Scraping for enterobiasis in children

Infection with helminths is quite common in children of very different ages. Enterobiasis is widespread throughout the world. To establish the correct diagnosis, a high-quality diagnosis is required.

What it is?

To establish the diagnosis of enterobiasis (pinworm infection), you can use various diagnostic tests. They are very safe and do not cause any pain in the child. Enterobiasis is a widespread disease. Babies of all ages can get sick. This parasitic pathology is caused by special helminths (worms) called pinworms.

The name of the disease is not accidental. The body shape of the pinworm is usually elongated with a pointed end. These parasites are predominantly white or yellow in color, however, black individuals can also be found. Pinworms in the process of their vital activity cause the appearance of numerous adverse symptoms in a child. Females are able to exit the anus to lay eggs on the skin. This causes the child to develop severe itching and irritation in the anogenital area.

Diagnosis of enterobiasis is very important. A timely diagnosis helps doctors prescribe timely treatment. Without the use of drugs, the baby may experience multiple repeated self-infection - reinfestations. In this case, the duration of the course of the disease increases, and the adverse symptoms bother the baby for a long time.

Babies usually contract enterobiasis through dirty hands. A sick child, combing the inflamed areas of the skin, often brings eggs of worms under the nails. Poor personal hygiene leads to the fact that he can infect other children and family members. Pinworms can be in the external environment for a long time without losing its vitality. Only high temperatures or the use of high concentrations of disinfectants have a detrimental effect on them.

It is important to note that the disease can occur in both infants and adolescents. Boys get sick as often as girls.

The technique of taking biological material for analysis is very important. Currently, there are several laboratory methods for determining helminth eggs. One of these tests is a scraping for enterobiasis.

When is the analysis done?

With this test, helminth eggs can be excluded or detected. There are many situations in which it is required to establish the presence of signs of helminthiasis. The study is carried out when the baby develops any signs of parasitic pathology, which may be enterobiasis. In order to confirm the diagnosis, scraping is required, followed by interpretation of the result.

Also, this analysis is carried out for children for certain "social" indications. Most often, the test has to be performed before visiting the child in the pool, when drawing up a personal medical book for adolescents, for planned hospitalization in a hospital. The child is usually given a referral from a pediatric clinic to perform this test. It is written out by the pediatrician during the appointment.

You can also take the analysis yourself, for example, if the parents do not want to seek medical advice.

Technique

Currently, there are several methods for identifying helminths. The most common of these is the Graham method. The study of biological material for this test is carried out three times. This study allows to identify not only pinworms, but also ascaris, whipworms, broad tapeworms, bovine and pork tapeworms, schistosomes and other parasites. This method has been used in children's practice for a long time.

Biological material can be collected in different ways. Most often used for this special adhesive tape. It helps to “collect” all helminth eggs on the skin, and in some situations even the remains of parasite bodies. You can also use to collect material with a cotton swab or wooden spatula.

Collect biological material as carefully as possible so as not to scare the baby and cause him pain.

As a rule, the sampling of material is carried out under laboratory conditions. However, you can also assemble it yourself at home. In this case, the main thing is to follow the basic rules for collecting material. Often, parents cannot collect biological material with high quality and deliver it for research correctly, therefore, the fence is carried out in a special bacteriological laboratory.

Before carrying out the procedure, be sure to prepare the baby. This is especially important if the child is already adolescent. Explain to him that it does not hurt at all and is necessary for the disease to pass. A child who tends to show emotions vigorously should make exploration a fun game. Doctors recommend for this to tell the kid a story that he is a future astronaut and he needs to pass this analysis before flying on a spaceship.

To collect material in the laboratory from children, laboratory assistants usually use cotton swabs. In some cases, this procedure can be unpleasant, but with proper preparation of the child will not cause much anxiety to the baby.

Usually, babies who have undergone such a procedure completely forget about it in a couple of hours.

To collect biological material using a cotton swab, laboratory assistants use a certain algorithm. The cotton wool on the tip of the stick is usually pre-moistened with glycerin or normal saline solution. This helps not only to correctly carry out the sampling of the material, but also not to cause pain to the child.

Typically, the procedure for sampling biomaterial consists of several stages:

The laboratory assistant opens the container with sterile gloves.
The subject leans forward a little and spreads the buttocks. A mother helps a small child with this. It is important to note that the presence of the mom with the baby helps him feel more relaxed. Older children and adolescents do this research independently.
The technician takes out the rod and gently inserts it into the anal canal in a circular motion. This technique allows you to obtain a sufficient amount of biological material for future analysis. During the collection of material, the child should not feel soreness. He usually only feels a little discomfort. After collecting the material, a small amount of feces usually remains on a cotton swab, which may also contain both the remnants of helminths and their eggs.
After taking the material, the technician places the rod into the container and tightly closes it with a lid.
The final stage of the procedure is sending the material to the bacteriological laboratory. It is there that a study will be carried out to identify pinworm eggs. It is important to note that the collected material will be suitable for analysis within 8 hours. In order to obtain a sufficiently reliable result, it is stored in a refrigerator.

The second method, which is used more in the smallest patients, is to collect material for a smear and scraping using adhesive tape. In this case, the laboratory assistant glues a special adhesive tape to the anal area, and then carefully removes it. Also, using a cotton swab, the laboratory assistant takes the biomaterial for the smear. Sticky tape is glued to a glass slide, and then an examination is carried out.

In some cases, the collection of material can be carried out when the child is not standing, but on its side.

Home preparation

The test should be taken after preliminary preparation. For this study, it is not difficult at all. It is important to note that preparation should still be carried out, as this will help to achieve a more accurate result. The mental attitude is also very important. It helps to avoid an attack of hysteria or severe fright in a child during the procedure for taking material.

Sometimes parents independently discover signs of enterobiasis in the baby. This happens more often in infants and toddlers of a very early age. During daily hygiene procedures, mom may detect worms or pay attention to severe irritation and redness of the anogenital zone. Normally, the mucous membranes and skin in this area should be pale pink. Any inflammation and especially traces of scratching should be a reason for seeking medical advice.

Usually pinworms crawl out of the anus at night. It is at this time that they are more often discovered. However, the diagnosis of enterobiasis is not always reduced only to the visual detection of parasites.

Some babies have no outwardly pronounced signs of the disease. Such children are analyzed and scraped to detect pinworms, which makes it possible to establish a diagnosis more accurately.

Doctors recommend collecting tests after active clutches of pinworms. This usually manifests itself in a child with a sleep disorder. The active life of pinworms and their crawling out of the anal passage at night contributes to the fact that the baby does not sleep well, he has bad dreams, or he wakes up several times during the night. It is after such a "restless" night that the biomaterial should be collected.

Experts recommend not to wash your baby before taking the material. This will help preserve the remnants of helminths and their eggs on the anogenital zone. Active washing can only reduce the reliability of future analysis. To obtain a more accurate result, the study should be carried out several times a week. Usually, doctors recommend sampling the material followed by examination at least three times.

It is better to collect material for analysis in the morning, before the act of defecation. Biomaterial is collected from perianal folds. Some parents decide to collect biomaterial for research at home. For this, ordinary cotton swabs are often used, which are also moistened in glycerin or saline. You can place the stick in a sterile container to collect urine or stool.

It is important to remember that when self-collecting a biomaterial, a very important stage is its transportation to the laboratory. The material can be stored only in a refrigerator, preferably no more than 3-4 hours.

Quite often, self-collected biomaterial at home is unsuitable for research, since the sampling technique or the conditions of transportation and storage are violated.

Assessment of results

It is important to note that a properly collected biomaterial makes it possible to carry out bacteriological analysis quite accurately. In this case, the reliability of the obtained result is 98-99%. For a more accurate examination, these analyzes should be repeated several times in 6-8 days. Usually 2-3 times are enough.

A positive analysis indicates that pinworms are present in the child's body. In this case, the appointment of treatment is required, which consists in taking special antiparasitic drugs. The frequency of admission, dosage and duration of treatment are usually determined individually, taking into account the age of the baby, his weight, and the presence of concomitant chronic diseases.

Scrapings for enterobiasis have been used for quite a long time in children's practice. They very accurately identify any manifestations of this parasitic disease. It is important to note that improper sampling of biomaterial or a violation of the analysis technique can lead to the appearance of false-negative results. The results of such tests usually indicate that there are no pinworms in the child's body, but this is a mistake.

Precisely to exclude false negative results analysis and is carried out several times during the week. This multiplicity of research allows you to accurately identify the presence or absence of helminths in the child's body.

If the baby has signs of enterobiasis, but the analysis is negative, then in this case additional diagnostics are required. Usually it consists in conducting an immunological analysis to detect specific antibodies to pinworms.