Worms are parasites that live in the human gut. In New Zealand, threadworm (pinworm) is the most common. They spread from person to person, and are prevalent in primary aged children because children play and come into contact with each other more often.

Symptoms

The most obvious sign is an itchy bottom, especially at night, but only one third of children have this. So watch your child for:

• itching around the bottom, typically at night (this is caused by a reaction to the glue used by the worm to attach eggs to the skin)

• irritability and restlessness

• not sleeping well

• tiredness

• lack of concentration

• decreased appetite or weight loss despite eating well

If you think your child might have worms, it’s a good idea to take a look.  The best time to look is at night when the child is asleep. Use a torch to look around the anal area and see if you can see moving worms. They will look like thin, white, wriggling threads about 1-2 cm in length. You should also check the child’s bowel motions as you may see worms on them.

Treatment

If your child does have threadworm, it’s easy to treat with medicine from your local pharmacy. As it is contagious you will need to treat the whole family and repeat the treatment after two weeks. 

• Treat the whole family

• Wash hands thoroughly to prevent re-infection and use a hand sanitiser before eating

• Scrub fingernails and keep them short as eggs can lodge under nails

• While undergoing treatment for worms, shower at night and again the next morning to remove eggs

• Undress children in the shower so that the eggs wash away

• Change underwear daily

• Disinfect toilet seat daily for 1 week after treatment

• Wash bed linen and towels in hot water

• Vacuum carpet and furniture