How do I know if my child has threadworms?

The main sign is an itchy bottom, particularly at night, sometimes with disturbed sleep. You may see tiny white thread-like worms in poo or around the bottom, especially at night.

How do you catch threadworms?

Worm eggs spread on hands and surfaces — children scratch, eggs get under fingernails, and are swallowed again or passed to others via toys, bedding and food. They spread very easily in households and schools.

How are threadworms treated?

With a single-dose medicine from a pharmacy, usually repeated after 2 weeks, taken by everyone in the household. Alongside it, two weeks of strict hygiene — handwashing, short nails, daily underwear changes, washing bedding — breaks the reinfection cycle.

Why does the whole family need treating?

Eggs spread so easily within a household that others are often infected without symptoms. Treating everyone at once stops the worms simply passing back around.

Threadworms | HealthAnswers

Quick answer

What is threadworms?

Threadworms are tiny white worms that infect the gut and cause an itchy bottom, especially at night. They are extremely common in children and easily treated with a single-dose medicine from a pharmacy — taken by everyone in the household — along with strict hygiene for two weeks.

What are threadworms?

Threadworms are tiny white worms — like short pieces of thread — that infect the gut. They are extremely common, especially in young children, and while the idea is unpleasant, they are harmless and easy to treat.

Symptoms

The classic sign is an itchy bottom, worse at night, when the worms lay their eggs. You might also notice:

tiny white worms in poo or around the bottom
disturbed sleep or irritability
in girls, sometimes itching around the vagina

Many infected people have no symptoms at all, which is partly why they spread so easily.

How they spread

Eggs are laid around the bottom, cause itching, get onto fingers and under nails through scratching, and are then swallowed again or spread to others via hands, surfaces, toys, bedding and food. The cycle repeats — which is exactly what treatment aims to break.

Treatment

Treatment has two parts, both essential:

Medicine — a single-dose treatment from a pharmacy, usually repeated after two weeks, taken by everyone in the household at the same time.
Hygiene for two weeks — frequent handwashing (especially before eating and after the toilet), keeping nails short, daily underwear changes, washing bedding and nightwear, and discouraging scratching and nail-biting.

The hygiene measures matter because the medicine kills the worms but not the eggs, which can survive for around two weeks.

When to see a GP

See a GP rather than a pharmacist for children under 2 and during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or if the infection has not cleared after proper treatment and hygiene.

Common questions

How do I know if my child has threadworms?: The main sign is an itchy bottom, particularly at night, sometimes with disturbed sleep. You may see tiny white thread-like worms in poo or around the bottom, especially at night.
How do you catch threadworms?: Worm eggs spread on hands and surfaces — children scratch, eggs get under fingernails, and are swallowed again or passed to others via toys, bedding and food. They spread very easily in households and schools.
How are threadworms treated?: With a single-dose medicine from a pharmacy, usually repeated after 2 weeks, taken by everyone in the household. Alongside it, two weeks of strict hygiene — handwashing, short nails, daily underwear changes, washing bedding — breaks the reinfection cycle.
Why does the whole family need treating?: Eggs spread so easily within a household that others are often infected without symptoms. Treating everyone at once stops the worms simply passing back around.

Sources

NHS — Threadworms