Public Health and Prevention Strategies
To prevent the spread of infection or reinfection, the following are suggestions from the CDC pinworm fact sheet:
- Bathe when you wake up to help reduce the egg contamination.
- Change and wash your underwear each day. Frequent changing of night clothes are recommended.
- Change underwear, night clothes, and sheets after each treatment. Because the eggs are sensitive to sunlight, open blinds or curtains in bedrooms during the day.
- Personal hygiene should include washing hands after going to the toilet, before eating and after changing diapers.
- Trim fingernails short.
- Discourage nail-biting and scratching bare anal areas. These practices help reduce the risk of continuous self reinfection.
Daily cleaning and vacuuming of households, as well as washing of sheets are not necessary nor effective, and neither are school-wide pinworm screenings. It is also worth noting that children may return to school after bathing, trimming and scrubbing nails, and taking the first dose of treatment.