Causes, symptoms and treatment for Pinworms

Pediatrician Tamiko Jordan, MD, shares advice on dealing with Pinworm, including the causes, symptoms, and best treatments for Pinworms
The Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments For Pinworm
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Causes, symptoms and treatment for Pinworms

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Pinworms are caused by a tiny, harmless worm called Enterobius. It's about the size of a staple. The way you get it is you ingest an egg not knowing it. They're microscopic. And the eggs mature inside into a worm. The worm lives inside your body. You don't feel a thing. The problem is when the adult female egg comes out to lay her eggs, usually at night. She comes out the same way your poop comes out, out of the rectum, she lays the eggs there, and that can cause extreme itching. So some people even lose sleep from this itching but don't even know why they're scratching. Then the next morning, they touch things - bathroom fixtures, or cups and spoons - and they spread the infection to other people. The way this is treated, if your doctor suspects it, is with a simple anti-worm medication. One of them could be called mebendazole. You take it once. and then you may repeat it a week later. The other thing is to really try to limit the spread to other people. So you want to try to keep the affected person's nails very short. Wash their hands first thing when they get up in the morning. And clean underneath their nails. And make sure you wash all your bed linens.

Pediatrician Tamiko Jordan, MD, shares advice on dealing with Pinworm, including the causes, symptoms, and best treatments for Pinworms

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Tamiko Jordan, MD

General Pediatrician, Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Dr. Jordan was born in Riverside, California and received her medical degree from Saint Louis University School of Medicine.  She completed her pediatric residency at Cedars Sinai Medical Center and has since worked in many different settings.  Currently she is an attending pediatrician at the Altamed General Pediatric Clinic at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where she teaches pediatric residents and sees her own patients in private practice.  She has been featured on ABC7 and FOX11 news as well as the Patt Morrison Show on 89.3 KPCC.  Her latest project is the asthma clinic at Altamed, where she can spend more time educating patients and parents about optimizing their asthma care and minimizing ER visits and lost school days.  

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