Pinworm infection

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Tests and diagnosis

By Mayo Clinic staff

Your doctor can confirm the presence of pinworms by identifying the worms or eggs.

To help your doctor make a diagnosis, you can perform the tape test. As soon as the person you suspect has pinworms wakes up and before he or she uses the toilet, washes or gets dressed, press the adhesive side of a piece of transparent tape to the skin around the anus. The eggs stick to the tape.

For best results, perform the tape test three days in a row, and then take the tapes to your doctor. Your doctor can look at the tape under a microscope to see if there are any pinworm eggs.

Treatments and drugs Preparing for your appointment
References
  1. Parasites and health: Enterobiasis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/DPDx/html/Enterobiasis.htm. Accessed Feb. 16, 2012.
  2. Kliegman RM, et al. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 19th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/208746819-6/0/1608/0.html. Accessed Feb. 16, 2012.
  3. Fact sheet: Pinworm infection. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/pinworm/index.html. Accessed Feb. 16, 2012.
  4. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2012. 5 Books in 1. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05611-3..C2009-0-38601-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05611-3&uniqId=291436269-101. Accessed Feb. 16, 2012.
  5. Pinworm infection. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/pinworm/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed Feb. 16, 2012.
  6. Gardner AS. Vulvovaginitis and other common childhood gynaecological conditions. Archives of Disease in Childhood: Education and Practice Edition. 2011;96:73.
  7. Stermer E, et al. Pruritus ani: An approach to an itching condition. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. 2009;48:513.
DS00687 June 9, 2012

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