Laboratory diagnosis of enterobiasis in St. Petersburg

Self-infection and retroinfection

The first human infection occurs from another “host” of pinworms. Subsequent methods usually come down to self-infection. If hygiene rules are not followed and treatment is not carried out, the cycle from laying eggs to ingesting them and laying new eggs can last a lifetime.

In 70% of those infected, the first symptoms occur when the females emerge from the anus to lay eggs. Laying occurs at night and is accompanied by itching of varying intensity in the perianal area. A person, especially a child, can itch in their sleep without even knowing it.

In the morning, if a person does not wash his face and immediately sits down to breakfast, eggs from the fingers and from under the nails will fall onto the food, and with it into the gastrointestinal tract. You can simply touch your face - and this is enough for infection.

You can transfer eggs from the anus to the mouth after visiting the toilet. If eggs get on your fingers and your hands are not washed, the eggs will sooner or later end up inside the person along with the food.

If basic hygiene is not observed, pinworm larvae can hatch from eggs and on the mucous membrane of the anus. They migrate up the intestines where they grow and develop. This mechanism of infection is called retroinfection.

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.

External contamination

From the skin around the anus, eggs fall not only onto fingers, but also onto underwear, clothes, furniture, pets, and carpets. At home, they remain viable for up to 3 weeks.

From all these objects, the hair of pets (which themselves are not infected), eggs can get on the hands, clothes of other family members, guests, and other visitors to the apartment. If they do not wash their hands before eating, the eggs will end up in the gastrointestinal tract and the pinworm development cycle will begin.

Eggs can also be inhaled with dust. They will again enter the intestines through the nasopharynx.

Helminth infestations are especially large-scale in kindergartens, schools, and holiday camps. If at least 1 child in an institution or place of collective recreation is diagnosed with pinworms, everyone should undergo treatment. The same applies to family members.

To prevent further infection, wet cleaning with disinfectants is carried out in all rooms, linen is changed, and all surfaces, toys, and plants are treated. Pets, as active carriers of pinworm eggs, are washed with special shampoos or laundry soap.

Methods of infection and possibility of transmission

Testing for worms is also necessary as a preventative measure.

Finding such a gift is quite simple. Unwashed food, dirty hands, flies, pets, crowded places - all these are risks for humans. But do not forget that not everyone who eats a bad fruit (vegetable) will get worms. Everyone’s health is different and so is their reaction to certain influences. The main defender against pinworms is immunity.

Also a barrier for them is the microflora of the oral cavity and stomach. You can become infected with enterobiasis only by swallowing mature pinworm eggs with active larvae. It is now clear that the path of worms to a healthy adult is extremely difficult.

The situation is different with children. Most of them suffer from this disease. After all, kids constantly suck their fingers, bite their nails, sit at the table with their hands unwashed after a walk or toilet, and love to pet yard dogs and cats. A child can become infected with them anywhere and anytime. Parents should pay special attention to toys.

When you get home, you definitely need to wash them. After all, other children also played with them. Teenagers often forget to use personal hygiene products and towels. It is also possible to become infected with worms through the oral route. Here are a number of rules that need to be instilled in the child and all household members:

Wash your hands as often as possible
Avoid eating outside if possible.
After contact with animals, hands should be disinfected. In addition, you should not kiss them or allow yourself to be licked.
If dogs or cats live in the house, then they need to carry out worm prevention once every three months.
Each family member should have individual items and personal hygiene items (towels, brushes, linen)
Do wet cleaning in the apartment several times a week
Wash all vegetables and fruits thoroughly
Wean your child off the habit of biting his nails
Sterilize pacifiers, bottles, wash toys for little ones as often as possible
Do not drink water from taps, ponds, rivers, etc.
Don't sleep in the same bed with animals
Meat and fish products must be cooked

The first and most basic symptoms are pronounced itching in the anus, and in children - grinding of teeth at night.

Symptoms of enterobiasis

Up to 30% of people infected with pinworms do not feel any discomfort. With personal hygiene and without re-infection from other people, enterobiasis goes away without treatment.

The most common symptom is itching in the anus. Since it occurs mainly at night, parents may not notice for some time that the child is itching, especially if he is already old enough and performs hygiene procedures on his own.

With a prolonged course and an increase in parasitic load, scratching becomes extensive and very painful, and secondary dermal infections are possible.

If the infection is not treated, autoinfection lasts several cycles, symptoms expand and may include:

change in appetite - from “wolfish” to complete absence;
abdominal pain of various types, tenesmus - nagging, sometimes very severe pain in the rectal area;
grinding teeth during sleep (bruxism);
headache;
increasing diarrhea or liquefied stools to a pasty consistency;
periodic “unreasonable” nausea, vomiting;
sleep disturbance;
dizziness, attention disorder;
prolonged cough, runny nose;
allergic reactions that have not previously occurred;
dryness, lethargy, pallor of the skin;
rashes on the arms, legs, stomach, often itchy;
enuresis;
Girls may develop vulvitis or vulvovaginitis - this happens because pinworm larvae that hatch on the anal mucosa can migrate to the genitourinary tract.

These are common symptoms for children and adults. Children, in addition to what has been said, may lag behind in development, become capricious, “nervous,” and experience frequent mood swings.

How to avoid re-infection

Doctors' recommendations are simple and concise. The following rules will help you avoid relapse:

Maintaining personal hygiene rules
Complete the course of treatment with prescribed medications
Do not self-medicate or self-diagnose
Do not try untested methods on yourself
Be periodically tested for enterobiasis
If you suspect a relapse, consult a doctor

If the test result is positive, then do not be upset. Getting rid of parasites is not difficult. It is enough to carry out an appropriate course of treatment.

When are tests for enterobiasis prescribed?

Tests for enterobiasis are prescribed if there are clinical or preventive indications:

if the patient complains of itching in the perianal area, there are traces of scratching;

if a child needs to undergo examination before enrolling in a preschool or school institution, before visiting a sanatorium, holiday camp, enrolling in a swimming pool and in similar cases;
if an adult gets a job (according to the sanitary requirements of the institution);
when undergoing a routine medical examination;
when diagnosing helminthiasis in children and adults with whom a person has contact.

Insidious and elusive pinworm eggs

Referral for stool analysis for enterobiasis

Enterobiasis is a disease caused by parasites, characterized by a strong allergic reaction of the body. The pinworm worm has a spindle-shaped appearance and is white in color. The length of the female significantly exceeds the size of the male. Females reach an average size of 11 mm. Pinworm eggs have an oblong shape, and one of their sides is flat. They are covered with a protective shell. Worms live in the cecum and feed on its contents.

How to prepare for analysis

This study does not require any special preparation. It is important to collect material immediately after sleep, before hygiene procedures. In the evening there is no need to wash the perineum with disinfectants, lubricate the perianal area with creams, ointments, healing preparations (if there is scratching).

The result of the study and its accuracy may be affected by taking anthelmintic drugs 14 days or less before collecting the biomaterial. If you have taken any deworming medications, be sure to tell your doctor or nurse.

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 studied material and collection rules

To study enterobiasis, patches, scrapings, smears from the skin in the perianal area are used, and, if necessary, skin scrapings from under the nails. Analysis of this biomaterial has the greatest sensitivity and allows you to make a diagnosis with confidence.

Feces are rarely used for analysis, because pinworms practically do not lay eggs in the intestines - such biomaterial is not informative. Feces make it possible to diagnose enterobiasis during a long course of the disease and mass intestinal invasion by pinworms. In this case, helminths are visible on the surface of the feces with a simple macroscopic examination.

How to collect material yourself

To collect the material yourself, you need to obtain it from the laboratory, the registry office of a medical institution, or buy a scraping kit at the pharmacy. It usually includes a polystyrene spatula, on the working marked edge of which acrylic water-dispersed adhesive is applied. This edge must not be touched with hands, it must not be applied to surfaces other than those being examined, and it must not be removed from the container before collecting the biomaterial.

A scraping (imprint) is taken from the skin folds of the perianal area in the morning, before bowel movements and hygiene procedures. It is necessary to spread the buttocks as wide as possible, apply the spatula with the adhesive surface to the skin of the perianal area to get an imprint.

The spatula with scraping is placed in a container and closed tightly. The biomaterial is delivered to the laboratory strictly on the same day.

Instead of a spatula, the kit may include a swab, adhesive tape and a glass slide. In this case, they act in a similar way: they collect biomaterial in the perianal area on a tampon or tape, pack them according to the instructions in a container, and deliver them to the laboratory. Delivery time can vary from 3 to 8 hours - you need to find out about it in advance at the medical institution.

Diagnostic methods and interpretation of results

The most common diagnosis of enterobiasis is the microscopic detection of helminth eggs in smears, scrapings of subungual contents and skin in the perianal area, and patches from the surface of the perianal area.

Normally, there should be no eggs in the biomaterial. If at least 1 viable egg or remains of a worm are found, a positive diagnosis is made.

To be sure of sterility from pinworms or helminth infestation, you need to undergo at least 3 studies at intervals announced by the doctor.

References

1. Clinical recommendations (treatment protocol) for providing medical care to children with enterobiasis. FSBI NIIDI FMBA of Russia, 2014.

2. “MUK 4.2.3145-13. 4.2. Control methods. Biological and microbiological factors. Laboratory diagnosis of helminthiasis and protozoa. Guidelines" (approved by Rospotrebnadzor on November 26, 2013).

3. R. S. Arakelyan, N. A. Sergeeva, V. Sh. Sangadzhieva, O. V. Konnova, A. N. Zagina, A. A. Obukhova. Clinical and epidemiological aspects of the course of enterobiasis in school-age children. Children's infections. 2018; 17(1): 50-53.

4. Infectious diseases: national guidelines / Ed. N.D. Yushchuka, Yu.Ya. Vengerova - M.: GEOTAR-Media, 2010. - 1056 p.

5. V.P.Sergeev Atlas of clinical parasitology and tropical medicine. Authors Academy. Partnership of scientific publications KMK, 2010

Completion time, cost of analysis for enterobiasis at JSC "SZDCM"

The cost of testing for the presence/absence of pinworms in laboratory and medical terminals is one of the most affordable in St. Petersburg, the Leningrad region and other cities and towns where our branches are located.

The price of the study depends on whether you collect biomaterial yourself or use the services of a nurse.

The duration of the study is 1 day. Results are delivered in person or sent by email*.

Sources

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Where to get tested for enterobiasis

You can get tested for pinworm infestation and other human parasites at any of the laboratory terminals, medical centers and departments of JSC SZDCM. They are located in St. Petersburg, Leningrad region, Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod region, Baltiysk.

You can also select the nearest medical facility on the interactive map - they are marked with green marks. Hover your cursor over the label and you will see the exact address of the medical facility in the pop-up menu.

In all branches of JSC "SZDCM" you will be met by attentive, friendly employees who will delicately help you pass even “inconvenient” tests. If the result of the study is positive, you will be treated with even more care and compassion - our employees work to help people in any situation, especially difficult and uncomfortable ones.

Analyzes

Taking biomaterial for enterobiasis
Scraping for enterobiasis