Pinworms are spread when an infected person, most often a child, has scratched his/her bare anal area and the eggs get under his/her fingernails.
Pinworms can then be spread in the following ways: By an infected child not washing hands after using the bathroom..
Transmission can occur via contact with contaminated clothes, bedding, personal care products, and furniture.
Fecal-oral is the most common mode of transmission.
Rarely, transmission can occur via inhalation mode when eggs are inhaled and then subsequently swallowed.Aug 1, 2023.
Pinworms - Causes and Risk Factors
Pinworms get into the body when people ingest or breathe in the microscopic pinworm eggs.
These eggs are light and float in the air and can be found on contaminated hands and surfaces, such as: bed linens..
Enterobiasis is contracted by ingesting the eggs of pinworms, which may be carried on fingernails, clothing, toys or bedding.
The eggs may also be inhaled in dust.
The infection may be transmitted to others by hand-to-mouth contact with contaminated food or objects..
Accidentally swallowing or breathing in pinworm eggs causes a pinworm infection.
The tiny (microscopic) eggs can be carried to your mouth by contaminated food, drink or your fingers.
Once swallowed, the eggs hatch in the intestines and mature into adult worms within a few weeks..
Accidentally swallowing or breathing in pinworm eggs causes a pinworm infection.
The tiny (microscopic) eggs can be carried to your mouth by contaminated food, drink or your fingers.
Once swallowed, the eggs hatch in the intestines and mature into adult worms within a few weeks..
History.
The earliest known instance of pinworms is evidenced by pinworm eggs found in coprolite, carbon dated to 7837 BC at western Utah.
Pinworm infection is not classified as a neglected tropical disease unlike many other parasitic worm infections..
Infections begin when pinworm eggs are eaten, usually directly through contaminated hands or indirectly through contaminated food, bedding, clothing or other articles.
The eggs then travel to the gut where they hatch and mature.
A grown pinworm is yellowish white, slender and about one centimetre long..
Pinworm infection occurs when someone swallows pinworm eggs, usually in the following manner: Pinworms lay their eggs on the skin around the anus of an infected person
When that person touches or scratches his or her anus, the eggs stick to the fingers and fingernails
Pinworm infection is primarily a pediatric condition, and parents are typically infected via transmission through their children
Pinworm is prevalent throughout the temperate regions of the world and is the most common helminthic infection in the United States
[ 2, 3]Risk factors for pinworms include poor hygiene, eating after touching contaminated items and living with an individual who is identified as egg positive
The male to female infection frequency is 2 to 1
However, a female predominance of infection is seen in those between the ages of 5 and 14 years
