Pinworms
By Dr. Brown
Pinworms are an infection caused by Enterobius vermicularis. Generally the first symptom is either an itchy rectum, sleep disturbances, or a note from school or daycare that there are cases of pinworms in places where your child has been cared for. Fortunately, pinworms are very easy to treat.
Diagnosis: To see if your child has pinworms, the best way is to inspect the rectum about one hour after going to bed. The worms come out of the rectum when it is dark and will be visible to the naked eye. They look like thin white treads. They can be distinguished from toilet paper or other fibers by the fact that they move! This is best done with a good quality flashlight in the dark room. Spread the cheeks of the buttocks and look. If the white threads are moving you have made the diagnosis.
Other sources of itchy butt include poor hygiene after stooling or hemorrhoids (which are rare in children).
Treatment: A prescription medicine is given two times, 1-2 weeks apart. Now for the fun part. A few to many hours after the medicine is taken, the worms are paralysed and fall off the bowel wall. Since there are many of them there can be a “worm load” - there can be literally thousands that can be seen in the toilet after the patient stools! In the water you may also see the worms as thin white threads. Here they will not be moving however. Repeat dosing in 1-2 weeks is important. The medicine is a chewable and rarely complained about. Generic equivalent is fine to substitute.
Call our office the next day if you suspect worms.
Pinworms are an infection caused by Enterobius vermicularis. Generally the first symptom is either an itchy rectum, sleep disturbances, or a note from school or daycare that there are cases of pinworms in places where your child has been cared for. Fortunately, pinworms are very easy to treat.
Diagnosis: To see if your child has pinworms, the best way is to inspect the rectum about one hour after going to bed. The worms come out of the rectum when it is dark and will be visible to the naked eye. They look like thin white treads. They can be distinguished from toilet paper or other fibers by the fact that they move! This is best done with a good quality flashlight in the dark room. Spread the cheeks of the buttocks and look. If the white threads are moving you have made the diagnosis.
Other sources of itchy butt include poor hygiene after stooling or hemorrhoids (which are rare in children).
Treatment: A prescription medicine is given two times, 1-2 weeks apart. Now for the fun part. A few to many hours after the medicine is taken, the worms are paralysed and fall off the bowel wall. Since there are many of them there can be a “worm load” - there can be literally thousands that can be seen in the toilet after the patient stools! In the water you may also see the worms as thin white threads. Here they will not be moving however. Repeat dosing in 1-2 weeks is important. The medicine is a chewable and rarely complained about. Generic equivalent is fine to substitute.
Call our office the next day if you suspect worms.