Pinworms in children and adults: symptoms and treatment
Enterobiosis - helminthiosis caused by parasites from the class of roundworms - pinworms.This disease is known to mankind for a long time, its symptoms are described by Hippocrates.Enterobiosis is ubiquitous.The specific weight of enterobiasis in the structure of helminthiases is 70-90%.The disease affects both children and adults.However, children are more often ill, which is due to the lack of hygienic skills.
Reasons for
Pinworms are small worms reminiscent of a short white thread.Female can reach one centimeter in length, males are smaller.One end of the body of a female pinworm is sharpened, which is why the parasite got its name.
The source of enterobiasis is a sick person.People become infected by swallowing helminth eggs.In the small intestine, larvae appear from the eggs, which after two weeks become mature individuals.Then their fertilization takes place.The female moves along the thick intestine and crawls out of the anus onto the skin of the perianal region, the perineum.Usually this happens at night.Moving on the skin, a female pinworm lays eggs, from which after some four or six hours larvae leave.
Eggs and larvae remain on the bed linens, which are then worn by the hands everywhere: on household items, furniture, toys.The mature eggs of the helminth are quite stable and able to remain alive on the surrounding objects for up to three weeks.If a healthy person touches an object similar to that infested with eggs and larvae, and then touches his mouth with unwashed hands, he may get enterobiosis.
Patients with pinworms are able to infect themselves repeatedly.Crawling pinworms along the skin is accompanied by itching.During scratching the itchy skin of the egg, pinworms are hammered under the nails.Then, when you touch your fingers with your mouth, nibble your nails, eggs get into your mouth and are swallowed up by a person.A new helminth life cycle begins.So a person can repeatedly become infected many times.And if the life cycle of one generation is not more than forty days, then with repeated infections, the disease can extend even up to two years.In the intestine of the patient can live together from several tens and even several hundred pinworms.
Symptoms of pinworms in children and adults
Symptoms signaling the presence of pinworms are the same, both in children and adults.The main manifestation of enterobiasis is itchy skin in the area of the anus and perineum, arising at night.Eggs and larvae of pinworms can be carried by hands on the surface of the thighs, abdomen, then in these areas there will be an itch.In case of massive invasion with pinworms, the patient may be bothered by itching not only at night, but also during the day.
Skin itching is not a harmless symptom.A child with an enterobiosis often wakes up at night, does not get enough sleep.Because of this, in the daytime he becomes whiny, distracted.With a long course of the disease can worsen the neuropsychological development of the baby.The child is difficult to concentrate attention, it is difficult for him to remember the school material.
With constant scratching of the skin on its surface, rasches are formed.Bacteria get to the wound, pyoderma and dermatitis occur, which complicates the course of the disease.
In addition, pinworms are attached to the walls of the intestine and cause its mechanical irritation.This is manifested by the appearance of abdominal pain, rumbling, flatulence, frequent mushy stools, sometimes with impurities of mucus.
In girls and women, pinworms can penetrate the genitals, which leads to the development of vulvitis, vulvovaginitis.
Treatment of pinworms in adults and children
Successful cure for pinworms is only possible if two conditions are met: anthelmintic agents and hygiene practices.
Of the medicines used:
- Vankin;
- Combatin;
- Vermox;
- Piperazine adipate.
Anthelmintic drugs can act differently.Some of them disrupt the transmission of the neuromuscular impulse, paralyze the helminth and promote its removal.Other drugs disrupt the metabolism of helminth, which leads to his death.Often, enterobiosis is successfully cured by medicines.You may need a second course of treatment after two to three weeks.
Children often become infected with pinworms in pre-school and school institutions, being in a children's team.And adults then become infected from their children.Given this fact, the doctor can prescribe treatment for all family members.
Even against the background of drug treatment, if hygiene recommendations are not followed, the probability of repeated infection is high.The child needs to be explained that hands should not be pulled to the mouth, before meals and after the toilet they need to be washed.Nails should be cut.A toilet of the perianal area and perineum must be performed after and before bedtime.
For the night the child needs to wear panties with elastic bands at the waist and around the legs to prevent combing the hands of the skin.Bed linen and bed linen should be changed daily after sleep, boiled( or washed at a temperature of at least 60 degrees), and then ironed with a hot iron.Remove bed linens carefully so as not to allow the scattering of pinworm eggs.It should be regularly wet cleaning in the apartment with the use of disinfectants, wiping not only the floors, but also furniture, door handles.After each use, the baby pot should be poured over with boiling water.
The control over the effectiveness of treatment is carried out four weeks later - a perianal smear is taken for examination for the presence of helminth eggs.
Grigorova Valeria, medical reviewer
