Where There Is No Doctor 2011 141
Prevention:
Use latrines, wash hands before eating or handling food, protect food from flies,
and follow the guidelines of cleanliness described in the first part of this chapter.
Treatment:
Mebendazole will usually get rid of roundworms. For dosage see p. 373.
Piperazine also works (see p. 374). Some home remedies work fairly well. For a home
remedy using papaya see page 13.
WARNING: Do not use thiabendazole for roundworms. It often makes the worms
move up to the nose or mouth and can cause gagging.
Pinworm, Threadworm, Seatworm (Enterobious)
1 cm. long. Color: white. Very thin and threadlike.
How they are transmitted:
These worms lay thousands of eggs just outside the anus
(ass hole). This causes itching, especially at night. When a
child scratches, the eggs stick under his nails, and are carried
to food and other objects. In this way they reach his own mouth
or the mouths of others, causing new infections of pinworms.
Effect on health:
These worms are not dangerous. Itching may disturb the
child’s sleep.
Treatment and Prevention:
♦ A child who has pinworms should wear tight diapers or
pants while sleeping to keep him from scratching his anus.
♦ Wash the child’s hands and buttocks (anal area) when he
wakes up and after he has a bowel movement. Always wash his hands before
he eats.
♦ Cut his fingernails very short.
♦ Change his clothes and bathe him often—wash the buttocks and nails
especially well.
♦ Put Vaseline in and around his anus at bedtime to help stop itching.
♦ Give mebendazole worm medicine. For dosage, see page 373. Piperazine
also works, but should not be used for babies (see p. 374). When one child is
treated for these worms, it is wise to treat the whole family at the same time.
For a home remedy using garlic, see page 12.
♦ Cleanliness is the best prevention for threadworms. Even if medicine gets rid
of the worms, they will be picked up again if care is not taken with personal
hygiene. Pinworms only live for about 6 weeks. By carefully following the
guidelines of cleanliness, most of the worms will be gone within a few
weeks, even without medicine.