Bum Grubs!!

[Phteven]

Imran has worms!!! Eeewww!!! He's been whinging and grabbing at his bum and I couldn't see anything wrong so I dragged him off to the Dr. and since she couldn't see any reason that he would be upset about his bum she thinks it must be worms.
I guess he must have caught it from someone at CC since our pets are all wormed reguarly.
Anyways the Dr told us to buy combantrin. So I got the choccy one and dosed him up and Yasin too.
Do I need to re-dose in a week?
Do I need to do me and DH?
Do I need to nuke our bedding and towels and so on?
How long until the combantrin works? Will he sleep better tonight?
Should I keep him back from CC tomorrow so he doesn't spread them?

[Mak]

The very thought it a bit challenging....we have just had the same deal.
The advice I got was that redose was not necessary, to worm all humans at once (us included - apparently BF bubs ~3-4hours after the combantrin was sufficient for her). Washed all bedclothes/towels/PJ's and underwear in hot water (I added Eucalyptis Oil). Apparently the pets are different worms.
He should have some relief almost straight away (DD did) and I believe once they are treated they are ok to go to CC. It is particularly common in thumb suckers too...ewww.

[Bathsheba]

Oh I live in fear of this! My DD had a case of it when she was in her first year of school and must have caught it from another student. I'll never forget the horror of seeing one in the toilet... lucky I saw it though... otherwise I may never have known! I can't remember what i had to do... I just spoke to a chemist.... that was about 10 years ago. Probably time I had a refresher course... my DS is now the same age, and in his first year at school. Geeze, what with head lice and all the other stuff they can catch at school it's a real minefield!

[Just Me]

If you are talking about pinworms, they can exist just about anywhere. Kids can't get them from pets so even if your pets are wormed it doesn't make much difference to this type of worm. If you kids go to a playground and don't wash their hands before they eat or put their hands near their mouths they could unknowingly be swallowing the eggs. They don't have to necessarily have caught them from another person. You can also have them for about 2 months before you have any symptoms because that is how long the female will live in the intestine before making her way to the rectum to lay her eggs (which is what causes the itching).

Once they have them, kids tend to scratch their bottoms during the night as the worms come out at night to lay their eggs. When kids scratch, it gets under their finger nails and then gets reingested and contaminates other surfaces. Probably not what you want to hear but thought you may like to know

They are highly contagious and you should do the whole family at once (I don't think adults notice them as readily as kids). I would follow the packet instructions about redosing. Combantrine and other pin worm treatments are highly effective. Though the worms are highly contagious so don't be surprised if they come back to visit again.

The best prevention of pinworms is to wash your hands before eating and drinking and especially after using the bathroom. Some of the contaminated surfaces to think about are:

bed linens
towels
clothing (especially underwear and pajamas)
toilets
bathroom fixtures
food
drinking glasses
eating utensils
toys
kitchen counters

Hope that helps

[Rivlas]

When the DD's were primary school age we gave them a dose every year. It is really common during primary school years. Give the dose at night then shower them in the morning and wash all bedding, towels and clothes and hang outside then pop in the dryer for a few minutes.
We had school nurses in those days and this was her recomondation.
Head lice and worms are just part of primary school life and if your kids get a free run well done.

[Phteven]

What do I need to clean with to kill them?
For washing I've been doing hot washes and with a soak cycle and napi-san. It's raining so they're in the dryer. I know the sun would be better but there is rain forcast to the end of the week so it won't happen.
For cleaning I usually use method or vinegar. Are they strong enough for wiping down the surfaces or do I need to buy some kind of hospital grade stuff like the dettol one?
The Dr said they are probably thread worms. Is that the same as a pin worm because I bought the one that kills threadworms, hookworms and one other?

[Marlene]

Wow, I was just talking to DH about worms tonight!

My MIL for some strange and unexplained reason decided to phone me today (she lives 7 hours way) and ask if I had wormed the kids lately and if my niece had been wormed lately as my SIL has a dog.
You can't even catch them from dogs, can you?
Are there any other symptoms, besides scratching? As far as I know my kids have never had worms...well, I've never wormed them Oh dear, in 16 years I have never wormed my kids.

They have had heaps of head lice though

[Pandora]

This is from the Royal Childrens Hospital website

Unfortunately, repeat infection is very common. To help reduce this and to prevent the threadworms from spreading to others, you can take the following precautions:

• Treat all other family members at the same time. Adults can also get threadworms.
• It is not necessary to "worm" the family when you worm the family pets-dogs and cats do not get threadworms or pass them on the people.
• Encourage your child not to scratch, despite the itching.
• Keep your child’s fingernails clean and trimmed. Stop children from nailbiting or thumb sucking.
• Have your child wash his/her hands with warm soapy water for at least 10 seconds after going to the toilet.
• Launder bedding and toys in hot water.
• Vacuum often, to remove any eggs.
• Discourage your child from eating food that has fallen on the floor.

[Just Me]

Pin worm and thread worm are the same thing.

They are not overly resilient parasites so washing in a regular wash and hanging things on the line or in the dryer should be enough to kill them (I don't think they would withstand the heat overly well).

Me and my DH were both wormed every 6 - 12 months by our parents when we were kids. They are a really common parasite - I think a lot of people probably don't know they have it until their bottoms start to itch.

Combantrine is fine for killing them and will easily do the job. I think the dosing instructions are different for different types of worms so as long as you read the packet and follow the instructions you will be fine.

[Jellyfish]

All this talk of worms and lice... anyone else feeling a bit itchy?

[Rivlas]

What townsvillegirl wrote was what I would have so she saved me doing it.

Combantrine was what I used so it must work as that was over 15 years ago and still working well.