2. Common name: Pin worm, Seat worm,
thread worm
â˘Formerly, called oxyuris vermiculoris
3. History:
ď The name Enterobius vermicularis means
tiny worm living in the intestine.
Greek: enteron-intestine, bios-life,
vermiculus -small worm.
ď Term âoxyurisâ means sharp tail, a feature
of the female worm, from which the name
pinworm is also derived.
ď Leuckart(1865) first described the
complete life cycle of the parasite.
4. Geographical Distribution:
ď worldwide in distribution(cosmopolitan)
ď It is considered to be worldâs most common
parasite, which affects the children.
Habitat:
ďAdult worms are found in the caecum,
appendix and adjacent portion of ascending
colon.
5. Morphology:
a. Adult worm:
ď Short, white, fusiform worms with
pointed ends.
ď Mouth is surrounded by cervical alae(3
no.)
ď The oesophagus has a double âbulb
structure, a feature unique to this
worm.
6. b. Male worm:
ď 2.5 mm long and 0.1-0.2
mm thick.
ď Posterior end is tightly
curved ventrally and
carries a copulatory spicule.
ď Male survive for about 7-8
weeks.
7. c. Female worm:
ď 8-13 mm lond and 0.3-0.5 mm
thick.
ď Posterior end is a thin pointed pin-
like tail.
ď Single vagina present infront of the
middle third of the body which
leads to the paired uteri.
8. ďThe uteri of gravid female is filled with
thousands of eggs.
ďOviparous
ďFemale survive for about 5-12 weeks.
9. d. Egg:
ďEgg is colourles and non bile stained
ďFloats in saturated salt solution
ďPlanoconvex in shape
ď50-60 long,20-30 Âľm thick
ďEgg shell is double layer makes the egg stick
to each other and to clothing
ďEmbryoated egg contain infective larva in
soil
12. Mode of tansmission:
ďThrough contaminated hand, food ,
water,clothing and dust
ďAutoinfection: Due to scatching of
perianal area with fingers
:occurs most commonly in children
ďRetroinfection: The egg laid on the perianal
skin immediately hatch into the
infective stage larva and migrate through
13. the anus to develop into the adult worm in the
colon.
Pathogenicity and clinical features:
ďEnterobiasis:
⢠occurs mostly in children
â˘More common in females than in males
â˘About one- third of infections are symptomatic
â˘Intense irritation and pruritus of perianal and
perineal area(pruritis ani),when the worm
14. crawls out of the anus to lay eggs. This
leads to scratching of excoriation of the skin
around the anus .
â˘Irritation caused pruritis ani
â˘Nocturnal enuresis(disturb sleep)
â˘Chronic salpingitis
â˘Cervicitis,peritiontis
â˘UTI
â˘Responsible for appendicitis
15. Laboratory diagnosis:
A. Detection of egg:
ď Examination of egg in feaces is not
useful in diagnosis because of present
of it in small proportion.
a.Under finge nails:
ď Egg may be demostrated from the dirt
collected from the finger nails in
infected children.
16. ďSwab collected in early morning from
perianal folds are most often positive
b. NIH swab method
ďNamed after national institute of health
ďBy microscopic examination of
cellophane which is used for swabbing
by rolling over the perianal area
17. c. Scotch tape method:
ďBy microscopic examine of scotch tape
(adhesive transparent cellophane tape)
which is used for collection of specimen
from anal margin.
18. B. Demostration of adult worm:
ďFrom stool
ďOccasionally from anus while children
are asleep
ďMay be in appendix during appendectomy
19. Treatment:
ďPyrantel pamoate(11mg/kg once,
maxm 1gram)
Albendazole(400mg once)
Mebendazole(100mg once) can be used
for single dose therapy while piperazine
has to be given daily for one week.
ďIt is necessary to repeat the treatment
after 2 weeks to ensure elimination of
all worms
20. Prophylaxis
ďMaintainance of personal and community
hygiene such as frequent hand washing
finger nail cleaning and regular bathing
ďFrequent washing of night clothes and
bed linen
ďAwareness