Pinworms anyone?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Is this a common thing? Both my kids suddenly have it. One also has a coinfection with another parasite! How did this happen? We practice good hygiene and the kids are 9 and 11, not little ones any more! We're treating the pinworms but the other infection is harder. Anyone been through this? |
Anonymous
|
Kids get them from each other from touching hands or sharing food. They are common and easy to treat in a single over the counter dose of medicine. If one person in the house has them everyone should be treated whether they have symptoms or not. It's not a matter of hygiene. Kids have them and they pass it around.
Anecdotely, the couple time our kids got them they seemed to be attending summer camps. |
Anonymous
| No, thanks. I will pass! |
Anonymous
|
We had a pinworms experience, too, but our dd was in Kindergarten at the time. I think the answer is that such infections simply are contageous. And can't pinworm infections result from inhaling their eggs? It's been almost a decade since our adventure, but I thought this was a thing.
|
Anonymous
| What kind of parasite? |
Anonymous
| I had pinworms when I was around 12. I thought I practiced good hygiene as well and never figured out how I got it. I took some medicine, and my mom wouldn't let me have syrup with my pancakes because she said the worms liked the sugar too much. Not sure if that part was true or not. |
Anonymous
|
Yup, my 9 year old had them this spring and I caught it too. It was a gross and miserable few weeks.
|
Anonymous
| Are these different from a tape worm? I got one of those in summer camp back in the 80s. |
Anonymous
It's different from tapeworm. |
Anonymous
| My preschooler recently got these from a visiting cousin. They can actually be tricky to get rid of because the eggs can live for up to 3 weeks on surfaces. I had to sanitize all the legos the Kids were playing with and we have a lot of legos so it was pretty terrible. Our pediatrician said to take 2 doses. The second dose is taken two weeks after the first because the medication only kills the adults not the eggs. The second dose takes care of the eggs that hatch later (very gross). We used petroleum jelly to stop the itching at night - also the worms can't move through the petroleum jelly so it cuts down on more egg laying. Washed our bed linens and towels every single day for two weeks - probably overkill but I was so disgusted I didn't care. Reinfections are common because people don't do a good job getting rid of them in the first place. |
Anonymous
| It could be worst...summer of 2012 my three kids all had pinworms AND lice at the same time. I felt like the most disgusting human on the planet. I went through a container of clorax wipes a day. UGHHHHHH |
Anonymous
| OP here. Should we wash our pillows and comforters too? Every single day? I am OK with overkill, but the laundry is killing me! |
Anonymous
|
I washed all bedding, towels and all clothes in hot water with hot dryer every day. Be careful not to shake it around to much because those eggs can get inhaled. I also bagged up all the stuffed animals, toys and sofa cushions for a few weeks.
2 showers a day, before bed and in the morning. The morning is most important. Used paper towels in the bathroom instead of a hand towel for after hand washes. I put Vaseline on the kids' butt crack and Noxema on mine before bed. ( I didn't care for the stickiness of the Vaseline). It was awful. |
Anonymous
| Sofa pillows, not the seat cushions! Vacuumed those. |
Anonymous
I would. Your kids are scratching their bottoms in their sleep and touching their pillows and probably the comforters too. I agree that much laundry is miserable, but it is better to do it thoroughly the first time and not have to endure a repeat episode four to six weeks from now. |