Worm infestation by pinworms. Tapeworms in humans: photos and signs of helminths, treatment with drugs Worms in humans pinworms

Helminths of this species look like white thin worms, about a centimeter long (males are half as long). The eggs are oval, with a colorless shell and flattened on one side. For a better idea of pinworms, you can look at photos of worms and their eggs.

After pinworm eggs enter the small intestine, nematodes hatch. They live by feeding on intestinal contents and blood. After fertilization, the males die, and the females descend into the rectum. In a few weeks it is time to lay eggs. For this purpose, the female crawls out from the rectum and lays eggs in the skin folds of the anus and perineum. As soon as the process is completed, the female dies. In total, the life of a worm lasts a little less than a month.

If pinworms appear in adults and children at the same time, this indicates that the source of infection is most likely located in the house. Causes of pinworms, as well as symptoms and treatment in people different ages similar, but have some differences.

Causes of pinworms in adults

The peculiarity of helminthiases is that they mainly affect children aged two to ten years.

Young children rarely observe the rules of hygiene, put everything in their mouths, and have close contact with other children in child care institutions, so they are primarily susceptible to infection.

The very first source of infection with helminth eggs is in the anus and perineum. After the female pinworm has laid eggs, an itching occurs on the skin, which a person tries to drown out by scratching these places. In this case, thousands of eggs fall on the skin of the hands and under the nails, and are then transferred to household objects, food and to the skin of other people when touched. Many eggs are present on the underwear of an infected person, as well as in his bed.

You can become infected in the following ways:

in close contact with an infected person (he touches the skin and clothing with his hands) or when shaking hands;
eating unwashed food;
when touching objects that the patient touched;
inhaling dust with pinworm eggs when shaking carpets or bedding in a house where there is an infected person;
when touching an animal’s fur if there are helminth eggs on it;
by eating foods that have had insects on them (eggs on food can be carried by flies and cockroaches).

Symptoms of pinworms in adults

If pinworm nematodes are present in adults, symptoms and treatment depend on the duration of the disease. Until the female lays eggs, a person may not suspect the presence of helminths. The first symptom is usually itching near the anus.

The itching bothers the patient for no more than two days, and after two or three weeks, it repeats, indicating a change in the generation of nematodes. When there are a lot of worms in the intestines, the symptoms will be more pronounced.

The long course of enterobiasis is characterized by the following symptoms:

microcracks, inflammation of the anal tissues and the perineal area due to constant scratching;
bacterial dermatitis that occurs due to frequent trauma to the skin;
mucus and blood in stool;
inflammation of the external genitalia in women;
disturbance of the microflora in the intestines, which is expressed in increased gas formation, constipation and diarrhea;
pain in the abdomen on the right (in the area of the appendix);
headaches, dizziness.

If the pinworm infestation is not treated, the itching in the anal area will become permanent, as an increased number of mature individuals will lay eggs every night. A large number of helminths can cause various complications: severe dysbiosis, intestinal inflammation, acute appendicitis etc.

To identify pinworm eggs, use adhesive tape or cotton swabs to take material from the anal tissues. A stool test is not required because this type of nematode does not pass into stool.

Considering that in the early stages, when there are not too many pinworms, eggs are laid every two or three weeks, the test is often negative, even if pinworms are present in the human intestines.

What to do if pinworms are detected during scraping? Treatment, medications, which ones are best suited for fighting nematodes - all this can only be prescribed by a doctor. Treatment has a comprehensive approach.

Since pinworms damage the intestinal walls by sticking to them, and also cause dysbacteriosis, then in addition anthelmintic drugs accompanying medications are needed: sorbents, probiotics, antihistamines that eliminate allergic reactions. In order to improve health after infection with helminths, it is advisable to take a course of vitamins.

Anthelmintic drugs - which are best for the treatment of pinworm nematodes?

The medicine is taken once, in a dose of 150 mg (one tablet). Therapy is repeated after two weeks. Contraindications to taking the drug are severe liver dysfunction, lactation and agranulocytosis.

Side effects:

dyspeptic symptoms;
dizziness;
heartbeat;
insomnia;
allergic skin reactions.

The active substance, pyrantel pamoate, affects pinworms, as well as a number of nematodes that cause diseases such as ascariasis, trichuriasis, necatoriasis, and hookworm.

The drug is available in the form of a suspension or tablets.

For adults, it is better to purchase the tablet form, which contains 250 mg active substance. The price of the drug (3 tablets) is 25 rubles.

For adults, the medicine is prescribed in a single dose of 750 mg, which corresponds to three tablets (a package of the drug). For body weight exceeding 75 kilograms, the dosage should be increased by one tablet.

Possible side effects:

gastrointestinal upset, stomach pain;
headache;
insomnia;
allergies (skin rash, itching).

To treat pinworms, one tablet at a dose of 100 mg is enough active substance. For mixed infections, therapy lasts three days. The price of the drug (6 tablets) is 96 rubles.

Veromox is not prescribed during pregnancy and during breastfeeding, Crohn's disease, lactose intolerance, during treatment with phenytoin, metronidazole.

Side effects:

abdominal pain, bowel movements, vomiting;
dizziness, headache;
drowsiness;
liver dysfunction;
neutropenia.

. Available in the form of tablets containing 200 mg or 400 mg of albendazole. The medicine has a wide spectrum of action. In addition to pinworms and other types of nematodes, it acts on echinococci, lamblia, and toxocara. The cost of one tablet (400 mg) is 188 rubles.

To treat pinworms, adults take one or two tablets for a total dose of 400 mg. Maximum daily dose when treating mixed invasions, it should not exceed 800 mg.

Antihelmintic medicine is not prescribed during pregnancy, if there is damage to the retina or intolerance to any components.

Side effects:

liver dysfunction;
skin rash;
abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting;
increased blood pressure;
acute renal failure;
granulocytopenia, leukopenia, agranulocytosis.

Which drugs are best to choose for the treatment of pinworms directly depends on the results of the analysis and the duration of the disease. At the early stage of enterobiasis, you can use drugs that have a mild effect, such as Pyrantel. If there are a lot of pinworms or the helminthic infestation is mixed, then preference should be given to medications with a more pronounced effect. In this case, Dekaris is a good choice.

In order for the treatment to be quick and effective, certain rules should be followed:

change bed and underwear daily;
do wet cleaning of the house and vacuum carpets every day;
strictly follow the rules of personal hygiene;
be sure to perform hygiene of the anal area and perineum after sleep (wash off laid eggs), and do this in such a way as not to spread the larvae to the genitals;
take all medications according to the regimen prescribed by your doctor.

Pinworms in adults: treatment at home and preventive measures

Tablets for the treatment of enterobiasis have a number of contraindications, for example, not every drug can be taken during pregnancy. However, folk remedies should be used as additional therapy, without neglecting medications.

If treatment helminthic infestation run, serious complications may develop.

Therefore, treatment of pinworm nematodes in adults at home should be carried out under the supervision of the attending physician and in addition to the main therapy.

Herbs to get rid of pinworms:

Wormwood. A tablespoon of raw material is poured with boiling water (500 ml), left to cool. Take one teaspoon three times a day before meals.
Oak and valerian. Valerian root and oak bark, taken in equal parts, are crushed, and the resulting raw material, in the amount of 1 tbsp. l., pour boiling water (250 ml). Leave for at least three hours. The drug is taken in the morning on an empty stomach. After one or two hours, eat a clove of garlic and drink three tablespoons of vegetable oil. The course of treatment is ten days.
Tansy, wormwood and chamomile. The raw materials are mixed in equal parts, take 1 tablespoon of the mixture, pour a glass of boiling water and leave. The infusion is drunk twice a day for five days.

Vegetables and seeds for the treatment of enterobiasis:

Pumpkin seeds. If pinworms are found in adults, treatment at home must include pumpkin seeds. It’s tasty, satisfying, and, most importantly, effective medicine will help you quickly get rid of helminths. In order for pumpkin seeds to have a proper effect on pinworms, you need to eat at least 300 grams of seeds in one day.
Seeds of watermelon. The seeds should be ground into powder. The resulting medicine should be added to a glass of water, 3 tablespoons each. and mix thoroughly. Take the drink for seven days, in the morning, one glass.
Beet. The juice is prepared immediately before consumption. It is enough to squeeze 100 ml of red beet juice. It is drunk twice a day, morning and evening.
Carrot. For treatment, use freshly squeezed juice (half a glass). To enhance the effect, add a few drops of vegetable oil. The juice is drunk in the morning, before meals.

Other means:

In order not to treat pinworms in adults with medications or folk remedies prepared at home, their appearance in the body should be prevented. To do this, you must, first of all, follow the rules of hygiene and care for a sick child.

We will cover this and other related issues in this information article.

Are worms and pinworms the same thing?

The answer corresponds to the question: “Yes and no.” Next we will look at this in more detail, and after reading this article everything will fall into place for you.

IN human body There can be many types of worms. All these types can be divided into certain types and classes, differing from each other according to many criteria.

For a better understanding, let's turn to pinworms. The sizes of pinworms vary from 2 to 12 mm, and a female carrying about 15 thousand eggs can reach 12 mm. They live no more than 40 days, females lay eggs on skin of a person adjacent to the anus, emerging from the anus at night, after which they die. This is a feature of this species. Pinworms provoke enterobiasis, which is treated with one tablet.

Another type of worms are flatworms, which are divided into 2 classes: trematodes (digenetic flukes) and cestodes (tapeworms).

Tapeworms, as a rule, have an indirect development cycle, their lifespan can reach 20 years, and the size of this class of worms varies from 4-5 cm to 12 meters. They usually live in gastrointestinal tract. Adults are not as scary as their larvae, since it is the cysticerci that provoke very complex helminthiasis, difficult to treat, which in the future can seriously affect human health and even lead to death.

Note. IN medical practice a case of achievement was registered bull tapeworm in the human body 24 meters in length.

Now you undoubtedly understand the difference between worms and pinworms in humans.

The main symptom is perianal itching. Diagnosis is made by visual inspection for threadworms in the perianal area or by taping the eggs. Treatment is pyrantel pamoate, mebendazole or albendazole.

Pinworm infestation is the most common helminthic infection in the United States.

Pathogenesis of helminthic infestation of pinworms

Eggs from the perianal area fall onto objects (clothing, bedding, furniture, rugs, toys), from where the eggs are transferred to the new owner, enter the mouth and are swallowed. Thumb sucking in young children is a risk factor. Reinvasion (autoinvasion) easily occurs when eggs are transferred from the perianal area to the mouth with the fingers. Pinworm infections have also been attributed to anilingus among adults.

Pinworms reach maturity in the lower gastrointestinal tract within 2-6 weeks. The female pinworm migrates to the perianal area (usually at night) to lay eggs. The sticky, gelatinous substance in which the eggs are laid and the movements of the worm cause perianal itching. Eggs can survive on objects for as long as 3 weeks at normal room temperature.

Symptoms and signs of helminthic infestation of pinworms

Most infected people have no symptoms or signs, but some experience perianal itching and develop perianal excoriation due to scratching. Rarely, migrating female pinworms reach the female genital organs, causing vaginitis and, even more rarely, peritoneal lesions.

A pinworm infestation can be diagnosed by identifying a female worm, which measures approximately 10 mm in length ( the average size males 3 mm) in the perianal area 1 or 2 hours after the child goes to bed at night or in the morning, as well as under low-magnification microscopy to identify eggs on cellophane tape. The eggs can be collected early in the morning, before the child gets up, by applying a strip of cellophane tape to the perianal area, which is then placed sticky side down on a glass slide and examined carefully under the microscope. 50-30 mm eggs are oval in shape with thin shell, which contains a folded larva. A drop of toluene between the tape and the slide dissolves the patch and eliminates air bubbles under the tape that may interfere with egg identification. This procedure should, if necessary, be repeated 5 days in a row in the morning. Eggs can also be detected, but less frequently, in stool, urine or a vaginal swab.

Treatment of helminthic infestation of pinworms

Mebendazole or albendazole.

The prevalence of pinworm infestation is high, and re-infestation occurs frequently. In this regard, treatment is recommended only for diseases with clinical manifestations. However, most parents actively insist on treatment when their children are diagnosed with pinworms.

A single dose of mebendazole 100 mg (regardless of age) or albendazole 400 mg, repeated after 2 weeks, is effective in killing pinworms (but not eggs) in >90% of cases. One dose of pyrantel pamoate AND mg/kg (maximum 1 g). Regardless of the drug chosen, treatment is repeated after 2 weeks.

Re-infection is common because viable eggs may be laid a week after therapy, and eggs laid anywhere in environment before starting therapy, are able to survive for 3 weeks. Multiple infestations within a home are common, which may require treatment for the entire family. Clothes, bedding and other household items should be washed frequently, and the rest should be vacuumed.

Vaseline with carbolic acid or other itch-relieving creams or ointments for the perianal area can help reduce itching.

Enterobiasis carriers are children or adults who are infected with pinworms. Infection occurs from person to person through a handshake, through household items, door handles, clothes, all those objects that the patient touched, if you do not wash your hands after contact and eat food with dirty hands. Pinworm eggs can also come into contact with food from flies and cockroaches, or be found on the fur of pets.

The female pinworm enters the human intestine orally, through dirty hands that receive worm eggs. Next, she mates with a male representative and then migrates to the human large intestine, where she receives nutrition, and after 4 weeks she moves to the rectum, where at night she crawls to the anus and lays up to 15 thousand eggs on the skin near the anus.

The child or adult then experiences pain, and scratching the itchy area allows pinworm eggs to land on the patient’s hands and under the nails. Further, the mechanism of self-infection and infection of others is clear. If you have overgrown long nails, do not wash your hands after combing, after using the toilet, before eating, thousands of eggs settle on everything that an infected person touches. This contributes to the further spread of nematodes, getting from under nails, beds, and underwear onto the hands of other children and adults.

Symptoms of pinworms in adults

In cases where a person has recently, accidentally, not from family members, become infected with a small number of pinworms, in an adult the symptoms of enterobiasis may be completely absent or accompanied by minor, unnoticeable discomfort. Moreover, subject to personal hygiene, namely:

daily intimate hygiene
change of underwear morning and evening
washing hands before any meal and after using the toilet

In this case, reinvasion (self-infection) does not occur, since life cycle pinworms are only a few weeks old, they die and the colony is not replenished. This is provided that there is no adult or child suffering from enterobiasis in the environment.

In other situations, when there is a powerful attack of nematodes and severe infestation, the most characteristic symptom pinworms in adults are itching near the anus, which intensifies in the evening and at night, during the exit of female pinworms to the anus.

Moreover, itching can only bother a person for 1-2 days, and then resumes after 2-3 weeks. This periodicity precisely indicates that the generation of pinworms is changing and reinvasion is occurring.

With prolonged absence of treatment for pinworms, with constant contact with infected children or adults, with poor hygiene, the colony of pinworms grows very quickly and then the backside in the anus can be more permanent and in some cases be very painful.

With frequent scratching, microcracks, scratches, abrasions are formed, into which pathogenic microorganisms can easily penetrate, causing dermatitis (see), secondary development bacterial infection, which complicates clinical picture and treatment.

With a constant infestation of pinworms in adults, without treatment, intestinal disorders may occur, such as or vice versa diarrhea (see list), pasty stool with mucus or even blood particles, .

It has not been proven, but there is an assumption that exacerbation of appendicitis in both adults and children occurs when there is a large accumulation of pinworms in the cecum, in combination with the addition of a bacterial infection.

Why are pinworms dangerous? If enterobiasis in an adult is not treated, prolonged invasion leads to intoxication, exhaustion, increased irritability, fatigue, and allergization of the body. It is not uncommon for blood tests to indicate helminthic infestation - a decrease in hemoglobin levels and. Therefore, a person may experience headache, dizziness, get tired easily, have difficulty falling asleep, suffer from insomnia, various allergic manifestations may appear.

In women, helminthic infestations can lead to endometritis and vulvovaginitis, since pinworms crawl into the genitals, introducing pathogenic microorganisms, thereby causing inflammatory processes. They can also contribute to irritation of the peritoneum, thereby causing pain near the navel.

Diagnosis of pinworms

The usual stool test for worm eggs to diagnose pinworm infection is not at all informative, since the eggs are laid not in the intestines, but near the anus, so a scraping test for enterobiasis is used. It is produced using 2 methods - using adhesive tape, which is stuck to the anus, and a cotton swab with Vaseline.

These methods are not 100% diagnostic and may give false negative results. Since females do not lay eggs every day, if you suspect the presence of pinworms, you should take a similar test at least three times for a reliable result, and also repeat it after 2 weeks. You should be especially persistent if there are children in the family attending nurseries. preschool institutions.

How to treat pinworms in adults - tablets

The doctor prescribes medications, tablets, for the treatment of pinworms in adults, the same as for children, only in dosages according to the patient’s weight. To date, there are not many drugs for pinworms that are effective against these nematodes (see). What medicine to choose and how to treat pinworms in an adult? Your doctor may recommend any of the following tablets:

Levamisole - Dekaris ( average price 70 rub.) this drug for pinworms is also an immunomodulator
Pyrantel - price 30-50 rubles, Helmintox 80-120 rubles,
Mebendazole - Wormin 20 rub., Vermox 90 rub., Mebex, Telmox
Carbendacim - Medamin
Piperazine is not enough effective drug, but it can be used by women during pregnancy and breastfeeding, the price is about 30 rubles.
Nemozol is a very strong anthelmintic drug with many side effects, its use is possible only in the presence of other helminthic infestations or giardiasis () or with severe enterobiasis that is difficult to treat.

For greater effectiveness of the medications taken, tablets for pinworms in adults, one day before taking the medication, you should not eat foods that strengthen the stool, and in the evening, dinner should be light. The next day, medications are taken in the morning, and in the evening it is advisable to use some kind of laxative (all possible), this will improve the rapid removal of pinworms from the intestines, especially those that have not died. A prerequisite for successful treatment of pinworms is to re-take the drugs after 2 weeks, since not all drugs have an effect on the larvae and eggs that have recently entered the body, but will destroy only adult individuals.

For severe itching, to relieve the condition, antihistamines, such as Zodak, Loratodin (see list of the best). This is also necessary to prevent scratching of the skin and reduce the spread of eggs on clothing and throughout the body.

To reduce itching, you can also use a soda enema; 1 liter of water and 2 teaspoons of soda are enough.

In addition to reception medicines In order to get rid of pinworms for an adult, treatment must be accompanied by compliance with certain rules, and they must be followed by all family members, regardless of whether they have pinworms:

Wash your hands thoroughly after using the toilet, before eating, after going outside.
Nails should always be cut short
It is important to change underwear in the morning and evening and iron it every time after washing.
Disinfection of the toilet, wet cleaning of the apartment every day

If these rules are not followed, the effectiveness of medications for pinworms in adults is reduced to zero, and the risk of pinworm reinfection and infection of others is very high. About application folk remedies for enterobiasis, you can learn from our article. We will focus only on the most famous method of removing pinworms in adults using pumpkin seeds.

The World Health Organization indicates that every second person on Earth is infected every year.

There are 300 million more of them than those who suffer from hookworm, and half a billion more than those who have trichuriasis.

Nature of the problem and ways of spreading

Pinworm worms, once they enter the human body, multiply with impressive intensity. This ability is provided by nature in many species of helminths for the continuation and preservation of the species.

The endemic areas for the distribution of worms of this species are considered to be the United States and the countries of Western Europe, where, according to WHO, it occurs greatest number infections.

The disease is considered characteristic of children, with their constant disregard for sanitary and hygienic standards.

For an adult, there is a risk of infection through a contagious method, through household items and even through house dust.

Children are a permanent source possible danger, which is called enterobiasis.

They are more likely to be in contact with pets and other potential sources of infection, and do not take the necessary measures to avoid it.

Appearance and life cycle

The presence of pinworms does not pose any particular danger to the affected organism, but requires immediate treatment: the human body is the main habitat of nematodes, although their life cycle does not exceed a month.

The relatively short lifespan of pinworms does not prevent them from using various parts of the human intestine for mating, reproduction and procreation.

This in itself can lead to damage to the digestive and nervous system if the infestation has been present for a long time:

the life cycle of worms takes place in part of the small intestine, colon and cecum;
in the ileum they undergo the mating process, accompanied by the death of the male;
the rectum serves as a road for the female to the perianal region, and such migration, with significant invasion, can also cause negative consequences;
egg laying carried out in the perianal segment causes not only itching and scratching, but also the danger of potential sources of infection entering the environment for other individuals who do not yet have worms.

Treatment of enterobiasis, compared to other helminthiases, is not such a complicated process.

But it is the ability to intensively reproduce and infect the environment with eggs that are laid that constitutes the main unpleasant feature of enterobiasis.

Full treatment of persons infected with this type of helminth should be carried out:

with parallel prevention of the disease;
examining the environment for a potential source of new worms;
disinfection of household items and the environment.

The female can reach 12 mm, the male. due to the sexual dimorphism present in pinworms, it rarely grows beyond five mm.

Its main purpose is to fertilize the female, after which death occurs. The female has a more active life cycle, during which she manages to deliver the eggs to the laying site, and only after that dies.

Pinworm eggs are microscopic, but are equipped with a very strong shell, so they can easily withstand the most negative influences of the external environment.

The egg enters the body of the primary host. A larva emerges from it, eventually turning into a sexually mature individual, which fertilizes or is fertilized to lay eggs.

And they again enter the human body. It serves as both the main habitat and a place for reproduction, development, and reproduction. Therefore, humans are the main and only host of the nematode.

Active life in man and accompanying symptoms of activity

The life cycle of individual individuals begins with the fact that sexually mature pinworms, which then die, lay eggs in the anus, anus and rectum of an infected person.

Under certain circumstances, the opening of the urethra and vagina (in women) becomes the site of egg laying.

This happens, as clinical studies have shown, with a significant spread of invasion, when the perianal area can no longer serve as a laying site for all existing individuals.

General symptoms are not very pronounced, and even intestinal damage may manifest itself as mild, periodic pain.

Sexually mature and developing individuals hang on the intestinal walls all this time. For attachment they have special vesicles to receive nutrients– intestinal microflora of the main host.

Basically, the symptoms of pinworm life include a feeling of unbearable itching in the laying areas, because this will release a special mucus containing isovaleric acid, which corrodes the skin and causes an itching sensation.

This is a kind of biological chain that leads to the release of eggs into the environment: a person itches, the eggs get on the hands, under the nails, into the environment, and from there again into the intestines.

After a person has experienced a pinworm invasion, the symptoms of which are fixed in similar memories for him, he already quite easily associates similar manifestations when raising children.

If your child is constantly scratching anus and buttocks, you can think with almost 100% certainty about helminthic infestation, take the appropriate tests and think about the need to treat pinworms.

The female that lays eggs will certainly die:

it can be torn by the nails while scratching by the main owner;
she can die on her own after the laying is completed;
or the body of the worm bursts after death, and the eggs remain at the site of laying.

In any case, they pose a danger, because as soon as the egg gets into a favorable habitat, a larva develops from it in 4-6 hours.

She quickly transforms into small intestine and begins to move towards the thick one, molting twice during the migration process. Then it is attached by vesicles to the intestinal wall and begins to mature for laying.

The sensation of itching in the perianal area or perineum is not always present. It occurs approximately every three weeks, after the nematode has completed its cycle, from egg to fertilized female, and has gone to make a new clutch, accompanied by skin-irritating mucus.

Mechanism and sources of infection

Treatment of a negative condition quite often begins after the accidental discovery of small, already dead worms in the stool.

This is followed by panic, leading to a doctor to begin relief. The lack of basic medical knowledge and symptoms leads to the development of an invasion that constantly renews its cycle in the human body.

Advice like “one tablet is enough” is incorrect. To get rid of it forever. in this case are not applicable until a potential source of infection has been identified. The common tendency to blame pets does not apply in this case.

The only thing they can be accused of is that they may potentially have invasive eggs on their fur.

However, they also get there from the hands of an infected person. Or with house dust, bed, carpet, floor, household items on which they ended up, by transfer from the anus and perianal area, after scratching with human hands.

The advice “treat” is applicable only in one case: if it was possible to identify an endemic affected area and simultaneously treat all potential carriers.

Infection, however, can occur anywhere. Invasive, larval eggs may be present, of unknown etiology:

V drinking water from a tap or pump room;
on fruits and vegetables, other products lying unpackaged in a store or market, which were touched by a potential carrier with an infected hand;
in the yard, on sand or soil, where a pet was frolicking;
on handrails or a seat of public transport;
in someone else's bed linen, when inhaling from shaking it;
from the patient’s own hands, which he did not wash after someone else’s or a public toilet;
at catering establishments where food is taken in the open, or simply with food that was prepared or brought by an infected person.

The prevalence of this method of invasion has not been fully studied, but subclinical cases have been noted.

If the rules of basic hygiene were not observed for a long time, the egg in the clutch left by the nematode hatched into a larva, which returned through the anus to the anus, from where the female who laid the clutch emerged at night.

From there, the larva penetrated the intestine and, having attached itself with vesicles to its walls, began re-infection.

Removing the infection

Treatment for pinworms is not so much about expelling the worms (they have a short life cycle, lasting no more than a month).

The male will die after he fertilizes the female, the latter, in turn, will eliminate itself after laying eggs.

Pinworms should be disposed of sequentially, starting from the discovery of an endemic zone and up to the total disinfection of your own home, bedding and underwear.

Complete treatment of pinworms without this is impossible. If worms are not able to exist without a human body, then the eggs survive perfectly in the environment, due to the double shell provided for this by nature.

The permanent presence of invasive eggs in the environment will lead to new infections, and the only advice in this case will be again: repeat the treatment.

Therefore, when an invasion is detected, actions are taken simultaneously in two directions:

taking medications;
massive hygienic measures to clean your own territory.

The most common source of infection is children of preschool or primary school age.

In this sense, preschool institutions also pose a potential danger, where one infected child is enough to spread throughout the entire team, and even to kindergarten workers.

It has low toxicity to humans and is recommended for simultaneous use by all family members.

Sometimes after reinfection, the treatment course is taken again. Preparations with albendazole or Levamisole, which are also effective against pinworms, can also be used.

Hygienic measures include disinfection. Thorough treatment of surfaces that are potentially dangerous as a source of infection, washing and boiling bed and underwear, maintaining personal hygiene, washing and heat treating food.