Threadworms letter from school

[GeorginaA]

Ds1 has just come home with a threadworms letter from school (i.e. there is a case in school, buy Ovex).

I'm a threadworms novice - I have no reason to suspect ds1 has them. Are you supposed to treat regardless just because someone in the class has them?! I'm confused...

No. That's a bit weird. You treat the whole family if one has worms, but not if someone in school does fgs.

Perhaps they just want you to be vigilant because the eggs can spread from fingers onto toys/books etc, then into other kids.

To be fair, it was just a very vague letter. It didn't really explain whether the treatment was for everyone now or just if you thought you had them (although it did mention in the advertising literature to "treat the whole family").

So I should just ignore it and keep an eye open for small wriggly things?!

I went into work yesterday and there was a poster up reporting incidents of 1. Head Lice, 2. Hand Foot & Mouth and 3. Impetigo. I said the only one missing was worms but it might be on there next time I'm in

Oh Yuk! Isn't parenting a trial at times?
I remember being in the chemist a few months ago buying worm pills and nit treatment at the same time.

If you haven't come across worms yet Georgina you're lucky. Long may it last. If your kids are going to get it (and there's a good chance they won't) they'll get really itchy bums at night. Horribly itchy. That's probably the first you'll know about it.

Shine a torch into the area to check for wriggly things and take it from there.

Fingers crossed you'll never need to know any of this.

shudder

fingers AND toes crossed I think!

Thanks - will keep an eye open.

shudders some more

spidermama, you think that's bad - dd2 and I had headlice and threadworms simultaneously - and I'm b/fing so couldn't use any chemist remedies!!!!

Georgina - if you get your kids to not only wash their hands when they come home from school, but also to scrub under their nails, you should reduce the likelihood of them picking them up. The eggs can live for up to a fortnight without a host, and often lurk in school sandpits and the like.

ok I have now scared everyone away with my confession

LOL

Haven't scared me away - that sounds horrible - poor you

We've avoided nits so far. We comb through every weekend and using tea tree shampoo in the vague hope that will scare the little jumpy buggers away - or it could just be a combination of very short hair and luck!

I currently make ds1 always wash his hands before dinner - but you think it's worth making them wash his hands immediately he walks in the door? Hmm, can see getting him to use a nailbrush will be fun lol.

Just that it cuts down on the chances of him sticking his fingers in his mouth and ingesting the eggs, if he has picked them up. (eg if he picks his nose and eats it)

Good point

Sorry to make the thread works seem even worse, but you can also inhale the eggs....they are very very small. If you breathe them, in the lungs clear them out (with dirt, bacteria etc) in mucus which you swallow...this happens all the time btw. Once swallowed they hatch!

[puke emoticon]

EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Tell me that's really rare though, please?!

Sorry!

Being extra carefulwith hand washing etc helps. You should also get the kids to wear knickers in bed, and well and night things. That way the eggs tend to stay in the clothig, which you can hot wash and kill the eggs. If the eggs end up in the bed, you make the bed, you risk inhaling them.

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Well we did the torch test on ds1 last night - no scenes out of alien

Sympathy please.....

Try chemotherapy (me) followed by threadworm discovery 36 hours later (dd).

I've had to have the bloody treatment too, which has upset my stomach even more (if that were possible).

YUCK.

realsympathy to you natch
meanwhile...
oi lala hat thread on style

ugh lalaa [lots of sympathy coming your way]

one of the most common ways of spreading them is through a sandbox if they have one - the eggs get under the kids nails and hence into the sand.

its really not a big deal

dd1 has had them twice, ovex kills them overnight

Miaou, if the super-hygiene thing doesn't shift them, I would take the drugs. Or at least talk to a BF supporter line about it. I took them when DS2 was 9 months old or so (older than your DS, I know). I think they say not-while-BF only because they haven't tested them on BF mothers.

ovex comes in a orange flavour tablet or a bananan liquid