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DEFINITION: Enterobiasis – Pinworm infection.
Other terms: seatworms or threadworms.
SYMPTOM: Excessive itchiness around the anus especially at night.
HOST/s: Children (5 to 10 years old) and Adults
Cause and Life Cycle
When a child or a person is not hygienic enough as to washing their hands before eating or touching any objects that has eggs, then they can acquire enterobiasis. As the egg enters the body (by swallowing or by sexually transferring it to your partner), it hatches in the small intestine. The larva grows in a 150 micrometers size. The female and male worm mate as they travel to the main part of the large intestine where the male usually dies before it can even enter the colon. The female however lives and stays on the initial part of the large intestine where it feeds itself in colon substances. During the night, from the intestine crawls the female worm to lay thousand of its eggs [FYI: a female’s body is filled with about 11,000 – 16,000 eggs] around the anus, which causes the itching.
This parasite surfaces from anal area to obtain the necessary oxygen needed for the development of its eggs. The female then dies after depositing its eggs. When the host scratches the irritated part, he/she carries the eggs on the fingernails and transfers it on clothing, bed sheets, food, onto other family members and also themselves, thus repeating the worm’s cycle. Beware for these parasites can live for up to two weeks on the transferred areas as stated above.
Treatment
There are pills and tablets that doctors can recommend. With a proper dose, it can flush out the parasites.
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Prevention
- Wash your hands after using the toilet
- Clean up those fingernails before eating.
- Regularly change the bed sheets
- Always change your kids underwear and yours as well.