# Pinworms **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 19, 2000, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427 "2000-12-19T23:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Budyonni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Budyonni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budyonni)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/1 "2000-12-19T23:02:03Z")
I didn’t have time to confirm that the scientific names are the same, but horses are also infected by pinworms. These nasty buggers also cause the horse to rub their tush on any object handy. I recall reading in my horsey quest for knowledge that people should be careful around infected horses due to possible transmission. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/2 "2000-12-20T07:17:28Z")
The article being discussed is [Does everyone have pinworms? (19-Dec-2000)](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpinworm.html) Please note that the moderator of this forum has asked posters to include a link to the article which they are discussing. [\*\* REMINDER: PLEASE CITE LINK \*\*](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=2589) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/3 "2000-12-20T13:20:06Z")
About 20 years ago, when I worked at an adult foster care home, several of the residents were diagnosed with pinworms. They all had medicine, they all got over it, but what sticks in my mind was a factoid that one of the social workers told me. She said, “You can get rid of pinworms by starving yourself of protein for 48 hours. There’s something in digested protein that they need, so if you eat nothing but carbs and veggies for two days, you can starve them out.” Rather than wade through all of Lynn’s cites, I thought it would be quicker to ask her. Lynn? (yes, yes, I know, “if I look it up myself, I’ll remember it better next time…” :rolleyes: come on, be a sport) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/4 "2000-12-20T20:28:22Z")
DDG, I dunno. From my research, I gather that most people are re-infecting themselves by scratching their butts and then not washing their hands well enough to get the sticky eggs off their hands. I don’t recall reading ANYTHING like that. And I’m not about to go wading through my sources again, it was unpleasant enough the FIRST time. However, I did get the impression that if one used good hygiene, a pinworm infection would run its course in about 2 weeks, without medication. Me, I’d rather take the medication and have it over with, unless the medication would cause severe side effects in me. Budyonni, my research tells me that the pinworms that usually infect people ONLY infect humans and a few other primates. While I don’t doubt that horses get some form of pinworm, this ain’t the same kind as people generally get. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/5 "2000-12-20T21:19:05Z")
Thank you. 🙂 I knew that particular social worker was F.O.S. anyway, but it’s nice to have it officially confirmed. Pinworms in horses: [http://www.ces.uga.edu/pubcd/b1080-w.html#Pinworms](http://www.ces.uga.edu/pubcd/b1080-w.html#Pinworms) > [@](#): > > There are two equine pinworms, Oxyuris equi (common pinworm) and Probstmayria vivipara (the minute pinworm). Immature pinworms occur in horses of all ages but are most common in younger stock (i.e., weanling, yearling, adolescent). Pinworms in horses and people. [http://www.vh.org/Providers/CME/CLIA/Microbiology/6Pinworm.html](http://www.vh.org/Providers/CME/CLIA/Microbiology/6Pinworm.html) > [@](#): > > 1. Enterobiasis (pinworm disease) is caused by the nematode worm Enterobius vermicularis. This organism has a worldwide distribution and can infect horses, mice and primates (man and monkeys). It does not infect cats and dogs. Enterobiasis is the most common human helminth disease in the U.S.A. Most infections occur in children. [http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/enterobius.html](http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/enterobius.html) > [@](#): > > Pinworms > (_Enterobius vermicularis, Oxyuris_ spp.) > > …An egg of Oxyuris equi. This is a cosmopolitan parasite of horses and can cause intense perianal itching. It sounds to me like the Virtual Hospital and Ohio State websites are saying that people can get pinworms from horses. Or am I reading it wrong? The Virtual Hospital says that people and horses can both get _enterobius_. The Ohio State site seems to be lumping _Enterobius_ and _Oxyuris_ in together, implying that people and horses can get both. There’s never an epidemiologist around when you need one… ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/6 "2000-12-20T21:44:28Z")
[[There’s never an epidemiologist around when you need one…]] AIDS epidemiologist here but anyhoo, pinworms of horses and other animals are not transmissible to people. - Jill ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/7 "2000-12-21T14:39:57Z")
Now, if that had happened in a movie, I’d be sitting there in my seat, going, “Oh, come ON! Somebody says, ‘There’s never an epidemiologist around when you need one,’ and poof! an epidemiologist appears? Right.” Thank you, Jill. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/8 "2000-12-23T06:08:46Z")
> [@](#): > > _From the Staff Report:_ > The best time to check is at night or early in the morning, before the suspected carrier gets up, and particularly before bathing or bowel movement. Use a flashlight. “Uh…honey…I’ve got a _ **really** _ big favor to ask you!” ---
**Author:** ![sethdallob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@sethdallob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethdallob)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/9 "2001-05-21T12:09:37Z")
After remembering the articles from a few months back (sorry to rehash), I’m exhibiting the classic signs. While I disagree with the hygeine aspects (maybe I don’t wash my hands in hot enough water?), it’s now getting out of control. I’ve been woken up in the middle of the night frequently with itching, and I’ve had enough. Two problems with going to the doctor though… 1. He’s a good 80 miles away. 2. I’m especially shy of people poking and staring at my asshole. On the CDC site, they said an over-the-counter version of medication was availible…does anyone have the name? I never self-medicate, but this seems so obvious and relatively harmless that I’d rather not go to the doctor… ---
**Author:** ![LisaRx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@LisaRx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LisaRx)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pinworms/46427/10 "2001-05-22T06:05:50Z")
There is an OTC product-- IIRC it’s called Antiminth ®. There is another called PIN-ex ®.