It might feel like you are giving your children worm treatments all the time as a parent.
Kids in places with poor hygiene practices are more likely to get worms than kids in places with good hygiene practices.
Even our most comprehensive hygiene standards can be defeated by one species of worm.
Children are good at spreading infections. They can get upset in the process.
Pinworms have been found in the poo of a mammal that lived 230 million years ago. Our closest cousins are the apes.
The evolution of our pinworms is thought to have taken place with us. Some 10,000-year-old dried human stools were found in a Colorado cave, which contained the oldest pinworm eggs from a human host. Pinworms can live in and with humans.
Over the last 20 to 30 years, access to good treatments and school education programs have reduced the incidence of pinworm in children.
Females measuring up to 13 milimeters long are the white worms. Men are half the size. Children between the ages of four and 11 years old are the ones who live in humans. They can cause less harm to adults.
Appendicitis, vaginitis, and urethral infections are not usually associated with pinworms.
Adult worms can live in the caecum for up to two months.
It can cause irritation when the female wriggles out of the gut to lay her eggs. Eggs stuck onto the perianal skin with glue is the biggest problem. This can cause more irritation and itching.
The worm's life cycle is dependent on the child scratching their butt. Eggs can be transferred from one person to another when they are scratched off.
They usually go to the scratching child's mouth, where they can be swallowed and start a new disease.
The eggs are so light that they can be found in house dust and can cause long-term infections.
The pinworm eggs are very painful. They can make a child scratch so much that it causes inflammation. A very tired and cranky child can be caused by this.
A child can be tired and cranky. Pinworm may be the culprit if your child is acting like this and has an itch.
The pinworm eggs are so small they can't be seen individually but the females lay more than 10,000 in creamy colored clumps around the anus. A check of your child's bottom when they are itching is a sign that the female is present.
A sticky tape sample of the skin next to the anus can be used to analyse eggs. A test can be arranged by your doctor.
It's easy to get treatment from the chemist. Mebendazole is used by most worming brands.
The dose of the medication should be repeated two weeks later in order to keep pinworm out of the home. Hot water should be used to wash clothing and bedding.
Regular washing of hands and scrubbing of finger nails is one of the ways to prevent infections. It's a good idea to have a good shower in the morning.
It isn't easy to stop children from sucking their fingers and thumbs, but it's possible.
Although we have better control of pinworms in the 21st century, we are not likely to be able to eradicate them.
Mark Sandeman is a professor at a university.
Under a Creative Commons license, this article is re-posted. The original article is worth a read.
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