Staying Healthy in School | Worms
Staying Healthy in School | Worms
While it may sound alarming, threadworm is actually a common parasitic infection, especially in younger children.
One of the main symptoms is itching along the perineal area especially at night. This can be confirmed by the presence of small, white, threadlike worms in the faeces or in the underwear. Threadworms are only carried by humans and are transmitted by swallowing threadworm eggs passed to the mouth via fingers.
The treatment is relatively simple. It is done by the use of a prescription medicine and hygiene measure (which will be discussed in detail with your pharmacist) should be implemented for six weeks to break the life cycle of the worm. As long as no new transmission occurs the treatment will be a success.
Some of the more general hygiene measures that can be done to reduce the risk of contracting or spreading threadworm include:
- Keep fingernails short and clean
- Wash hands and scrub nails after every visit to the bathroom
- Wash night clothes and bed clothes on the first day of treatment
- Try to reduce the opportunities for children to place their fingers in their mouth e.g. address nail biting, eating with hands etc.
