Worms again............

[babycino]

hi, have just come to horrible realisation that ds may have worms....mainly due to him saying at breakfast mum got itchy bum....and would seem to explain some recent behaviours....waking up screaming/shouting in night for 'no' reason...eg not nightmares, increase in appetite etc DH checked bum not seen anything but understand can't allways see them off to get medicine but wanted to check re hygene frenzy - assume boil wash bedding/ clothes etc - what about pillow/duvet & teddies as none of them say suitable for high temperature washing and don't want to ruin them esp the teddies... what to do... please advise befuddled mum .........

also....what about quarantine can he go to play school/play with friends etc? thanks

I don't think you need to boil wash everything. Certainly bedding, towels, pjs on a 60 wash should suffice. Damp dust and vacuum also. You need to treat the whole family. Double up at night, ie underwear and pjs. Keep nails short and clean. Wash bottom after every poo with cotton wool and water.

Worms are very common. We have had a couple of times. We haven't had it for a couple of years and I think it's because I've gone all Howard Hughes regarding bottom washing and nail scrubbing!

LOL at Detta-Howard-Hughes

Think that covers everything. dd1 had them once, and I didn't boil wash - 60 is plenty for bedding. I bagged up excess teddies, for over 3 weeks (by which time any eggs would have died), and washed the necessary ones at 40 degrees. I read on the Oz national worm info website (can't remember what it was called, but seemed very up to date and sensible) that its fine washing at lower temps, as long as you don't overstuff your machine - so that there is good drainage.

I kept washing favourite teddies every couple of days for the first week after treatment, and I dosed us all again after two weeks, then again a week later for good measure

And no quarantine necessary. I told dd's pre-school at the time, and asked them to keep an eye on handwashing - that was it. They were utterly unphased, kids get worms, thats life!

thanks a lot......seems a less scary process now...