Hi, I'm Cathy with Level Up RN. In this video, I will be covering the last gastrointestinal disorder from our Pediatric Nursing flashcards, which is enterobiasis, which is a fancy name for pinworms. At the end of the video, I'm going to give you guys a little quiz to test your knowledge of some of the key points I'll be covering. So definitely stay tuned for that. And if you have our flashcards, go ahead and pull out your flashcard on enterobiasis so you can follow along with me.
Enterobiasis is a helminthic infection caused by E. vermicularis, which is a small, thin, white, roundworm. So the eggs of the worm are transmitted through the fecal oral route, such as eating after touching a contaminated item. And then risk factors for a pinworm infection include poor hygiene as well as crowded environments such as daycare. So pinworm infections are most common with preschool and school-aged children. When the infected person sleeps, adult female pinworms leave the intestine through the anus and deposit eggs around the perianal area or the area surrounding the anus. So when the female lays her eggs, it causes pruritus or itching. So signs and symptoms of a pinworm infection include intense perianal itching that is worse at night as well as poor sleep and irritability.
A pinworm infection can be diagnosed using a tape test. So with this test, the adhesive side of clear, transparent tape is pressed against the skin surrounding the child's anus first thing in the morning before the child uses the bathroom, cleans up, or gets dressed. So the pinworm eggs that were deposited around the anus overnight will stick to that tape. So the tape test should be repeated for three consecutive mornings, and then the pieces of tape should be brought to the provider where they can be viewed under the microscope and assessed for the presence of pinworm eggs.
Treatment of a pinworm infection includes the administration of an antihelminic agent, such as albendazole. And it's going to be important to treat all household members. And because reinfestation is common, meticulous hand hygiene, daily morning showers, and washing of pajamas, underwear, and bedding in hot water is recommended.
All right. It's quiz time, and I've got three questions for you.
Question number 1. How is enterobiasis diagnosed?
The answer is with a tape test.
Question number 2. What time of day should the tape test be performed?
The answer is first thing in the morning before the child uses the restroom, gets cleaned up, or gets dressed.
Question number 3. Treatment of a pinworm infection includes the administration of antibiotics. True or false?
The answer is false. A pinworm infection requires the administration of an antihelminthic agent as opposed to an antibiotic.
All right. That's it for this video. I hope it was helpful for you. Take care and good luck with studying.
