Sometimes it happens that a child’s night sleep becomes very restless. Peacefully falling asleep in the evening, closer to midnight, the baby begins to fidget, spin, sometimes moan and scratch the ass. Closer to 2-3 o'clock in the morning, such phenomena subside, and the child sleeps peacefully until morning. Many inexperienced parents tend to associate this behavior with an excess of daytime impressions, excitability and characteristics of the nervous system, but in most cases the reason is much more prosaic - such symptoms may indicate that the child has enterobiosis (or, to put it simply, pinworms).
Pinworms in children are not uncommon. This is explained very simply - this type of parasite is very easily transmitted from person to person. Some mothers with dads, having learned that pinworms have been found in their baby, blame pets, as well as stray cats and dogs, which, unfortunately, often leave traces of their life on playgrounds. However, despite the fact that four-legged friends are really able to “reward” a person with many parasites, in the case of pinworms, they are absolutely not to blame - this type of helminth lives only in the human body.
What are pinworms? These are round helminths, the size of which is from 2-3 mm (male) to 10-11 mm (female), having an elongated shape with pointed ends (hence the name of this parasite). It is noteworthy that the female pinworm at one time lays a huge number (several thousand) of oblong-shaped eggs. Pathogens of enterobiosis in the small and large intestines.
Pinworms are most often found in children, although infection of adults is also not exceptional. Infection occurs as follows. The female of this helminth crawls out of the anus and lays eggs in folds around the anus, after which it dies. This whole process occurs mainly at night and is accompanied by severe itching in the anus, as a result of which the child (and the adult too) begins to itch, and the eggs fall under his nails. And then there are several possible scenarios. An infected person with pinworms can again swallow the eggs of the parasites, thereby re-infecting himself, and can pass them on (during the game, shaking hands, etc.) and infect someone else. In addition, pinworm eggs are easily shaken off bedding, pajamas and toys and literally “scattered” throughout the room. Therefore, doctors believe that in the house where pinworms were found in children, all family members should undergo antiparasitic treatment, otherwise it will not work out.
We can distinguish common signs of pinworms:
- night itching (which is most pronounced in the interval between 23-24 and 2-3 hours of the night);
- stomach ache;
- stool disorders (most often causeless diarrhea that occurs from time to time);
- in girls - inflammation of the genital organs (vulvitis, vulvovaginitis), provoked by creeping helminths.
In principle, pinworms in children most often do not cause serious complications (unlike many other helminths), but in no case should the situation be left to chance. Indeed, in any case, pinworms lead to intoxication of the body, and, in addition, in some cases they are able to provoke inflammation of the appendix (appendicitis). Pinworms are especially dangerous for girls, as they can cause various gynecological problems.
Of course, the question arises for parents about how to treat pinworms in a child. The most important thing you need to know is that you should not try to cope with the situation yourself, especially when it comes to pharmacy drugs or traditional medicine with unproven effectiveness (or with unclear health consequences in general). If the child has few pinworms, then nothing can be done at all (we are talking about drugs). It is enough to wear panties with elastic bands or pajama pants every night, which must be washed and ironed daily, cut off his nails briefly (so that helminth eggs do not linger under them) and wash your hands thoroughly, and also lubricate the anus with fat cream (petroleum jelly) before bedtime. ), hampering the movement of females and laying eggs. It is also necessary to iron bed linen daily and carry out wet cleaning . In addition, all toys should be washed or steamed. These measures will avoid re-infection, and given that pinworms live in the intestines for no more than a month, the disease will go away by itself (in order for a full-fledged living individual to grow out of eggs, they need to go through the human digestive tract and again enter the intestines).
However, such events do not always work (for example, with intensive invasion). In such cases, medications are prescribed, of which there are quite a lot today. However, only a doctor can choose the one that is suitable for a particular child (taking into account the anamnesis), and also prescribe the correct dosage and frequency of administration (which is very important!).