This article is from the book, The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Children , by Denise Foley, Eileen Nechas, Susan Perry, Dena K. Salmon and the Editors of Prevention Magazine Health Books. To send a link and summary of this article to a friend, click here . So you turn on the light and find your child standing there, scratching his pajama bottoms. If this scenario sounds familiar, your child may have pinworms. Studies show that between 10 and 30 percent of children get them.'' Because pinworms lay microscopic, infectious eggs that can spread from person to person, the problem is easy to pass along, says J. Owen Hendley, M.D., professor of pediatrics and head of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville.
Pinworms take up residence in the large intestine of an infected child.
At night or in the early morning, the female worms travel down to the anal opening and deposit their eggs on the surrounding skin. When the child scratches the itchy area, pinworm eggs get on his hands and under his fingernails. Then, if he doesn't wash his hands, the pinworm eggs get on whatever he touches, including toys and other household objects. Other children come along, touch what the infected child touched, and get the eggs on their hands, too. If they stick their hands in their mouth without washing them first, says Dr. Hendley, they can swallow the eggs, get infected, and the next thing you know, those kids have itchy bottoms, too.