18 Aug Intestinal Worms For Kids Health

Worms are highly contagious and easily spread between children when scratching their bottom and then carrying the eggs back to their mouths with their hands.  They are also spread by touching contaminated surfaces, such as bed linen, underwear, pyjamas, toilets, food, cutlery, toys, bench tops and sand pits. 

The ingested eggs hatch in the gut where they start to replicate. Worms can also travel into the vagina and into the reproductive tract which can also be difficult to treat.

You can see threadworms if you examine your child at night while they are asleep.  Simply separate your child’s buttocks and shine a torch looking carefully around the anus, and the vagina in girls.  Tiny white threads indicate the presence of worms.

When it comes to parasitic infection, flatworms and roundworms are likely culprits. These two types of parasitic worms can be found in a variety of habitats. They aren’t always visible to the naked eye. 

Treadworms (Pinworms)

Treadworms are tiny, fairly harmless worms. They’re more common in children. These roundworms, when fully matured, live in the colon and rectum. The female lays eggs around the anus, usually during the night. 

The eggs can survive on bedding, clothing, and other materials and children come into contract with them when they touch the eggs and end up putting them in their mouths.

Tapeworm

Your child can get tapeworms which is a type of flatworm, by drinking water contaminated with tapeworm eggs or larvae. Raw or undercooked meat is another way tapeworms can find their way into people.

Tapeworms embed their heads into the wall of the gut (intestines) and remain there. Certain types of tapeworms can produce eggs that mature into larvae that migrate to other parts of the body.

A tapeworm looks like a long, white ribbon. They can grow up to 3 meters (80 feet) long and live in the digestive system for many years.

Flukes

Flukes are a type of flatworm. People are less likely than animals to contract flukes. Raw watercress and other freshwater plants are the main sources of flukes in humans. You can also get them when you drink contaminated water. 

They make their home in your intestines, blood, or tissues. There are many varieties of flukes.

Hookworms

Hookworms are transmitted through feces and contaminated soil. The most common way to make contact with this type of roundworm is to walk barefoot on soil infested with hookworm larvae. They can pierce through the skin. 

Hookworms live in the small intestine, where they attach themselves to the intestinal wall with a “hook.”

Signs and symptoms of children’s worms

• ✅The main sign of threadworms is an itchy bottom and/or vagina.
• ✅Scratching their bottom can cause a red rash around the anus, which can become infected.
• ✅Girls can experience itching around the vagina and a discharge if the worms move into the vagina.
• ✅Teeth grinding
• ✅Nightmares
• ✅Sleep talking
• ✅Pain on urination

Treatment for children’s worms

• ✅Wash bedding and toys in hot water.
• ✅Trim your child’s fingernails and ensure they keep their hands clean.
• ✅Have your child wash their hands in warm soapy water after going to the toilet.
• ✅Treat the whole family with appropriate medication as worms are highly contagious.