Help, I've got worms!

[harryetta]

No itching, but today have had a weird crawling sensation around my bum. Just had a look with a mirror and I literally saw one crawl out and I feel utterly disgusting. What do I need to do? I can buy some otc medication tomorrow. I share a bed with my daughter and have lots of cuddly toys on the bed that she brings with her every night. She has SEN. How often and for how long do I need to wash bedsheets? The toys aren'y washable - what do I do with them? How on earth do I stop them spreading over the house/onto door handles?

I'm struggling not to freak out right know after seeing a worm crawl out of my arse -shudders-

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/threadworms/
This is a good summary.

Buy some Ovex tomorrow and dose everyone, wash bedding.

It works really fast so should clear it up easily

it’s nothing to be alarmed about we all get them. Should really be treating the whole family once a year.

It was seeing it crawl out that freaked me out. I can feel them and I hate worms. Knowing I have them literally crawling about in me makes me feel sick. I just really don't like and kind of worm 🤢

Do you think it would be ok to just quarantine the soft toys for a couple of weeks? They can't go in the washing machine!

Don't worry, while it's gross it's very common, especially with small kids who bring lots of bugs and what not into the house. My daughter has had worms a few times and it grosses me out, but she picks it up in creche I think and I'm forever telling her to wash her hands. Go to the pharmacy tomorrow and get an over the counter liquid medicine. It's called Vermox in Ireland had everyone in the household has to take it as a precaution (5mls) and again 2 weeks later in case there were eggs that weren't killed off with the first round of medicine. You'll need to wash sheets, etc on a high wash and dust and clean door handles / toy areas that your child might use. Can you check your child tomorrow for worms? Also, maybe put vaseline around the outside area for you and child, as worms find it hard to crawl out from the slippiness. Good luck

As a microbiologist, I can tell you. The worms are not the only thing living on you.🤣 sorry but it’s just the way that it is. They are very common and all you need to do is treat yourself and your family once a year.

You could put the soft toys in a hot dryer.

Thank you! I will certainly be setting a reminder after today!

They're all hand knitted toys from her grandma so I might just have to put them somewhere until the eggs die!

We do not ALL get them, thanks. Worms are caused by poor hand hygiene after going to the toilet. I had them a few times as a kid. Why? Because I didn't always wash my hands - and I'd also bite my nails. Basically, the eggs live under your nails, you ingest them when you bite and they turn into worms.
After a few doses of the hell that is Pripsen, I became an obsessive handwasher and, unsurprisingly, haven't had them since.

Would putting the toys in the freezer kill the eggs?

Well I wash my hands regularly and thoroughly, every time I use the loo, before I cook and after etc, and I still managed to get them!

Recently dc had them they are in p1 I was shocked to see them but they complained of a sore tummy the day before. Treated whole family with ovex and a second dose 2 weeks later. I read multiple threads that apparently u can take it up to three days in a row and some countries in Europe prescribe like this. I washed all bed sheets daily for the first 3 days and put Vaseline around his bottom the worms come out at night to lay eggs to plenty of Vaseline stops this. Also wash bums every morning with soap and warm water. Vacuum daily for 3 days, separate hand towels bath towels etc wash bath towels after every use but the most important thing is washing hands before eating and being so careful not to put them to ur mouth. DC cleared up after about a week and luckily no one else caught them. i may have went OTT but this was the advice gathered from me reading numerous previous threads to ensure they completly go away

So these would likely be from your child then, touching things around the house with unwashed hands, for example, then you touching those same things after and picking up the eggs that way.

Would freezing the toys kill worms?

Do we? 😳

I understand this, you just insinuated that they only really come from.poor hand hygiene. My child is in year one. Absolutely she might have forgotten to wash hands at school (likely), but it could also come from playdoh, toys, board games etc (I'm assuming anyway!).

Can you pop the soft toys in a bag and put them in the freezer? Or will that ruin the knitting?

They just won't fit because I have one of those tiny above the fridge freezers. Think I'm just going to quarantine them for a few weeks. She won't mind!

No of course we don't. Not much point if you currently don't have them...

You could put the cuddly toys in a hot car in the sun - the inside of a car gets so dang hot that it'll kill many a bug. Other than that the freezer idea is the way forward. Worm eggs can happily survive for a while.

As for treatment - people have given you the name of the OTC drug people normally use, though you can always as your GP if that one doesn't work.

As for how to avoid this stuff: handwashing, keeping nails short, making sure your kids/you don't walk around outside in bare feet on dirt (especially if you have wild animals in the area), and make sure all outdoor shoes are left downstairs and aren't worn around the house. You don't want to be overly upset about it - kids can be freaked out at the notion of worms! - so I'd probably keep that diagnosis to yourself rather than worrying the kiddos with it.

Do you have any pets? It's important of course to always de-worm pet dogs and cats (and certain other pets too). If you live near/on a farm the chances of getting worms are higher because many farmyard animals have them - it's particularly fun at this time of year because all the new lambs need to be treated for the damned things - and any sheep that are moved around need to be treated too. Horses and cattle can also have them - so there are a myriad of vectors for the darned things. And then there are the wild animals that frequent gardens/play parks etc etc.

I think some people will frown at the notion that everyone gets worms at some point, or that people should be treating their family every year for them. That simply is not true. It may be the case that some people are more prone to them based on their lifestyle (again, working with farm animals, not having good hand washing facilities, playing very muddy sports on fields that are also used by dog walkers etc etc) but using medication when it isn't needed is a bad idea.

Exactly this: little children are rubbish at remembering to wash their hands - and also remembering not to touch dirty stuff. And, even if your child is good at hand washing at home it may well be the case that they have little buddies who are not and are sharing all kinds of stuff when they are at school. That's just bad luck really.

Hopefully you'll just have to do the treatment once, wash all the bed linens /underoos/towels etc and be done with it. It's a pain in the ass (literally) but could be a bunch worse. If you want to see what "much worse" can look like then google the size of a tapeworm that can live in a sperm whale's guts.

I thought threadworms weee human specific and can not be caught from dogs or animals??

I thought something like 45% of the population gave them but are unaware of it.