Give me all the info I need to deal with Threadworms

[Roundandroundtheapartment]

Letter came home from school a few weeks ago so as a precaution I washed everything!
Went a bit mad on the hand washing so thought we were safe but alas it wasn’t to be
Please give me the essential list of how to get rid of the little buggars —worms not kids— and keep them away!!! Please!

Go to the pharmacy and get Ovex. Enough for two doses for everyone living in your house. All of you take one dose at the same time. Repeat two weeks later.

It's the only thing that works IME.

Buy the treatment and treat everyone in the family then again in two weeks..

Keep up with cleaning - hoovering, wiping surfaces, even things like remote controls, door handles and mobile phones (be careful) and bedding changes. Most importantly keep up with the hand hygiene and wipe bottoms in the morning to remove any eggs. I found it easier to bathe my DS every morning when we had them, rather than his usual evening bath. Clean towels for everyone too.

Do you own a steam cleaner? When my DS had worms, I steamed everything every day for two weeks 🙈

I found it incredibly hard work. I'm already a clean freak but it made me worse. But we've clear of them for two or more years now (thank god).

I take steps to try prevent them (or stop an infestiation before it gets worse). These include:

1. Changing bedding weekly which tbh I've always done anyway.
2. Hoovering the whole house most days.
3. Wiping remote controls, door handles, bin lids, phones, toys etc.
4. Keeping on top of usual cleaning
5. Regularly wiping my DD's changing mat.
6. Mopping most days
7. Washing cushion covers, throws etc.

Like I said, I've always been a clean freak but I actually don't think I've ever got over DS having them and it made my borderline OCD worse! 🙈

TBH all that cleaning is more about you doing something that makes you feel better, rather than actually making a difference to the situation. I never did all the cleaning, and the two doses of medication sorted out each infestation.

We used to have them once or twice a year while dc2 was at preschool. Once dc2 was at school, the infestations stopped. Then we had another infestation when dc3 started preschool, one more infestation while at preschool, and then never again once dc3 started school. So I doubt our home hygiene had anything to do with it.

The key thing is to treat everyone as soon as you notice the problem in anyone in the household.

Really you should have treated when you got the letter and then a couple of weeks later. It’s so easy to pick up and injest an egg, especially in schools.

Ovex now and in 2 weeks.

Unfortunately you can not treat everyone under twos, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers can not take them.
The eggs can lay on surfaces for upto 2 weeks so hygiene is important.

The eggs are so tiny that they can float in the air, so even stripping the bed to wash the bedding can spread them.

I've had 3y when neither I nor a baby/toddler could take the medicine, and none of us 'untreated' were infected. The key is to treat ASAP. Though we did ensure that everyone wore pants/nappy at all times and did lots of hand washing with nail brush until we were sure the infestation was cleared.

I'm not saying that deep-cleaning doesn't work, just that it may add an extra level of stress that a busy and anxious parent may not need.

Prob is a lot of the time parents do not realise their children has worms esp if not had them before.
So by the time they do the whole house is infected and there is eggs all over the place.
Not saying people should get stressed (I used to be that parent).
But I find changing bedding,hoover house,mopping floors and wiping over door handles toys etc each time the med is used and using the meds asap and 2 weeks later (for those that can take it) does the trick.
16 years and mine (mostly my son with autism as hygiene,eating non edibles is awful and then spreading it) have had it 4 times.
And of course I can spot the signs now, so its so much easier to know when to give meds asap.

As well as the above, I made sure dc wore underpants if no longer in nappies, then changed out of them in the morning and washed bottoms in the shower. I did this for around a week, and also put the laundry in a separate carrier bag rather than laundry basket.
Good luck getting rid of them, still gives me the heebie jeebies thinking about them. Ugh!

I caught them when I was working at a university and they kept coming back despite the Ovex. The only way I got rid of them for good was months of constant hand washing. Horrible things.