Threadworm treatment

What causes threadworms?

Threadworms are spread when their eggs are ingested. This commonly happens when the eggs get under your fingernails from surfaces or food and are then swallowed. Once swallowed, these eggs will then hatch in the large intestine. The newly hatched worms will then grow into adults which lay their own eggs and the whole cycle starts again.

At night, female threadworms exit the anus to lay eggs around it. Because this causes itching, people tend to scratch their bottom, which gets the eggs under their fingernails. These people then spread the eggs when they touch other surfaces. The eggs can live for up to two weeks outside the body, so the risk of infection is very high.

What are the symptoms of threadworms?

If you have threadworms you’ll usually be able to see them in your stools or on your bedsheets. The worms look like a thin, white thread and are around one centimetre in length. They tend to cause itching around the vagina or anus, particularly at night. This itchiness can wake you up. Less common symptoms can include bed-wetting, weight loss and irritated skin around the anus or vagina.

Can threadworms lead to other problems?

It’s rare that threadworms lead to any serious problems. The main ones you’ll notice are irritated skin around the anus from frequent scratching or sleep problems if the itching regularly wakes you up during the night.

Even though this might not sound severe, it’s still important that you get treatment for your threadworms as soon as they are diagnosed. This minimises the risk of the worm spreading to other people. Treating threadworm early also lessens the risk of it spreading to other areas of the body and causing diseases. Although this risk is rare, it is still worth mitigating.