Pinworms in children

Sometimes it happens that the night sleep of the child becomes very restless. Peacefully falling asleep from the evening, closer to midnight, the baby starts to fidget, spin, sometimes moaning and scratching the ass. Closer to 2-3 o'clock in the morning similar phenomena subsided, and the child quietly sleeps until the morning. Many inexperienced parents tend to associate such behavior with an excess of daytime impressions, excitability and the characteristics of the nervous system, but in most cases the reason is much more prosaic - similar symptoms may indicate that the child has enterobiasis (or, if you say it is simple, pinworms).

Pinworms in children - a phenomenon not uncommon. This is explained very simply - this kind of parasites is very easily transmitted from person to person. Some moms and dads, when they learn that their kid has pinworms, accuse pets, as well as stray cats and dogs, who, unfortunately, often leave traces of their life on children's playgrounds. However, despite the fact that four-legged friends are really capable of "rewarding" a person with a lot of parasites, in the case of pinworms they are absolutely not to blame - this kind of helminths lives only in the human body.

What are the pinworms? These are round helminths, the size of which ranges from 2-3 mm (male) to 10-11 mm (female), having an elongated shape with pointed tips (hence the name of this parasite). It is noteworthy that a female pinworm at one time lays a huge amount (several thousand) of eggs oblong in shape. Inhabitants enterobiosis in the small and large intestines.

The most common pinworms in children, although the infection of adults is also not something exceptional. Infection occurs as follows. The female of this helminth crawls out of the anus and lays eggs in the folds around the anus, after which it dies. The whole process takes place mainly at night and is accompanied by severe itching in the anus of the anus, so that the child (and the adult too) starts to itch and the eggs fall under his nails. And then maybe several options for the development of events. A man infected with pinworms can again swallow the eggs of parasites, thereby re-infecting himself, or can transfer them further (by playing, shaking hands, etc.) and infect someone else. In addition, pinworm eggs are easily shaken off from bed linen, pajamas and toys and literally "scattered" throughout the room. Therefore, doctors believe that in a house where pinworms are found in children, antiparasitic treatment should be passed by all family members, otherwise it will not be possible to get rid of such a misfortune.

There are common signs of pinworms:

• Night itch (which is most pronounced between 23-24 and 2-3 hours of the night);
• stomach ache;
• Disorders of stool (usually causeless diarrhea, arising from time to time);
• In girls - inflammation of the genital organs (vulvitis, vulvovaginitis), provoked by creeping helminths.

In principle, pinworms in children most often do not cause serious complications (unlike many other helminths), but to let the situation take its course is by no means impossible. After all, in any case, pinworms lead to intoxication of the body, and, in addition, in some cases, they are capable of provoking an inflammation of the appendix (appendicitis). Especially dangerous are the pinworms for girls, as they can cause various gynecological problems.

Of course, parents have a question, than to treat pinworms in a child. The most important thing you need to know is that you should not try to cope with the situation yourself, especially when it comes to pharmacy products or traditional medicine with unproven efficacy (or with unclear consequences for health in general). In the event that the child has a pinworm a little, then you can do nothing at all (we are talking about medications). Suffice it every evening to put on your baby panties with elastic bands or pajamas that need to be washed and ironed daily, shortly cut off his nails (so that the worm eggs do not stay behind) and wash hands thoroughly, and also lubricate the area of the anus with fat cream (Vaseline ), Which impedes the movement of females and the laying of eggs. Also, daily ironing of bed linens and wet cleaning of premises is necessary. In addition, you should wash or steam treat all the toys of the child. These measures will avoid re-infection, and given that live pinworms in the intestine for not more than a month, the disease will go away by itself (in order for the eggs to grow a full-fledged living specimen, they need to go through the human digestive tract and again get into the intestines).

However, such measures do not always work (for example, with intensive invasion). In such cases, medications are prescribed, which today there are quite a lot. However, the doctor who can choose the one that suits a particular child (taking into account an anamnesis), and also to prescribe the correct dosage and the frequency of reception (which is very important!).