Intestinal worms

Strategy

Control and preventive chemotherapy


The strategy for soil-transmitted helminthiasis control is to treat once or twice per year preschool and school-age children; women of childbearing age (including pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters and lactating women) and adults at high risk in certain occupations (e.g. tea-pickers, miners, etc.). The World Development Report for 1993 entitled Investing in Health revealed that common soil-transmitted helmith infections caused the greatest burden of infectious diseases in children between 5 and 14 years in countries with developing economies.

The new WHO coordinated strategy on the use of anthelminthic drugs will make realistic the control of soil-transmitted helminths, now that safe and effective anthelminthic drugs are available for no more than a few US$ cents per dose. This means that deworming school-aged children is probably the most economically efficient public health activity that can be implemented in any low-income country were soil-transmitted helminths are endemic.

Guidelines for preventive chemotherapy
This manual and its dose-poles provide health professionals and programmes managers with the latest recommendations. Ref: ISBN 92 4 154710 3

For the control strategy of schistosomiasis, see p.41.

Recommended intervention strategy and aim


Targeted administration of albendazole, mebendazole, levamisole or pyrantel. The frequency of intervention is determined by the levels of prevalence and intensity of infection among school-age children. The aim is morbidity control: periodic treatment of at-risk populations will reduce the intensity of infection and protect infected individuals from morbidity due to soil-transmitted helminthiasis.

Eligible population


Preschool and school-age children, women of childbearing age (including pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters and lactating women), and adults at high risk in certain occupations (e.g. tea-pickers and miners).

Ineligible population


Children in the 1st year of life; pregnant women in the 1st trimester of pregancy.

Access to drugs


Where the drugs are not donated, the average market price of a single tablet of generic albendazole or mebendazole is around US$ 0.02-0.03.

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Publications

Helminth control in school-age children: a guide for managers of control programmes. Second edition

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