the composition of pyrantel
The decision must always be shared – between the doctor and the pregnant woman. The woman must give her written consent to the treatment. Particular attention should be paid to scrupulous observance of the principles of non-pharmacological treatment, which include thorough daily cleaning of the apartment, frequent change of linen, washing and ironing clothes and bedding, and airing the rooms. The pregnant mother of a baby with pinworm should wash her hands frequently and not sleep in the same bed with an infected baby. She should also take care of the daily bowel movements (e.g. pumpkin seeds stimulating the peristalsis of the gastrointestinal tract) and a proper diet with high fiber and protein content and limited carbohydrates.
Does preventive deworming make sense? – Antiparasitic drugs work against existing parasites (e.g. pinworms), so take them in two doses. The second after 2-3 weeks. It is necessary to treat the whole family to avoid cross-contamination, but blind treatment does not make sense. The prevailing fashion for independent and preventive deworming brings more harm than good – explains Dr. Jolanta Popielska.
A problem for every kindergarten.
Parents of children diagnosed with pinworm often conceal the problem from the kindergarten their child attends. Unfortunately, such a procedure leads to the snowball effect, namely: a child with pinworm infects other children with invasive eggs and the disease is unnecessarily moving in larger and larger circles. The shame of parents in front of social evaluation is so great that they are ready to put other children at risk. Oatmeal is a problem faced by practically every kindergarten. – The most important thing in the diagnosis of pinworms is to keep a close eye on the baby. The main symptom of infection, i.e. itching around the anus, is so characteristic that it should not be overlooked by the caregiver. If we notice this behavior in a child, in the morning, before the toddler uses the toilet, carefully inspect the area around the anus. Pinworms are centimeter white nematodes that can be observed with the naked eye. You should then start treating the child and the whole family as soon as possible, because the disease spreads quite quickly – emphasizes Dr. Popielska.
So if you or someone close to you has itching around the anus, which is especially aggravating in the evening in the warmth of the bed, you feel constantly tired or weak, you have excessive anxiety or trouble concentrating, you have frequent nausea or abdominal pain, you have trouble sleeping or falling asleep, you have noticed grinding of teeth at night, you can observe the presence of pinworms in the stool (whitish nematodes with a length of about 3mm to 1cm) be alert! This is OWSICA – observe the coordinators of the nationwide educational campaign bezowsikow.pl