Pinworms

Prevention

Everyone in a household with pinworms must adhere to the following:

Do's

• Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently with soap and water, and scrub under the fingernails. Before eating, after going to the toilet, and after changing diapers, make sure to wash hands.
• At night, wear close-fitting underwear. Be sure to change underwear every morning. Wash underwear hot water > 40 ⁰C. Use a hot iron to iron the underwear.
• Wear cotton gloves, which may help prevent scratching during sleep.
• Shower every morning and change underwear daily. This helps removes a large proportion of eggs.　During showers, thoroughly clean the body, paying particular attention to the anal and vaginal areas. Showering is preferred to avoid contaminating bath water.
• Wash towels, bedding and cuddly toys in hot water > 40⁰C especially after each treatment of the infected person and after each usage of washcloths until infection is cleared.
• Cut fingernails short.
• Vacuum the home thoroughly, especially the bedrooms including the mattress, floors and toys. Vacuuming needs to be regular and thorough throughout the six-week period.
• Damp-dust surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom, washing the cloth often in hot water regularly.
• Open curtains in bedrooms during the day as the eggs are sensitive to light.

Don'ts

• Do not co-shower or co-bathe with other family members.
• Do not share towels or flannels.
• Do not shake things that may have eggs on them, such as clothing, pyjamas, bed linen, or towels, in order to prevent eggs from spreading through the air.
• Do not eat in the bedroom. There is a risk of swallowing eggs that have shaken off the bedclothes.
• Refrain from nail biting and finger sucking for every member of the household.

When the infestation has gone, good hand-washing practice and hygiene will help prevent re-infection. Good hygiene can prevent another outbreak even if children pick up another pinworm infection from friends at school.

The information above is also available for download in pdf format.