Test for enterobiasis: what is it, how to give it to a child

Investigations of suspected helminthic infestation require properly organized preparation. The method of diagnosing enterobiasis is also important. In many situations, scrapings are prescribed for both adults and children. After the studies, the doctor assesses the presence of oviworm and makes a final diagnosis.

What is enterobiasis

Signs of parasitic infestation appear a maximum of 2 weeks after infection. The incubation period for both adults and children can be reduced to 10 days. To become infected, it is enough to swallow mature eggs, which contain mobile larvae, along with food or liquid. Their release occurs under the action of enzymes secreted by the digestive system.

The location of mature worms is the small and large intestines. Predominantly females are adapted to parasitism; the majority of males are excreted in feces. Intense infestations are explained by the high risk of re-infection due to insufficient personal hygiene and ignoring prescribed treatment points. One adult queen is capable of producing offspring in the amount of 5–17 thousand pinworms. The presence of pathogenic flora is indicated by the following symptoms:

• Itching sensation in the anus.
• General discomfort, nervousness.
• Rash on the skin around the anus, its redness.
• Abnormal stool, nausea.
• Children often show increased interest in their genitals, and the quality of night sleep deteriorates.

The last sign clearly indicates pathology. Analysis for enterobiasis with a complex clinical picture is carried out in a short time. Infestation is especially dangerous for girls due to the risk of developing inflammatory and infectious processes. In women, pinworms can cause disruption of the menstrual cycle.

Who is the analysis for?

Doctors recommend testing feces for the presence of helminth eggs in them, if there are a number of characteristic symptoms inherent in helminthiasis.

In adults, helminthiasis can be characterized by the presence of the following symptoms:

• itching in the anal area;
• pain in the intestines;
• problems with stool, bloating;
• fatigue and excessive irritability;
• sleep problems;
• vulvovaginitis;
• signs of an allergic reaction;
• increased levels of eosinophils in the blood;
• infectious lesions of the genitourinary system - a high probability of developing such a problem is present in older people, since their immune system functions poorly.

The child also has additional symptoms:

• an unending urge to defecate;
• crying at night, restless sleep, causeless whims;
• irritation in the anus;
• cough of unknown etiology.

If several of these signs are present, the doctor must refer the patient for analysis for worm eggs.

It is worth noting that the presence of helminths is just as dangerous for men as for women, but the frequency of their occurrence is several times reduced.

It is mandatory to collect stool for analysis for helminth eggs in the following cases:

• before visiting the pool;
• during inpatient treatment;
• to obtain a medical record;
• before registering a child for kindergarten.

Indications for testing

You will need to take a smear in the following situations:

1. If a helminthic infestation is suspected.
2. As part of general research for opening a sick leave certificate, passing a medical examination upon admission to school, registration for kindergarten, swimming pool.
3. During pregnancy registration.
4. Before the upcoming hospitalization.

Adults are prescribed a scraping for enterobiasis when filling out a medical record. Children are diagnosed at certain intervals, which is reported in advance by the medical staff of the kindergarten or school. Another indication for testing for enterobiasis is a detailed study of the state of the body to identify or exclude different types of helminths.

You also need to carefully monitor the condition of newborn children and babies in the first two years of life. If there is a disturbance in appetite, unreasonable excitability, poor quality sleep at night with frequent awakenings and crying, then the pediatrician prescribes diagnostic measures.

Enterobiasis - causes, symptoms, diagnosis

Pinworms are worms about 1 cm long.

Enterobiasis is a group of parasitic diseases. But most often this diagnosis is made when infected with pinworms. This type of helminthic infestation occurs only in humans. It is impossible to get infected from pets. Pinworms are worms about 1 cm long. One side of the parasite is pointed and the other is rounded. The color of the worm varies from white, yellowish to black. Enterobiasis is a classic “dirty hands” disease. The eggs of the parasite enter the human body through the oral cavity. They pass through the stomach, enter the intestines and begin their criminal activities.

The pinworm lives for about 30 days. A female can lay 15,000 eggs at one time alone. If one of the family members becomes infected with helminths, then everyone else will have to be treated as well. Pinworm eggs remain viable in the external environment for 2 months or more. In addition to drug treatment, you will have to sanitize the entire apartment - carpets, furniture, clothes, dishes and personal hygiene items. Remember! Dogs and cats are not the source of the disease, but can carry parasite eggs on their fur. Therefore, after contact with animals, you need to wash your hands with soap. If helminths are found in one of the family members, then pets will have to be treated in the same way as home furnishings. Specialized products are sold in veterinary pharmacies. Symptoms of enterobiasis:

• Discomfort in the anal area
• Itching at night
• Abdominal pain and bloating
• Appetite disturbance
• Irritability
• In women and girls, inflammatory diseases of the reproductive organs

Such a symptom as teeth grinding has not been confirmed by scientific research. Important! The main signs of enterobiasis are nighttime itching and discomfort in the rectal area. Other manifestations of the disease depend on the functioning of the immune system. Diagnosis of the disease takes place in 2 stages:

1. Questioning the patient
2. Referral for stool analysis or scraping for enterobiasis

Important! Do not self-diagnose or self-medicate. This is fraught with complications and re-infection not only of the patient, but also of the people around him.

Preparation before scraping

Proper preparation before scraping for eggworm

allows you to get reliable results. The following recommendations must be followed:

• The day before the collection of biological material, avoid evening swimming. Morning washing on the day of the study is also unacceptable. This measure is due to the peculiarity of the localization of pinworm eggs - they accumulate not in feces, but inside the skin folds surrounding the anus.
• Two days before the procedure, exclude heavy foods rich in fiber and carbohydrates from the diet. Excess fat and protein are also undesirable. Failure to comply with such restrictions is fraught with intestinal overflow and fecal stagnation. The result is difficult movement of pinworms towards the anus, and the data obtained is not informative.

How to get rid of helminths

When pinworms are detected in one family member, treatment of enterobiasis is necessary not only for him, but also for everyone who has close contact with him, i.e., all family members living in the same apartment. The basis of therapy is the use of specific anthelmintic drugs, which are carried out twice with a two-week interval. In addition, young children are prescribed cleansing enemas to remove parasites accumulated in the rectum from the body.

You can take medications against helminths only as directed by a doctor, after examination and an accurate diagnosis. Self-use of the medicine is strictly prohibited, since antiparasitic drugs are unsafe for health and are prescribed only after assessing the patient’s condition.

Along with drug treatment, it is necessary to take measures to prevent re-infestation:

• cut your nails short;
• carefully observe hygiene requirements;
• wear thick underwear at night;
• Before going to bed, place a cotton swab lubricated with Vaseline ointment in the anus;
• every morning, remove bed linen, wash and iron with a hot iron on both sides;
• Wash thoroughly in the morning and evening;
• Wet clean the apartment with soapy water twice a day.

At the end of the course of treatment, after two weeks, 25 and 30 days, samples of the contents of the perianal folds are taken from the patient for pinworm eggs.

Analysis features for children and adults

In a medical institution, laboratory assistants take scrapings for enterobiasis. A mandatory requirement for personnel is to wear a mask and gloves during the procedure. Diagnostics is carried out using a special test tube and an elongated stick, at the end of which a cotton swab is wound. The material is pre-impregnated with saline solution or glycerin.

The technique for collecting biocontents consists of the following steps:

• An adult or child is asked to lie on the couch on its side.
• After taking the correct position, the laboratory assistant removes the rod from the test tube.
• The stick is passed along the skin folds surrounding the anus. To facilitate manipulation and relieve discomfort, the buttocks are first separated.
• The rod is returned to the container and closed tightly with a stopper to prevent contact with the external environment.
• The material is then sent for analysis.

Taking a smear is a procedure that causes only mild discomfort. Scraping does not hurt

, but the fence becomes more difficult if there is increased constriction. This phenomenon is relevant for young children.

Another method involves using adhesive tape and glass. It is most often practiced in kindergartens or at home.

. The effectiveness of both methods is the same if all the rules are followed and the tape adheres tightly to the surface of the skin folds. After being removed from the anus, the tape is fixed on the glass. In this form, the material is delivered to the laboratory, where a test for enterobiasis is carried out.

Diagnostic methods

The diagnosis of enterobiasis is based on the examination of scrapings from the surface of the skin of the perianal zone to detect pinworm eggs. The material for research is collected with a spatula from the surface of the skin or an imprint is made on adhesive transparent tape (Graham method). Previously, a smear was taken with a cotton swab attached to a stick, but now the use of a spatula or adhesive tape is considered more effective. In severe cases of the disease, not only eggs, but also large numbers of adult pinworms are found in stool samples taken for analysis. To confirm the diagnosis, samples are taken three times at intervals of one to two days.

The doctor may order a clinical blood test to detect eosinophils, which is necessary in cases where not too much time has passed since the infection.

How long will it be valid?

When a scraping is taken independently at home, it is important to consider how quickly it can be delivered to a medical facility. The permissible time period is no more than 5 hours

. For children it is twice as long. Additionally, there are temperature requirements - the maximum is 8 degrees.

If the material was collected in compliance with all the rules, the result is given after 24 hours. If oviworm is absent, monitor for clinical signs. If they are preserved, the diagnosis is repeated three times. The optimal interval between procedures is from 48 hours to 3 days. This approach allows you to obtain reliable results in 85% of cases.

You can present a form with information about the study conducted within 10 days. Then the unsuitability of the results is stated.

How to test feces for worm eggs?

Feces should be collected in a special container. If a pot or vessel is used to collect material, it should first be washed well with soap and rinsed.

Bowel movements should be natural, without the use of enemas or laxatives. It is necessary to ensure that no urine gets into the collected material.

For analysis, a volume equal to 1-2 teaspoons is sufficient. It is advisable to collect material from different areas of the stool (this will increase the likelihood of detecting worm eggs in case of infection).

Feces can be collected in the evening and taken to the laboratory in the morning. In this case, the container with the collected material should be stored in the refrigerator. It is optimal to deliver the collected material to the laboratory within 3 hours.

If the result is positive

When the diagnosis ends with negative positive indicators, it is necessary to classify the pathology according to the severity of infection. Doctors distinguish 3 degrees, speaking of weak, medium, and high invasiveness. The following markings are provided:

• + - helminth eggs were found in single quantities,
• ++ - the data obtained indicate the presence of more than a dozen eggs in the area around the anus,
• +++ - the results of the study show the presence of numerous larvae and oviworms.

In case of large-scale invasion, one should be prepared for thorough therapy, which may be quite long. As a rule, doctors are not guided by the data obtained the first time, but prescribe repeated diagnostics. Treatment is prescribed depending on the age of the patient.

The main place is given to the medicinal option. To enhance the effect, the tablets are supplemented with herbal remedies prepared according to folk recipes. The first positions on the list are occupied by anthelmintic drugs that stop the proliferation of pathogenic flora and help eliminate the symptoms of intoxication.

They also focus on personal hygiene. In addition to traditional washing, anti-inflammatory and itching baths are effective. If pinworms in a child make themselves felt during night sleep, and the situation repeats itself repeatedly, you can resort to manual removal of moving individuals. To do this, use a heated diaper folded at a corner, the sharp end of which is used to collect females laying eggs. Before intimate health is restored, underwear and bed linen are ironed.

Doctor Komarovsky: all about enterobiasis

Types of examinations

Today, there are several methods for examining stool to detect helminth eggs:

1. Microscopy of a native smear. A special glass is lubricated with glycerin, and then a little feces moistened with distilled water is placed on it. As a result, the feces are enriched with glycerol. The biomaterial is covered with a coverslip and examined using a microscope.
2. Fulleborn test using a microscope - examines the film formed on top of a solution of salt water and feces. If the biomaterial contains helminth eggs, then after 1-2 hours they will emerge.
3. Thalmann test using a microscope - a mixture of feces, hydrochloric acid and ether is examined.

What is an enterobiasis test for a swimming pool and why is it needed?

To visit the public pool, medical certificates are required confirming the absence of infectious diseases and the safety of the user for others. The list of mandatory medical measures is headed by an examination for enterobiasis.

Enterobiasis is an infection with worms, namely pinworms. The disease is the most dangerous and contagious of this group. Pinworms pose a serious danger because they actively lay eggs in the anus.

Therefore, a certificate of their absence is mandatory for visiting many public institutions. Including a swimming pool, where there are all conditions for the spread of pinworm larvae.

In water they remain viable for up to 17 days, so they can be easily transmitted from a carrier to uninfected people. The thick shell of eggs makes them invulnerable even to antiseptics and chlorine, so regular cleaning of the pool is not an option. Therefore, scraping for pinworms is mandatory for both adult clients and children.