Question
A child is experiencing teeth grinding during sleep and complaining of abdominal pain in the morning. Does this mean there could be a worm infection? How should it be handled? These symptoms have been ongoing for nearly three months, with normal performance in other aspects except for the abdominal pain.
Answer
Mild worm infections may not cause obvious symptoms. However, severe infections can lead to loss of appetite or pica, with children possibly showing a yellowish, thin complexion. Abdominal pain around the navel is common, and during abdominal palpation, the abdomen may feel soft, or there may be signs of worm aggregation and spread. Additionally, children may vomit worms or find them in their stool. Stool may become dry and irregular. Some children may develop pale white spots on their cheeks, blue spots on the whites of their eyes, granular white spots on the inner side of the lower lip, thin and greasy tongue coating, or peeling tongue tips. The cause of this condition is typically children ingesting worm eggs, with the main infection routes being hand contamination or unclean eating habits.