For what its worth - my 2 cents: (we see pinworms in patients frequently) -g barden Michael Sachs wrote: > How do you treat confirmed or suspected pinworms? => History of seeing a > pinworm rather than "just itching" although if the history is good enough I > might treat without visual contact. > Do you give just one Vermox tablet or do you routinely treat with a second > dose after two weeks?Do you prescribe for all family members - including > parents- whether they have symptoms or not? => One pill, each non-pregnant > family member, once. I'll put a refill on it but a single pill seems very > effective. > Do you insist on examining the child or will you prescribe over the phone > if the diagnosis sounds likely? => Will do a phone script if mom sounds like > she knows what she is talking about. I have never had a problem with vermox > as far as side effects. > Recently I treated one of my patients over the phone (a note had come home > from school that pinworms were going around the class, he'd had several > days of rectal itching, etc.). He wasn't much better after two weeks so I > finally examined him. His tush was really red, I cultured it, and sure > enough he had peri-rectal strep. Bactroban cleared it up quickly. > > Today (Sunday) I received a call from a family who goes to one of the peds > I cover with on weekends. The mom said her six-year old had had several > days of rectal itching and she saw peri-rectal worms late last night. How > would you have handled it (after explaining that even after the Vermox is > given it still takes several days for the itching to stop): > > Call in a script for the whole family? For either one or two pills each? > Call in a script for two pills for the child only? > Call in a script for one pill for the child only? > Don't prescribe anything on the weekend and tell them they need to call > their regular peds on Monday? => Whole family, one pill each, no refills. > ==> I got called one night , 12:30 am, in the middle of a Christmas service by a panicking mother. Her daughter had WORMS in her bottom! Mom was freaked. No drug stores open on XMAS eve / XMAS morning, so she drove 20 miles into the hospital for one vermox tab! I could not begin to convince her otherwise. I remember the call as one of my most memorable... -g barden