Pinworms in children – symptoms, treatment

Contents

Pinworms – definition
Pinworm, pinworm, show the horns
Pinworms – symptoms
Pinworms – recognition
Pinworms – treatment
Owsiki a diet
Worsening of symptoms

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Proven content

Pinworms are parasites that develop exclusively in humans, especially in children. Today, almost every active and energetic child is said to have ADHD. The old school version of this epithet was to accuse kids who couldn’t sit still in one place of pinworm.

Pinworms – definition

Pinworms are worms that live in the human body at the expense of the large intestine. They are most common in children. These worms are a few millimeters long and latch on to the intestinal walls. They come out of the anus (mostly at night), making the baby squirm, feel itchy and sometimes cry. Pinworms can be infected orally and can enter the body by ingesting or inhaling eggs. Pinworms mature in 2-4 weeks and live up to 2 months. Oatosis is a very widespread disease, it is estimated that over a billion cases are diagnosed annually, in children aged 5-6 years. Staying in kindergartens, nurseries, schools or orphanages is conducive to the development of the disease.

Pinworm, pinworm, show the horns

In terms of phraseology, pinworms are out of fashion, but as a medical problem they are still relevant. And they will probably be there for a long time, because it is easy to get infected with them, and in large groups of children, in nurseries and kindergartens, there is no shortage of opportunities.

Pinworm is a nematode parasite. It develops only in humans, and preferably in children, which is facilitated by the ignorance of hygiene, which is natural for children. Admonitions such as “Wash your hands” and “Don’t put your fingers in your mouth” run down over children like ducks, and the pinworm eagerly takes advantage of this. Because it is the fingers in the mouth that most easily carry the pinworm eggs into the digestive tract. The larvae hatch in the stomach, migrate to the area where the small intestine passes into the large intestine, and mature there. After the female is fertilized, the male pinworm dies, and the female moves towards the anus and out of the body, where, under the cover of night (important!), She lays thousands of eggs covered with sticky secretion. The sensitive skin of the perineum begins to itch, the child scratches, as a consequence the eggs collected under the fingernails travel to his mouth, fall on the sheets or the inside of the pajamas, and when the mucus dries up, they float in the air, settle on objects or are inhaled with air. This is enough to infect someone or yourself – again.

Pinworms – symptoms

Symptoms of pinworms, a disease caused by pinworms, are primarily itching around the anus. It intensifies in the evening and at night, i.e. when female wandering to their destination, i.e. the perineum area, where they lay their eggs, become active.

Other symptoms of the disease are: child’s irritability, difficulty concentrating, trouble sleeping, lack of appetite, nausea, weakness, dark circles under the eyes and sometimes skin rashes. Indeed, a distinctive symptom of pinworms, not only a paramedical myth, is teeth grinding. However, it is not a symptom characteristic only for worming. If we have cured pinworms and the child continues to grind his teeth at night, let us report it to our pediatrician – you may need help from another specialist.

Other symptoms of pinworms in children:

headaches,
stomach pain,
occasional bedwetting at night
possible appendicitis,
problems with defecation,
skin infection.

High intensity of pinworms in children can often lead to inhibition of physical and mental development. Girls, due to the disease, can suffer from additional vulvovaginitis, accompanied by unpleasant itching and burning. The infection with pinworm is very simple, it passes to the second child even in kindergarten, when at least one child has pinworm eggs on their hands or clothes. Children often put their hands in their mouths, and this is enough to get infected. You can see tiny white threads in your baby’s stool (these are female pinworms).

Use the Wormwood herb prophylactically and as an auxiliary in treatment, from which you can brew a tea for everyday use. To make it less bitter, you can sweeten it with a teaspoon of honey.

Pinworms – recognition

The presence of pinworms is confirmed in the laboratory by taking a stool sample or a swab around the anus with adhesive tape resembling tape. Bow. However, Jolanta Wacławek, pediatrician, allergist and immunologist from the Department of Clinical Immunology of the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw, says:

– In practice, the laboratory stage can be skipped, as there is no guarantee that a stool test for parasites will reveal their presence. They may simply not be in the small sample given for testing.

Therefore, to be sure, the examination is repeated several times and only on this basis the presence or absence of pinworms is ascertained. It happens that the laboratory is not needed, because the parasites can be seen with the naked eye in the child’s stool or in the perineum and anus areas. It may also happen that the pinworm test will show nothing and the parasites are still present.

Cellophane tape test: the sticky side of the cellophane tape is placed in the area of the anus to stick the eggs to it. This test is done in the morning before bathing and using the toilet. The test is negative when 3 to 4 negative results are obtained consecutively.

You can buy a post-office test for pinworm from a perianal swab at Medonet Market at an attractive price.

Pinworms – treatment

Treatment is not troublesome or complicated. Oral preparations are used, affecting the gastrointestinal tract, where pinworms live. However, for the treatment to be successful, it is necessary to eliminate the sources of secondary infection. The treated child must not be put to sleep in the same bedding that he slept in before he started taking medications. The eggs on the sheet will quickly penetrate back into the body.

Secondary infection occurs through auto-invasion, when the child transfers pinworm eggs from the anus to the mouth and the life cycle of the nematode begins in this way from the beginning, or through retroinvasion, when the eggs deposited around the anus spontaneously regress and return to the large intestine. The treatment is therefore not only about administering pharmaceuticals, but most of all about taking care of the hygiene of the child and all household members. It is especially important to wash your child’s linen, towels and bedding regularly at high temperatures – that is, cooking.

In the treatment of pinworms, pyrantel preparations are used, for example, Pyrantelum Polpharma and Pyrantelum Medana.

We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the products we recommend supporting the treatment of pinworms. We remind you to consult a doctor!

If you suspect pinworm in yourself or your child, do not delay the visit to the doctor. Now you can consult a specialist at any time of the day or night. Make an online consultation and you will receive an e-prescription in as little as 10 minutes.

CaliVita Paraprotex – a preparation supporting the fight against parasites – check the offer
Pyrantelum suspension against pinworms – check the offer

Owsiki a diet

In addition to pharmacological treatment of pinworms, it is also important to maintain a proper diet. Parents should limit their children’s consumption of sweets and replace them with a large amount of fiber in the form of, for example, dried plums or apples. A balanced diet helps to remove parasites and toxins from the body faster. Such a method will certainly not hurt, and may have a positive effect on the mucosa when taking preparations against pinworms (a side effect of drugs is the destruction of the mucosa in the digestive tract and its microflora).

If you want to conduct a comprehensive bowel diagnosis, you can choose to have a mail-order examination that will examine intestinal markers.

Surely your mothers and grandmothers know the famous sauerkraut juice, eating prunes, pickled cucumbers and pumpkin seeds. Taking these products improves the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract and effectively supports the treatment.

Worsening of symptoms

Treatment in combination with hygienic strictness should bring the expected results. However, if pinworm infection recurs frequently, it is important to consider the causes of this condition.

Jolanta Wacławek, pediatrician and immunologist, says:

– If the child is properly treated and the treatments are still ineffective and the pinworms recur, this may mean that either the source of the infection has not been eliminated, e.g. in a nursery or kindergarten, or that the child has an immune disorder. Then you need to apply further diagnostics and wider therapy than just the fight against parasites.

If pinworm is not treated, in most cases there is a risk of exacerbation of symptoms, which seriously impair the child’s quality of life and, consequently, may cause further illnesses caused by, for example, sleep, hunger or defecation disorders. In extreme cases, Jolanta Wacławek recalls, it happened that neglected children were diagnosed with clumps of parasites in the intestines during radiographs. They caused blockages in the digestive system. Fortunately, it is now a rarity.

It is also worth remembering that in people with a stronger immune system, pinworm infection may be asymptomatic. Nevertheless, it would be good to find a way to convince young children to wash their hands at least in critical situations (after leaving the toilet and before eating) and not to put their fingers in their mouths. But a horse with a row and an oat field (nomen omen) to whoever succeeds …

Author: Julia Wolin