Signs/symptoms of Roundworm in kids' stool?

RG,

Hope you and your family had a great Christmas and that 2008 is a happy, healthy year for all of you!

I was changing one of my daughters' diapers and noticed a piece of her stool with what looked like little "tunnels." (Something like the way a piece of wood that had been eaten by worms would, if you looked at a cross-section.) I am concerned that this may indicate Ascaris.

To back up (and so this makes more sense to others), over the summer we were handed a rescued puppy way out in the country. He was infested with ticks and fleas on the outside and Ascaris (roundworm) on the inside! When we started HW, it was like piles of writhing spaghetti were pouring out of him. I tried my best to keep him separated from the girls but of course they were very drawn to the puppy and he to them, and so I am absolutely sure there was *some* contact between them. The website I visited to learn about Ascaris said that a human had to consume fecal matter (which I am prety sure they did not do), and I tried to use bleach/water on all of the puppy's excrement, but let's just say that nothing ever gets done perfectly around here!

I asked their doctor about the possibility of worms and he said No, we'd know, etc. Then I asked my doctor about it and he said, No -- they'd have bloating and gas, etc. (like the puppy did, certainly -- although I think he had a terrible case and that it was advanced -- one thing I learned from the vet is that mother dogs can pass the worms to their pups in utero -- some of the puppy's worms were a few inches long!). In October, per the girls' doctor, who has always been concerned about their small size, sent us to a pediatric GI specialist to have them looked at. While we were at that appointment I mentioned the puppy with worms and asked, yet again, if he thought they might have worms. He said no and didn't want to do a test.

The problem I am having with HW for kids is that they won't drink the powder in chocolate milk, juice, etc. I don't think they will swallow the capsule. I will keep playing around with things they may drink (although juice and chocolate milk are their big treats in terms of alternatives to milk or water). But I am concerned that what I saw *does* indicate worms, and would appreciate any ideas, suggestions, etc. that RG or anyone could offer.

Tom and I are finishing up a HW cleanse, and I will do our pets again when we hit the last week of ours. But I feel like I need to get this thing with the girls straightened out too! Am I delusional in thinking that they may have worms (which is what I kind of feel like when I think abotu what the three doctors said), or could I correct in assuming that a badly infected puppy would probably pass it along to everyone else, human and canine/feline, in a small house where it was impossible to quarantine the puppy entirely from the girls?

Thanks, everyone --

Laura