Child Health Care: Worm Infestation

If you are one of the concerned parents of a child suffering from worm infestation and you don't want to administer all sorts of strong medicines to them, you can well relieve yourself. Ayurveda has some easy remedies that will help your child getting rid of worms. Before knowing these simple ayurvedic treatments, its good to know what types of worms can harm your child's health and in what condition these worms occur so that you may avoid their repeated occurrence.

Common Types of Worms

If you examine your child's stool and see long white or pinkish tiny thread like shapes, your doubt was right- your child has got worm infestation. The common types of worms include:

• Round worms (Ascaris): They are round, thin, white/pink worm about 10-20 inches long.
• Pinworms (Thread worms): They are white, small and thin, just like fine threads.
• Hookworms (Ankylostomes): They are tiny dark-pink in color, not visible in stools.
• Tape worms (Taniea saginata/solium): They are flat and extremely long about 2-3 meters.

There are many other types of worms that not only infest the children but also adults.

Causes for Worm Infestation

The main cause of worm infestation is malnutrition and bad hygiene

• Any human being get infection through fecal-oral route. If defecation is done in open fields, the eggs of worms from stools of infected humans and animals find the soil and grow there. Children playing in such contaminated soil can easily be infested by worms.
• Children who eat without washing their hands, transfer the harmful eggs, sticked to their nails, into their stomach where they become fully developed worms. These worms sticks to the lining of the intestines and suck blood leading to anemia and other symptoms of worm infestation. They can grow to the extent of obstructing intestines causing acute pain and landing the patient in an emergency seeking condition. Tiny thread worms come out of the anus in the night to lay eggs around, causing itching.
• Some worms called cysticercoids reach the stomach by eating contaminated pork or beef. They are even more dangerous as they can mix into the blood and reach brain, heart, liver etc and prove fatal.
• Unwashed hands and using others' towels, handkerchief etc. spread worm infestation.
• Eating unwashed raw vegetables and drinking contaminated water are yet other causes of worm infestation.

Once you know the reasons, you can prevent the disease but what if worms have already infested your child? Know how to cure worm conditions through simple Ayurvedic remedies by reading worm infestation