With less than a month until Labor Day, summer is beginning to collect its belongings in preparation to hit the road. Soon, the windows at summer camps across the country will be shuttered for the fall, and all the children who’ve spent the warm months making friends and roasting s’mores will board busses or jump in the back of Mom’s mini-van to be shuttled home to get ready for the upcoming school year.
Mom and Dad are happy to have their sons and daughters home, but what they may not be considering is what exactly those kids have brought home with them, living quietly in their small intestines… ready to spread!
It may sound like a horror story, but if you and your family are some of the forty million Americans every year who are affected by pinworm, it’s all too real. The most common worm infection in the United States, those most likely to get it are kids and people who provide care for them.
“If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen in a daycare or preschool setting or when children could go back to school in the fall,” said Peter Jay Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
GASP!
Are you scared yet?
You don’t need to be. According to the CDC, half of all children under the age of 18 contract pinworm.
“It’s so easy to spread their eggs,” says Janice Heard, a Calgary-based pediatrician. “They’re in sand, in our houses, and on children.”
Wait, did that make it worse?
Don’t worry. Its commonality means we’ve developed a lot of different ways to help prevent an infection before it happens and to treat it once it does.
PREVENTION
It took us until 1847 to discover the overwhelming importance of hand hygiene, so it’s no surprise if this isn’t the first thing that came to mind for preventing a pinworm infection.
Just like surgeons who began washing their hands before an operation to rid themselves of harmful bacteria, washing your and your children’s hands frequently will remove pinworm eggs that may be hiding there.
Kids’ hands go everywhere. Parents know this. And everywhere includes near their eyes and in their mouths. If eggs are still hiding on their skin, that’s their ticket inside to the big show.
By introducing a steady regimen of handwashing after your child has interacted with other kids or spent time outside, you can reduce the chances that pinworm finds its way into your home.
TREATMENT
As we’ve discussed in previous blogs, prescription pinworm medication prices have been skyrocketing over the last decade and are not always covered by insurance.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive over-the-counter option that won’t cost you the additional price of a doctor’s visit, you can turn to Reese’s Pinworm Medicine.
It comes in a convenient 1oz bottle, or, if you need it for the whole family, you can pick up a 2oz family pack for treatment for an option that typically treats a family of 4.
FACT vs FICTION
While it’s an uncomfortable topic, pinworm doesn’t have to be a nightmare. To relieve the itch you or your kids may feel, and to rid your home of pinworm, turn to Reese’s Pinworm Medicine.
But…
It’s good to remain vigilant. To wash your hands. And to make sure your kids wash theirs. You never know what may end up being carried back through your front door…