Table of contents:
- How pinworms infect the body and cause disease
- Does this also apply to adults?
- How to prevent pinworm infection?
Worms that enter the body are not just the theme of an alien film sci-fi, that you probably watch frequently. In the real world, it is quite possible to enter your body and infect you. One of the worms that often infect humans is pinworms. Curious what happens if these worms grow and develop in your body?
How pinworms infect the body and cause disease
Pinworms (Enterobius vermicularis) females are about 8-13 millimeters long, while males are shorter at around 2-5 millimeters. Adult pinworms reproduce by laying eggs.
Pinworms are parasitic. Therefore, these animals need a host body in order to reproduce, and the human body is one of the hosts for them to survive.
When you walk plug it in on the ground or touching objects contaminated with human or animal feces containing pinworms, without washing your hands or washing your feet afterward, worm larvae can enter the body.
In the body, the larvae will hatch, then grow up and lay eggs again. Well, these eggs will stay in the anal area, while large worms will exit the body through the anus with feces.
When this happens, you will experience various symptoms, such as:
- Itching around the anus or vaginal area, more common at night
- Lack of rest
- Stomach ache
- Feel nauseous
- There are worms in feces
Usually, when infected, you will feel very itchy in the anus. However, the deployment is not over there. When you feel itchy and then scratch the anal area, the egg will easily transfer to your hand.
Worm eggs can last several days on hand. So if you handle other things or make contact with other people, without washing your hands first, the eggs will transfer to other people.
Well, eggs will enter when unwittingly using a hand contaminated with worms to eat. On clothing or other items, worm eggs can live up to 2-3 weeks. Therefore, the actual transmission of pinworm infection is very easy and fast.
Does this also apply to adults?
Yes, although worms are identical to children, the fact is not always the case. The reason is, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pinworm infection is the most common and common worm disease. So, anyone can get this infection from children, adults, even people who are elderly. However, there are several groups of people who are more at risk of developing this infection:
- Toddlers and school age children, usually at this time they don't pay attention to personal hygiene. So you are more at risk of having an infection.
- People caring for infected children or adults.
- People who do not care about personal hygiene, especially do not get in the habit of washing their hands before eating.
- Children who have a habit of biting their nails or sucking their thumbs.
How to prevent pinworm infection?
Worms are easy to cure, but they are even easier to relapse. So, what you have to do is prevent pinworms from entering the body. There are various preventive measures, namely:
- Always make it a habit to wash your hands with running water and soap, especially after going to the shower and before eating.
- Trim and always clean finger nails
- Do not bite your nails, this is very easy for pinworms to enter the body. If your little one does it, stop the habit.
- Keep your body clean by taking a shower every day. Usually this type of worms will breed at night, so bathing in the morning is very important to remove worm eggs that may be in the body.
- Change your clothes and underwear every day.
- You can use hot water to wash clothes to ensure that they are clean from worms and other germs.
