But once the child is infected, almost any adult who lives in the same household can get the infection. Female worms do their work while the person is asleep. They pass through the anus and lay eggs on the surrounding skin. That’s why personal hygiene is essential in preventing this relatively harmless infection that can be treated with medication.

What Are the Symptoms?

Many people who are infected may not notice or experience the symptoms. But overall, they are easily detectable and recognizable and will include:

• Frequent itching in the anal area, especially at night;
• Sleepless night because of discomfort;
• Skin irritations around the anal area like, rash and pain;
• Presence of pinworms in stools;
• Presence of pinworms in the area of your child’s anus;
• Possible abdominal pain that will come and go;
• Reduced appetite;
• Possible behavioural changes;
• Feeling mildly unwell;
• If worms move to the vagina, they may cause itching and inflammation.

If you notice any or all of these symptoms, contact and consult with your doctor as soon as possible.

What Are the Causes?

This type of infection is highly contagious for everyone. You can get infected by inhaling or ingesting pinworm eggs. These eggs are deposited on a surface by a person that’s already been infected, and the infection starts with their ingestion. They’re microscopic, so you don’t see them enter your body in any way. Once they do, they’ll stop at the intestine, where they’ll hatch and mature. When female worms reach adulthood, they exit the body at night, lay eggs in the anal area and return to the colon. The eggs will hatch and grow into adult pinworms approximately a month later.

These eggs cause itching and discomfort, and the person starts scratching the area, thus easily transferring pinworm eggs on their fingers and fingernails. Eggs can survive there for several hours. By eating or drinking, or touching some contaminated objects like bedsheets, toys, toilet seats or clothes, you’ll transfer them to your body and spread them even more in your surroundings where they can live up to 3 weeks. Children get these infections more often because they put infected objects in their mouths. Luckily, this infection will go away with the help of worm medications.

How to Treat Pinworms?

The first thing you and your doctor should do is diagnose and make sure you have pinworms before receiving treatment. Usually, it’s diagnosed by performing a simple test. Tape is used to collect samples of the anal area early in the morning. If the test comes out positive, there are two ways in treating pinworms. The first is with worm medications. The most common and most effective ones are:

• Pyrantel pamoate
• Mebendazole
• Albendazole

All of these can be prescribed by your doctor, and they’re the most effective way in treating pinworms. Since this infection is highly contangoes, everyone who lives in the house and even the more frequent visitors like caregivers and babysitters should be taking the therapy. This is crucial to prevent further contamination and reinfection. Usually, it takes more than one dose to fix the problem, and 2 or 3 are recommended for a full recovery, with pauses between the doses, of course. Also, using ointments and creams will help with irritation and itching.

The other way of clearing pinworms is by having household cleaning strategies. These include:

• Thorough handwashing with soap and warm water, especially before meals;
• Cutting and cleaning everyone’s fingernails (especially children’s fingernails);
• Frequent showering;
• Changing underwear every morning (and twice a day if needed);
• No more nail-biting;
• Avoid scratching the anal area;
• Washing and drying the clothes, bedsheets and towels with hot water and high heat;
• Not shaking the bedsheets inside;
• Children shouldn’t bathe together;
• Give the house a thorough clean;
• Vacuum all carpeted areas.

What Are the Possible Complications?

Complications caused by pinworm infection are very rare, and most people go by with just worm tablets. But sometimes, things can escalate, and complications may occur. If a female has many pinworms left untreated, they might travel to the vagina and the uterus, fallopian tubes, and pelvic organs. This will lead to urinary tract infections and inflammation known as vulvovaginitis.

The presence of many worms may also lead to abdominal pain, bacterial infections, appendicitis, and abdominal infections. Because they will rob the body of its nutrients, the patient may experience weight loss. Other than this, pinworms can’t cause anything more serious.

What to Do to Prevent Getting Pinworms?

Follow and reinforce these tips in your household, and you’ll see the benefits of their implementation:

• Regular hand washing;
• Be careful after a bowel movement and diaper change;
• No nail-biting;
• Daily showers on your own;
• Frequent underwear change;
• Use hot water and high heat for washing and drying;
• Bring sunlight into the room;
• Don’t share towels;
• Clean potties and toilet seats frequently;
• Take medication.

Because pinworms are very stubborn and can keep on living on bedding for 2-3 weeks, it’s essential to follow these steps to heal faster and go back to your everyday life.

To Summarize

Pinworms are not something that can cause significant health problems if treated the right way. Give up all the unhealthy habits to lower the chances of getting infected and your kids. Getting rid of pinworms with worm treatment is the best option out there, and although it’s pain-free, this treatment can last for a longer period of time. Instead, take good care of the hygiene, and you’ll lower the chance of infection.

Still, it’s not always possible to wash your hands with soap and water, especially when we’re out and about. This is where a hand sanitizer comes in helpful. Sanitizers are gel-like products that contain alcohol and were created to effectively kill germs.

Reasons to Use Antibacterial Sanitizers

Portability – Coronavirus pandemic or not, having an antibacterial hand sanitizer at hand can be a lifesaver in various situations. And since they come in a wide range of options, you can easily find one that’s compact enough to fit in your pocket or bag. They can be your best pal when you’re travelling and can’t find a bathroom to wash your hands before you have a snack, for example.

Decreasing Illness-Related Absenteeism in Schools – The longer kids are absent from school, the more problems they’re going to have when it comes to their learning. With the help of instructions on how to properly wash with water and soap, and how to use hand sanitizer, scientists have shown that it’s possible to cut down on student absenteeism due to gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses, even during seasons of influenza. It’s needless to say that when both kids and parents maintain their hand hygiene, wash up and use sanitizers properly before eating, after being in public places and using the bathroom, there are going to be fewer illnesses spreading among families too.

Moisturizing – As mentioned, the gels, i.e. sanitizers, contain alcohol and that’s why they may not be everyone’s favourites, considering how it’s an ingredient that dries the skin. Luckily though, there are endless options nowadays that you can choose from to curb this issue, like in the instances when you decide to get a sanitizer that also contains moisturizing ingredients such as essential oil extracts.

Additional Uses

You’d be surprised to know there are various other ways you can use an alcohol-based gel, apart from keeping your hands squeaky clean.

Clean Makeup Brushes and Sponges – If you regularly use makeup, you know how difficult it can be to maintain makeup brushes and sponges clean. This daunting process might be the reason you skip cleaning them so often. This, in turn, is a big no-no since they come in contact with your skin and pose a danger to your health. If you feel that it’s too time-consuming, just wash them a bit and rub some sanitizer on them. Finish up by letting them air-dry – you’d be amazed by the outcome.

Clean Heat Styling Hair Tools – Same as with makeup tools, you have to keep your hair styling tools clean as well so that they’re free of both hair products and bacteria. When not in use and not heated, wipe them with some antibacterial sanitizer on a cloth, let them dry for a bit, wipe them again with a dry cloth, and they’ll be ready for use again.

Clean Glasses – One of the major struggles of wearing glasses daily is keeping them clean at all times. In this case, you’d find sanitizers to be your best ally. All you need to do is just apply a bit of sanitizer on both lenses and wipe them with a cloth or a paper towel gently to make them spotless.

Dry Shampoo Substitute – Sometimes you don’t have the time to wash your hair, other times you’re just lazy. Luckily, we live in an era of dry shampooing. But even if you don’t have one at hand, you can use a gel sanitizer instead. Apply a bit of it on your hand and run it through your hair roots. Then, finish up by combing your hair so that it looks refreshed.

Things to Note

As versatile as sanitizers can be, they aren’t magic solutions that simply clean any dirt, all types of germs, or chemicals from your hands. To make the most of them when your hands are particularly greasy or when you’ve been handling any pesticides and other chemicals, for example, it’s still recommended to wash with water and soap first before applying the alcohol gel.

As for germs, there are some like the Clostridium difficile and Cryptosporidium that can’t be killed by sanitizers – you have to wash your hands with soap instead. In other words, resort to using sanitizers only when you don’t have other alternatives, and make sure they have enough alcohol in them to be effective (about 60%).