Worms are internal parasites that live in the human digestive tract and are more commonly found in children. I de-worm my children after every three months, even though my son does not like the smell of the mabendazole, I still make sure he takes the dose as required to make sure that worms are kept at bay, you never know with children they pick all kinds of things and put them in the mouths.

It is usually quite easy, if very unpleasant, to tell if one has worms because one might suffer constant pain in the abdomen and itching in the anus, and the need to constantly be eating. A worm might also be found in one’s stool or on the bed, having been released in the night from the anus.

Depending on where you come across the worm, you should either capture the worm and take it to the doctor or take a sample of the stool for analysis. This is important because there are many different types of worms and different treatments for each type of worm infection.

Because worms are very contagious, if anyone in your family suffers from work, ensure that you wash all the bed linen with very hot water and kill all remaining worm eggs on the sheets. You should cook all non-vegetarian food such as beef, pork, and fish thoroughly to eliminate all the larvae that might be living inside the meat.

Children are especially prone to worms than adults. The worms enter our body due to lack of hygiene. There are different kinds of worm types that enter our body like the round worm, hook worm, tape worms etc., the most common of the worms is the round worm. It enters the body via contaminated food.

The hook worm which holds on to our intestines like a hook structure on its head enter our body when we walk bare feet or use the unclean public toilets. The tape worms also enter the body from contaminated food. The filarial worms enter the body through mosquito bites.

The most common symptoms of worm infestation are lack of appetite, tiredness, anaemia, loose bowels, vomiting etc. Worms thrive on the nutrients that are available in our food intake and lead to nutritional deficiency and their activities in the body may upset our stomach.

The hook worms cause bleeding and ulcers in the intestine. The round worms can grow to a size of 10 cm in length and if large in number they gather like a ball and cause blockages in the intestine that leading to acute abdominal pain and constipation.

The tape worms are the most dangerous. They may even enter our brain and cause fits in extreme cases. The thread worms are most common and they live in our colon and rectum. In this case the child scratches its anal region especially in the nights. These worms can cause abdominal discomfort too. Filarial worm infestations are usually accompanied with high fevers and shivering.

Doctors suggest de-worming every four to six months in order to avoid any damages done by the worms as our current life style forces people to eat at fast food joints frequently. The de-worming medications do not have any kind of side effects as these drugs are non-absorbable.

The de-worming should be done regularly as at prescribed intervals to destroy the subsequent hatching. However, according to studies, the de-worming has no effect on Filarial and tape worms. The Filarial and Tape worm infestations require prolonged treatments and periodic tests.

There are parents who take the de-worming exercise of their children every lightly, not knowing that there are consequences to be faced when a parent fails to de-worm their children after every three months.

To summarize it all to keep away from worm infestations one has to maintain personal hygiene. Both adults and children should avoid walking bare foot, eating too much in fast food joints and using unclean toilets contribute a lot to worm infestation.  Keep your nails short and trim them often and drink clean boiled water.

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