Threadworms and laundry

[Snifflesinafield]

Hello, we discovered threadworms in one of my DC on Sunday night. The household was treated on Monday night. The bedding of the afflicted child was changed on Monday and this morning, but how long do we need to keep this up? The full 2 weeks? Do we need to wash/clean all the toys? The cuddlys in bed are being washed, but what about the others?

You don't need to keep washing the bedding
When we had it we didn't wash all the toys.

Ah right - I read in a few places that it was important to clean the toys and bedding to stop re-infection but couldn't see for how long anywhere. Thanks.

We put some cuddlies in a bin bag for 3 weeks as we thought that would help

Oof we didn’t do any of that. Just washed bedding twice in the first week after treatment. The medication works ok unless they’re riddled with it. Hand hygiene is far more important.

IME all the laundry makes no difference. Ovex, short nails and regular hand washing help. Ideally keep hands out of mouth but with some kids that is impossible (looking at you DD2)

Make sure you do a second ovex two weeks after the first - this is to catch any that were eggs at the time of the first dose, before they are old enough to lay eggs themselves.

I agree about all the washing not really making any difference. I have found the most effective thing to be to treat the whole family with Ovex on the same day, and again two weeks later. Wash the bedding and pyjamas on the day of treatment but no need for further extra laundry.