If a child in your child's classroom has been diagnosed with worms, then it should be brought to all parents’ attention because worms can spread rapidly among children unless all affected children are promptly treated.
Enterobius vermicularis, the threadworm, is a common parasite which at sometime will cause infection in almost every child.
Anyone can become infected with threadworms. Furthermore people can become infected on several different occasions. The worms live in the intestine. The adult female worm leaves the intestine at night to lay her eggs on the skin surrounding the anus. Children irritated by the presence of worms scratch their bottoms, picking up the eggs onto their hands in the process. These eggs are then carried to the mouth, swallowed, and once in the intestine they can hatch and mature into the adult worm. In a similar fashion the child may, by putting their fingers into another mouth or by touching food, pass the eggs to their classmates and to other family members. Eggs can also be transferred indirectly as they can get onto bedding and clothes and survive for up to two weeks.
A variety of agents are available to treat worms including some that are available without prescription at the chemist. If infection is diagnosed in one family member, then all the family should be treated because of its highly infectious nature. It is recommended that the treatment be repeated after two weeks to ensure eradication of the infection. After treatment all bedding and underwear should be washed in the hot cycle in the washing machine to destroy any eggs present.