How to tell if your child has pinworms

Worldwide, countless people suffer from pinworm disease, and it occurs in all age groups, but the most common patients with pinworm disease are children aged five to seven. Because the gastrointestinal function of children in this period gradually adapts to the outside world, and they have more collective life in school, they are more likely to suffer from pinworm disease. Many parents worry that their children have pinworms. So how can they be sure that their children have pinworms?

1. Pinworms are worm-like intestinal nematodes that look like a white line and are about 2 cm (half an inch) long. They live in the large intestine of children and are sometimes excreted in the feces of children. Countless white worms can be seen wriggling in the feces, which are pinworms.

2. To determine whether a kindergarten child really has pinworms in his stomach, you can also judge based on the symptoms of pinworm disease. The symptoms of pinworm disease are: it is especially severe at night, affecting sleep, and the child cries and is restless. Due to the extreme itching, scratching causes the skin around the anus to fall off, become congested, and cause rashes and eczema. It may even induce purulent infection. Pinworms burrowing into the intestinal mucosa and mechanical or chemical stimulation in the gastrointestinal tract can cause symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. The metabolic products discharged by the parasites in the body can cause mental excitement, insomnia, and night terrors and finger biting in children. The most common symptoms of pica in children are those in patients with pinworm infection, such as eating lumps of earth, coal slag, and salt.

3. Place the cotton swab in physiological saline, squeeze it dry, wipe the area around the anus, then place the cotton swab in a test tube with saturated saline, shake it thoroughly to wash the eggs into the saline, and then float the eggs to collect them for microscopic examination.

4. Place the cotton swab in sterilized saline, wring it dry before use, wipe the area around the anus, mix well on a slide with 50% glycerol solution, and then examine under a microscope. You can also use the flat head of a toothpick to soak it in 50% glycerol or 1% sodium hydroxide solution, then use it to scrape the wrinkles around the anus. Scrape the scraped material with a coverslip, smear it on a slide, and drop 1 drop of 50% glycerol or 1% potassium hydroxide for microscopic examination.