Wonderful pinworms. Did you know?

Two weeks ago, we went to visit good friends in Belgium. We had a ton of fun. Alas, they also told me something that, up till then, I was blisfully unaware of: the existence of pinworms, or – in Dutch – aarsmaden, – in German – Madenwürme. Have you ever heard of these? I am happy to bring you up to speed.

Pinworms are parasitic worms, living in the intestines of humans. At night, they crawl out of the anus to lay their eggs on the skin around the anus. As the eggs make your skin itch, the host often starts scratching, getting the eggs on his hands and under his fingernails. There, the eggs can last for a very long time, until they get swallowed again while eating or thumbsucking. Back in the body, the life cycle of the worms begins again, living for five to thirteen weeks, depending on the gender of the worms. Apparently, pinworm infections are common around the world and highly contagious. Most often, young children get them, then nicely sharing the infection with their parents.

I remember having lice as a kid. If there were any lice around, I got them. And I HATED it! The idea that there were creepy crawlers in my hair made me feel disgusting. But now, having this new piece of information, I am so happy about just having had lice. Or maybe, I did get them and my mom never told me and I was too little to remember. Djee, I should ask. But also, how could I not have known this for so long, having little children myself? Just blissfully ignorant. I wish I could go back.

So, just out of curiosity? Did you know about pinworms? Or did I ruin it for you?