How did a 3 year old contract threadworms?

The eggs can be carried on pets, toilet seats, towels, etc. They’re actually pretty common. and gross.

I asked my doctor about germs and bacteria on toilet seats. Here was his reply:

“In all my years of practice, I have never treated anyone with a case of an infected butt from sitting on a toilet seat”.

@john65pennington my doctor told me otherwise, she said you can pick up plenty of surprising things from a toilet seat. I don’t know if it’s true, but, I squat just to be safe. ;)

Pinworms are common in children, and gross, as mentioned above.

Way back in the 1970s, kids usually got them from playing in a public sandbox because it was never covered and cats pooped in it. If one kid has them, poops, doesn’t wash their hands, they will spread it around. Preschoolers can spread it around like crazy because they can be messy with their bathroom routine. They also will poke around at animal droppings and god knows what else
Kids, cats and dogs can get them and I don’t know what else.

@keobooks rodents. My sister got pinworms from a pet rat, ages ago. Poor kid was traumatized… still is.

This article has an excellent paragraph on how they are transmitted. They are very contagious.

Preschool

According to this article it is not all that hard to get threadworms. From the article:

There are two main ways that you can catch threadworm. The first is by direct contact with an infected person. The second is by coming into contact with an object or surface that has become contaminated through contact with an infected person. This could be anywhere, from a toilet seat, bedding, toys, kitchen bench, clothing, door handles, food or furniture. The eggs can even survive in swimming pools. Contracting threadworm is not something that is connected with a lack of personal hygiene but is an everyday hazard of communal living. Once the eggs lose their stickiness, catching threadworm can be as easy as breathing in the airborne eggs contained in household dust. The eggs can survive in external environments for about two to three weeks. Poor hygiene, however, can contribute to the spread of threadworm once you have contracted it. Threadworm eggs become infective within hour of being laid. The small eggs are quite difficult to see with the naked eye and stick to anything that they come into contact with. Invariably, the infected person’s hands become contaminated with the eggs and they become widely dispersed

My daughter constantly got pinworms from our local school playground. What a nightmare! We had a stockpile of Combantrin.

@keobooks hit the nail on the head with sandboxes.

My mom said they were in the soil and you should always wash your hands before eating. I also thought they caused rectal itching, not anywhere else??? Or is that what you meant?

@rooeytoo part of the lifecycle of the pinworm is that they come out though the anus at night and lay their eggs. That process it itchy for kids. They itch and the eggs get transferred to their fingers and hands.

I think my daughter got them a lot because she was/is my oral fixation kid. Her fingers were constantly in her mouth. There was no chance that she could wash her hands fast enough before she re-infested herself.

@tranquilsea – sounds logical and a bit disgusting, heheheh!

@rooeytoo Worms crawling out of your anus at night and laying eggs? “A bit disgusting?” I would say quite a bit more than disgusting. ;-)

It truly is distgusting. But my heart just broke for her because she used to freak so much. Thankfully, one dose of combantrin knocked the little buggers out.

@tranquilsea Good. Slaughter the little buggers, without mercy, none whatsoever. Particularly if they are willing to attack a child.