Stool Test For Pinworms

Serologic tests are not available for diagnosing pinworm infections.

Stool test for pinworms.

Your doctor can confirm the presence of pinworms by identifying the worms or eggs. 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. An infected person who has scratched the anal area may have picked up some pinworm eggs under the nails that could be used for diagnosis. An abnormal test result means that parasites eggs or both have been found in your stool sample.

Pinworm infection is the most common type of intestinal worm infection in the united states and one of the most common worldwide. Stool studies for ova and parasites o p continue to be a mainstay of diagnosis despite only low to moderate sensitivity. When you touch the eggs with your fingers the eggs will enter your mouth and travel to your intestines. While the infected person sleeps female pinworms lay thousands of eggs in the folds of skin surrounding the anus.

Any pinworm eggs will stick to the tape which your doctor can see under a microscope in a lab. Pinworms are thin and white measuring about 1 4 to 1 2 inch about 6 to 13 millimeters in length. This test has recently fallen out of favor18 because an e. It is transmitted when the female pinworm deposits her eggs in and around the anus.

Found in the colon and rectum the pinworm infection develops from a pinworms egg. A pinworm infection is an intestinal illness that s very common in elementary school aged children. How it is transmitted. A tapeworm infection is usually diagnosed by finding eggs or tapeworm segments in the stool.

One negative result does not rule out possibility of parasitic infestation. Parasitic infections in the united states are rare but can be caused by. Stool specimens are not satisfactory for pinworm studies. To help your doctor make a diagnosis you can perform the tape test.

Examination for pinworm only. Since pinworm eggs and worms are often sparse in stool examining stool samples is not recommended. Examinations on multiple days may be required to diagnose infection.