The depositing of eggs leads to the characteristic sign of this infection intense anal itching. Diagnosis can be made from identifying eggs picked up by a piece of cellophane tape placed in the area around the anus. When children catch pinworms, everyone in the family must be treated to wipe out the infestation. All sheets should be washed frequently to kill eggs and worms. The most common symptom is abdominal pain, but hookworms can cause a silent anemia that is severe and can stunt the growth of children.
Diagnosis is by laboratory detection of the hookworms' eggs in the stool.
Endemic in the tropics, this worm is generally found in the same climate and unsanitary conditions favorable to the spread of hookworm. Like the hookworm, the threadworm is usually contracted when larvae in the soil attach themselves to bare feet and then enter the body. After entering its human host, this parasite's larvae are either released into the intestines and passed with stools, or attach to the intestinal wall and prolong the infection. This parasite causes epigastric pain and tenderness, vomiting, and diarrhea. Diagnosis is made by detecting the larvae in the stool.