Get Detailed Information on Pinworms

The pinworm, also known medically as Enterobius Vermicularis, is a 2-13 mm white nematode that lives as an adult in the colon,caecum (a portion of the large intestine) and/or the appendix of humans.

A pinworm infection is an intestinal infection caused by pinworms. The infection occurs after pinworm eggs are ingested. Pinworm infections are common in young children and are easily treated. In females, pinworm infection can spread to the vagina and cause a vaginal discharge. Pinworm infections are also called: seatworm infection, threadworm infection, enterobiasis, and oxyuriasis.

Pinworms are slender, white, threadlike worms about a third of an inch long that can infest the intestinal tract. Pinworm, the most common worm infection in the U.S., is a mild but annoying and disruptive childhood infection.

The best way to reduce the risk of spreading an infection is to avoid scratching the anal area, washing your hands thoroughly (especially after a bowel movement), and keeping your fingernails clean. The tendency to lapse in performing these practices explains why pinworm infection is much more common in young children than in adults.

Pinworm infection is a large intestine infection caused by a small, white worm called a pinworm, seatworm, or threadworm. The medical name for the pinworm is Enterobius vermicularis, also called a helminth. The pinworm is about the length of a staple. It lives for the most part within the rectum of humans. While an infected person is asleep, female pinworms leave the intestines through the anus and deposit eggs on the skin around the anus. Because pinworm infection is caused by Enterobius vermicularis, the infection is also called enterobiasis (or helminthiasis).

E vermicularis lives in the small intestines, primarily the ileocecal region. The gravid female migrates to the anus and deposits eggs in the perianal skin folds, usually at nighttime. The movement of the female and the ova cause intense local itching. Ova may survive for up to 3 weeks before hatching. The hatched larvae can then migrate back into the anus and lower intestine, causing retroinfection. Embryonated eggs may be released into the air or onto fomites (eg, bedding, clothing, toys, paper money) or onto hands and then placed directly into the mouth and swallowed (autoinfection), after which they settle in the small intestines.

Infestation with these parasites begins when pinworm eggs are swallowed and lodge in the intestine, where they hatch and mature. Two to six weeks later, the adult female worm exits down the digestive tract to the skin folds of the anal region, where she deposits her eggs in a sticky substance and then dies.

Enterobiasis is a infestation of the intestine with pinworms.It occurs especially in children. Adult pinworms live in the intestine and colon, and at night the female adult worms deposit their eggs outside the rectum or anal area.

The main treatment is a single dose of either mebendazole or albendazole (anti-parasitic medication), available over-the-counter and by prescription. More than one household member is likely to be infected, so the entire household is often treated. The single dose treatment is often repeated after 2 weeks, in order to treat eggs that hatched since the original treatment.