A single tablet that treats threadworm — but the household measures around it are what stop it coming straight back.
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Mebendazole is an anthelmintic — a medicine that kills intestinal worms. It stops the worm absorbing glucose, so it runs out of energy and dies over a day or two.
Very little is absorbed into your bloodstream, which is why it acts almost entirely in the gut and is generally well tolerated.
It kills the worms but not the eggs. That single fact explains everything else on this page — the repeat dose, the hygiene week, and why treating one person alone almost always fails.
Threadworm is not a sign of a dirty house. It is spread by microscopic eggs on fingers and surfaces and it goes round schools continuously. It carries a stigma it does not deserve, and that stigma is the main reason people do not treat it promptly.
Treat every member of the household on the same day, whether or not they have symptoms. Most people carrying threadworm have no itching at all, and an untreated adult reinfects the treated child within days.
This is the single commonest reason threadworm keeps coming back, and it is entirely avoidable.
For two weeks after the dose:
Generally very well tolerated, because almost none of it is absorbed.
Uncommon but worth knowing: rash, and rarely a more serious skin reaction — stop and seek advice for any blistering rash, or a rash with mouth ulcers or fever.
Very rarely, effects on the blood count with the prolonged high doses used for other worm infections — not with the single doses used for threadworm.
No monitoring is needed for the single doses used in threadworm.
Yes — but you almost certainly do not need us to, and we would rather say so.
Mebendazole is available over the counter as Ovex from any pharmacy for a few pounds, including packs sized for a whole family. For straightforward threadworm that is faster and cheaper than any consultation.
Where a consultation is genuinely useful:
A prescription is never guaranteed. This page is information, not an offer to supply.
Ovex and generic mebendazole cost a few pounds over the counter, and family packs are available. It is one of the cheapest treatments in this A-Z.
Buy the family pack rather than a single tablet. Treating one person is usually wasted money, because the household reinfects them.
NHS prescriptions are free in Wales, and free for children in England.
There is nothing to stop — it is one dose, repeated once at two weeks.
Reinfection is far more likely than treatment failure. Work through these before assuming the medicine did not work:
Persistent symptoms despite all of that warrant assessment rather than a third round — night-time itching also comes from eczema, other causes, and skin conditions around the anus.
Yes, and this is the step people skip. Most people carrying threadworm have no symptoms whatsoever, so an untreated adult quietly reinfects the treated child within days. Treat everyone on the same day.
Because mebendazole kills the worms but not the eggs. The dose at two weeks catches anything that hatched after the first one.
No, and this genuinely matters. Threadworm spreads through schools continuously via microscopic eggs on fingers. It has nothing to do with hygiene standards, and the embarrassment around it is the main reason people delay treating it.
Generally it is avoided, particularly in the first trimester. Hygiene measures alone usually clear it, and threadworm does no harm to the pregnancy. Ask before taking anything.
Usually within a few days. Itching that persists beyond a week or two, despite the full household being treated, is worth having looked at — it may not be threadworm.
No. One thorough hot wash of bedding and nightwear on the morning of treatment, then a normal routine plus a morning shower and short nails. The morning shower matters more than the laundry.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
September 8, 2026
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