What symptoms can determine that a child has worms?

Ratworms are living organisms that appear in the anus and vagina. They are composed of bacteria and can attack at night, causing inflammation around the skin, insomnia, enuresis, and excretion dysfunction. They are especially prone to this disease in children because they do not pay attention to hygiene and do not clean properly, which may lead to ratworms. Parents need to judge based on some symptoms.

Main symptoms

Itching around the anus and perineum, especially at night, restless sleep, and local skin inflammation. In addition, there are also symptoms such as mental restlessness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, or enuresis, insomnia, etc. Occasionally, pinworms crawl into girls' vulva, urethra, and vagina, causing urethritis and vaginitis. If it penetrates into the appendix, it may cause appendicitis.

Clinical manifestations

Most children with this disease have no obvious clinical symptoms. They only cause itching around the anus when the worms crawl out of the anus to lay eggs at night, which can lead to irritability or night terrors in children. In very rare cases where the infection is particularly severe, digestive tract symptoms such as loss of appetite may occur due to the irritation of the intestines by the parasites or the effects of toxins.

The diagnosis of pinworm disease in children is simple. This disease can be considered based on the history of itching around the anus provided by the child or his parents. Then check the anus about 2 hours after the child falls asleep. If adult worms are found, the diagnosis can be confirmed. There are a large number of pinworm eggs stuck to the skin around the anus of the child, and a smear examination of the eggs can also easily help with diagnosis. The disease can heal itself even without treatment, because the life span of pinworms is less than 30 days. The key is to avoid repeated infection.

In clinical practice, the anthelmintic drug "Procambaril" is the first choice for pinworm disease. Secondly, pinworm ointment can be used topically to relieve itching and kill insects. The most important measure to prevent pinworm disease in children is to cultivate good hygiene habits in children, wash hands before meals and after defecation, and not eat unclean food. In collective children's institutions, if children with pinworm disease are found, they should be screened and treated universally to avoid repeated cross-infection.