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Pinworm: Human Pinworm
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Pinworm is the most common human worm infection in the United States. According to various reports, rates of infection vary from 10% to almost 50% in children under 12, depending on the group. School-age children have the highest incidence of infection, followed by preschoolers. Like lice, pinworm is readily spread through schools and child care centers. Adults are much less likely to have pinworm, unless the adult is a caretaker of infected children. Sometimes pinworm is spread to other family members as well.
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Pinworm is an intestinal infection caused by the roundworm Enterobius vermicularis. The worm, which is about 1/2" long, lives in the rectum of humans. Worms leave the the rectum at night & lay eggs on the skin around the anus. The infection is most common in school-age children, affecting up to 1/3 of US children. When symptoms occur, they include itching around the anus, insomnia, & irritability.
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Pinworm infestation occurs all over the world. Humans are the only known hosts. A person gets pinworms by swallowing the eggs of the worm. Pinworm eggs remain alive for up to three weeks.
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The Human Pinworm: The human pinworm Enterobius vermicularis is a ubiquitous parasite of man, it being estimated that over 200 million people are infected annually. It is more common in the temperate regions of Western Europe and North America, (it being relatively rare in the tropics) and is found particularly in children. Samples of Caucasian children in the U.S.A. and Canada have shown incidences of infection of between 30% to 80%, with similar levels in Europe.
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A Pinworm is a parasite that lives in the lower portion of the human digestive system. They survive by consuming nutrients from the food of the person who’s hosting them. Pinworms are found throughout the world and are very common, especially in young school-age children.
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People become infested when they swallow tiny pinworm eggs, usually after touching something that a person with pinworms has touched. The eggs travel to the small intestine* and hatch into larvae*. The larvae then migrate to the colon*, where they grow into adult worms. Female adult pinworms emerge from a person's anus* at night to lay their eggs on the skin of the perianal region*. The worms return to the colon, where they usually die, but the eggs can survive for up to 2 weeks outside the human body. If the person scratches around the anus and later touches the lips, it is possible to transfer the eggs from the hands to the mouth, where they are swallowed and begin a new cycle of infestation.
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Human Pinworm