Intestinal worms
Patient education
- Clean hands and safe sanitation help
- Wear shoes on contaminated soil
- Persistent symptoms need testing
What it is
Parasites in the gut, picked up from soil, unwashed food or untreated water. Very common in children and easy to treat.
When to seek urgent care
There is severe stomach pain, persistent vomiting, a swollen abdomen, or blood in the stool.
How it shows
Often nothing. Sometimes stomach pain, poor appetite, tiredness, itching around the anus, or worms visible in the stool. Heavy infection slows a child's growth and causes anaemia.
What to do
Deworming treatment is simple, cheap and available from a pharmacist, who will advise on what is suitable by age. Hand washing, shoes outdoors and clean water are what stop it coming back.
Ask the school or health centre about current local deworming programmes and eligibility. Symptoms still need assessment even after routine deworming.
How infection happens
Several worms can live in the intestine. Roundworm and whipworm infection follows swallowing eggs from contaminated hands, soil, food or water. Hookworm larvae can enter through skin, including bare feet on contaminated ground.
Light infections may cause no symptoms. Heavier infections can cause abdominal pain, diarrhoea, poor growth or anaemia. An itchy bottom can have a different cause, such as threadworm; one worm medicine does not suit every infection.
Treatment and avoiding reinfection
A clinician may request a stool sample or recommend treatment according to symptoms and local programmes. Tell them the person's age, pregnancy status and recent deworming. Repeated abdominal symptoms should not automatically be blamed on worms.
Wash hands before food and after the toilet, wash or peel produce using safe water, wear shoes and use sanitary toilets. Deworming does not prevent a later infection. Ask about school or community programmes, but get an individual assessment for persistent illness, weight loss or marked weakness.