Pinworms - The Hows and Whys

Pinworms - I like to say - are the "head lice" of the internal parasite world. They are easily spread by several methods. First - the eggs can become airborne and live for 2 days without a host. What this means is - if someone has pinworms and they don't wash their hands after going to the restroom - they can spread eggs onto everything they touch and those eggs can sit there for 2 days just waiting to infect another person.

Auto-reinfection occurs when a person has pinworms but they don't treat their environment in the same way they treat the bodily infection. This means that the eggs that are on the underclothing and the bedclothing must be removed daily along with the eggs that are on the anus and that are under the fingernails.

The ability of the eggs to live for so long is one reason why if one child has pinworms - they very easily spread them to other children through bathrooms and the sharing of common objects in school, daycares and at home.

Pinworms cause intense anal itching - at night when the females come out to lay their eggs and during the day from the toxins emitted from the pinworms themselves. Pinworms are the most recongized and the most treated parasite simply because they are seen. Tweet