Perhaps not every reader will immediately understand what will be discussed. In fact, most of us have experienced this disease at least once in our lives, and most likely in childhood. Pinworm parasites are roundworms of the nematode order. Simply put, a variety of intestinal worms. These worms cause enterobiasis. Pinworms are popularly called "dirty hands disease". There is an opinion that this is a childhood disease. In fact, pinworm infection is a fairly common occurrence among the adult population.
Pinworm - who is this?
Pinworm, or Enterobius vermicularis, reaches a length of up to 10 mm (female) and has a pointed tail, the male is two times shorter, with an end twisted to the abdomen. Worms have a special organ around the mouth with which they are attached to the walls of the intestine. Parasitize exclusively in the human body. Outside the host’s body, it can exist from several hours to months. Cats and dogs are also carriers of worm eggs.
Any person is subject to infection. But it was noticed that children from 3 to 10 years old, especially those attending preschool institutions, are more likely to suffer from enterobiosis. This is due to insufficient observance of personal hygiene rules for babies of this age and frequent contacts with other children. Pinworms are less likely to be found in a person living in countries with a hot climate, since parasites die when exposed to sunlight. What is the treatment for pinworm expulsion? Preparations of both official medicine and folk remedies are quite effective in the fight against the disease.
What do worms look like? A photo of a pinworm male will help you know the enemy in person.
Pinworm life cycle
Once in the human body, the worm egg moves into the small intestine. Here larvae hatch, which attach to the intestine, damaging the mucous membrane, and feed on its contents. Within 2 weeks, the parasite is matured and the female is further fertilized. One female pinworm individual carries from 5,000 to 15,000 eggs, descending into the rectum and laying eggs in the outer folds of the anus, while itself dying. The life cycle of pinworm takes about a month. The process of egg maturation under favorable conditions is up to 6 hours.
Infection pathways
The disease spreads easily due to contact of pinworms with the external environment. Larvae hatch on the surface of the anus. Thus, they easily spread, getting on underwear and bed linen, towels, which becomes the cause of infection of people in the immediate environment. In addition, a symptom of the manifestation of the vital activity of pinworms is severe itching in the area of infection - the surface of the anus. Reassuring itching by scratching, a person lays eggs on his hands and under his nails and becomes not only a carrier, but also a distributor of the disease. Repeated cycles of pinworms are possible due to re-infection of a person or self-infection through dirty hands. All infection options come down to putting the pinworm egg on the hands and then in the mouth. How to treat infection - we will describe below.
Symptoms of the disease
Enterobiosis can be completely asymptomatic. But most often, the disease is accompanied by itching in the anus. The discomfort at night intensifies when the female lays eggs. Itching worries the patient up to 3 days, then the soreness disappears. But after 2 weeks it appears again. This phenomenon is explained by repeated infection and a new cycle of pinworms. When combing, there is a chance of joining a bacterial infection and the development of inflammatory processes. With a long course of the disease or a large number of worms, intestinal disorders occur in the form of frequent stool with an admixture of mucus and colicky pains. Worm waste contributes to migraines, sleep disturbances, weakness, nausea, dizziness, and allergic reactions. In children, intestinal microflora are disturbed, which leads to a slowdown in weight gain and overall development.
Possible complications
In some cases, pinworms can move along internal organs, causing various complications of enterobiosis. Here are the most common examples.
- Appendicitis: occurs when a worm enters the cecum.
- Peritonitis: develops when pinworm penetrates into the abdominal cavity.
- If worms move to the genitals of girls, vulvaginitis and urinary tract infections develop.
- With prolonged carriage of pinworms, enterocolitis develops.
- If the worm gets into the eyeball, lungs, nasal passages will need surgical intervention to remove the parasite.
Diagnostic Methods
The diagnosis of enterobiasis is usually not an infectious disease specialist’s labor. Use the following diagnostic methods for pinworm detection:
- Scraping for enterobiosis or pinworm analysis is carried out in several ways. In the first case, the doctor collects material in the area of the anus with adhesive tape. Then glues the tape on a glass slide. Otherwise, you can take material for analysis with a cotton swab, conducting it along the folds in the area of infection. Then put the stick in a jar with a tight lid. In this way, the collection of material can be carried out at home. In this case, it is necessary to deliver the material to the laboratory in a short time. If necessary, you can store a tightly closed jar in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours, but the reliability of the analysis result will decrease.
- Worms can be detected by a medical examination. The doctor can detect traces of scratching itching or the worm itself on the surface of the skin.
- An additional confirmation of enterobiosis is the presence in the general blood test of eosinophils that exceeds the norm.
- Fecal analysis for pinworms is ineffective, as worms do not lay eggs inside the intestines.
Features of scraping
The analysis must be carried out in the morning. It is advisable to refrain from defecation before delivery of the material. Do not wash, as you can wash off the eggs from the surface of the anus.
Typically, the result of the analysis is ready in a day. Pinworms are defined as follows: laboratory assistants examine the collected material under the microscope to detect eggs. In the absence of such, but the presence of additional symptoms of enterobiosis, it is recommended to re-analyze after a day, since the worm does not lay eggs every day.
If the result is positive, doctors recommend urgently sanitizing the room where the patient lives; give direction to scraping enterobiosis of persons in contact with the infected, and recommend starting treatment for the disease. A cure for pinworms for children will be prescribed by a pediatrician.
Pinworms: treatment, drugs
Pinworms Detected! How to treat? First of all, you need to try to get rid of the pinworm yourself. At home, this can be done by observing simple hygiene and sanitation rules:
change underwear often;
wash hands thoroughly;
iron clothes on both sides before dressing;
change bed linen and towels daily;
Wash all items at maximum temperature;
short nails;
- take care of pets, monitor their state of health, as often it’s the animals that transmit the eggs;
- thoroughly wash the room with soap and water, boil everything that is possible. Disinfectants do not kill pinworms. Carpet, soft toys, mattresses, it is advisable to take out for several hours in the sun - ultraviolet is harmful for worms. Everything needs to be washed - pinworm eggs are found on the ceiling, curtains, chandelier, they fly in the air. And the fact that you can’t wash it will have to be thrown away, otherwise there is a high probability of re-infection.
Anthelmintic drugs
Infectious disease doctors and parasitologists for the treatment of enterobiasis in adults prescribe pinworm drugs. The following drugs disrupt the life cycle of worms:
- "Piperazine adipate", "Piperazine" in the form of tablets has a paralyzing effect on worms.
- "Combatrin" helps get rid of pinworms. Pyrantel has the same composition and is widely used in pediatric practice. Available in the form of tablets and suspensions. Blocks helminths and removes them from the body.
- "Pyrrhinium" disrupts pinworm metabolism. "Pirkon" is an analogue of "Pyrvinium".
- "Vermox", "Vermakar", "Vero – Mebandazon", "Vormin", "Mebex" have the international name "Mebendazole". Disrupt the metabolic processes of worms.
- "Decaris", "Albendazone" in the form of tablets inhibits the functioning of the muscles of helminths.
- "Medamine" inhibits the ability of the worm to stick to the intestines.
The duration of the course of pinworm drugs, treatment, drugs can only be prescribed by a doctor, taking into account the course of the disease, age, and anamnesis. Most often, there is a need for several courses of treatment with a break of a week. This is due to the fact that anthelmintic drugs act only on adults and do not affect larvae and eggs. A diagnostic examination will be performed by everyone in contact with infected people.
Enterobiosis treatment during pregnancy and lactation
Enterobiosis is a common occurrence among pregnant women. Most often, the infection comes from an older child who brought worms from a children's team. Pinworms do not represent dangers for intrauterine development of the baby, but infection of the newborn is likely during delivery.
During breastfeeding and in early pregnancy (up to 12 weeks), taking anthelmintic drugs is contraindicated, since the substances included in the medicine can cause irreparable harm to the baby. If absolutely necessary, when worms pose a threat to the health of a nursing woman, breastfeeding can be interrupted for the period of treatment with anthelmintic drugs. Under the same circumstances, the doctor may prescribe to the expectant mother relatively sparing means "Piperazin" and "Pirantel." You will need to conduct 2 five-day courses with a break of a week.
Drug-free treatment
Pinworms are not deep in the body, so you can get rid of them without taking medications:
- To prevent the spread and re-self-infection, you need to close the anus between the bowel movements with a cotton swab throughout the life of the pinworm.
- Cleansing enemas of a weak soda solution, with a volume of 1-3 cups, will help wash the eggs of the parasites. It is more efficient to perform the procedure late in the evening when helminths accumulate on the surface of the anus.
- You can drive out the worms by eating foods such as pomegranate, garlic, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, horseradish and mustard.
- Strictly observe the rules of personal hygiene.
- Daily cleaning with soapy water.
- You can use folk remedies for removing worms.
- It is necessary to adhere to recommendations for 40 days - this is the maximum life cycle of a helminth.
Treatment of the disease in children
As soon as the baby begins to crawl and learn the world around it, playing with sand, animals, other people's toys, the mother needs to be alert and carefully monitor the baby’s hygiene so that the child does not know who the worms are. The photo below shows the path of infection through dirty hands.
Treatment of enterobiosis in children older than one year is not much different from the scheme for adults. In the first place are the same rules of sanitation and hygiene - this is the key to a successful fight against helminths. Do not forget to wash your baby at least 4 times a day, wash your baby’s clothes at maximum temperature and iron it. At the same time, medication is prescribed . The doctor, given the age and weight of the baby, prescribes the drug. For infants, the only safe medicine is piperazine. For the treatment of older babies, Vermox, Pirantel, Helmintox and their analogues are most often used. Pinworm medicine for children does not have a very strong toxic effect on the body, but is less effective in combating worms.
Features of treating children
On the eve of the first medication, you need to change the diet of the child. Food should be easily digestible: it is better if you give your baby soup, vegetable salad and fruits, dairy products. After taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor in the morning, you need to take a laxative in the evening, for example, Dufolac or glycerin suppositories. This will help to remove parasites from the body.
In addition, anti-worm preparations, and the parasites themselves violate the already unstable intestinal microflora, which can provoke various complications in the form of digestive disorders. For the prevention of such conditions, probiotics are prescribed, for example, Simbiter, Lactovit.
Pinworms: home treatment
The existing recipes for the treatment of worms are based on the expulsion of parasites with the help of their "unloved" tastes and smells. Time-tested recipes for pinworms at home are:
- Tincture of garlic. Stupa or garlic, mash a clove of garlic. Pour boiled water 1: 1. Drink garlic tincture before bedtime and drink plenty of water. Take 3 days in a row, then take a break for a week and repeat the course.
- Pumpkin seeds scroll through a meat grinder. Add honey until smooth. Eat a tablespoon on an empty stomach. Such a recipe is suitable even for kids from 2 years old - tasty and healthy!
- Pinworms and the smell of onions do not tolerate. Grate a quarter of the onion and mix with a teaspoon of salt and tablespoon. vegetable oil. Take within 5 days before bedtime.
- The folk remedy for pinworms helps in the form of decoctions of herbs of tansy and wormwood. But they have a number of contraindications and side effects. It is not recommended to use without consulting a specialist. But enemas from a decoction of chamomile will not harm - do the procedure before bedtime in 2 courses for 3 days in a row with a break of a week.
Do not delay the visit to the doctor with a complaint about pinworm detection. Treatment, drugs have a number of contraindications and side effects, so their uncontrolled use can be harmful to health.