My daughter has had pinworms many times over the past 5 years. In some instances, six months passed between infections, so I assume she got rid of it and got reinfected. But recently, she has been getting it more often--enough to suggest that she isn't really getting rid of it.
I'm trying to figure out the optimal interval for treating with vermox, based on the life cycle of the worm. I gather that the time from infection (ingesting eggs) to the first evidence of pinworm eggs showing up on anal tape samples is about 40 days or more. I have read that any worms less than 20 days old at the time of treatment with vermox may survive. And of course, one may have ingested some eggs around the time of treatment or just after--and eggs in the environment can survive up to 3 weeks (?). So, I am trying to space vermox so as to kill all worms after they get big enough to kill (20 days) and before they get big enough to lay eggs (40 days from infection).
I have given my daughter (and the rest of the family) vermox once and plan to repeat after 17 days and again after 34 days. Any comments?
Also, though I read all over that pinworms are basically harmless, I did find a study which noted kids w/pinworms had lower levels of magnesium, zinc, and serum copper. Does anyone have other info?
Vermox is also supposed to be quite safe, but I notice it isn't given to pregnant women. I worry because my pediatrician treated our whole family including my two-year-old several times--and the dose for the two year old was the same as the adult. Also, my nine-year-old (the one who keeps getting infected) has had vermox 22 times over 5 years.
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