Did you know there are tiny living organisms that surround us everywhere? Organisms living in different surfaces can be harmless, or they can be detrimental to our health. Among these living organisms are intestinal worms that mainly affect children.

Intestinal worms are parasites that live inside the human intestines, they differ in form but all have a harmful effect in humans. Most common intestinal worms are giant roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm. According to Wash in School booklet of the Department of Education, worms behave differently from each other. These intestinal worms can clump themselves and thus obstruct the intestines. Moreover, they can cause rectal prolapse which can cause pain, and they can also cause itching around the anus and eat blood and cause anemia.

Children are the most vulnerable to intestinal worms because they almost spend their days playing outside. Worms and its eggs can be found in soil, it can enter the body in various ways such as directly into the mouth through dirty hands, through unclean and uncooked food that comes in contact with dirty fingers or flies, or contaminated fields or fluids or through the skin when walking barefoot on contaminated soil.

In the Philippines, one in every two school-children is infected with worms, affecting every social class. It is indeed believed that worms are widespread that some people actually think that it is normal to have one but worms are competing and stealing the nutrients from what we eat. Thus, these intestinal worms can cause lack of nutrients, weakness and fatigue, impaired mental and physical development in growing, and poor performance in school. In rare and severe cases, obstruction of the intestines or bile ducts may lead to death.

The months of January and July are observed as National Deworming Month. This campaign aims to reinforce availing of free deworming services and maintaining proper hygiene and sanitation to children. The 2017 World Health Organization Guidelines recommend mass deworming for school-age children living in areas where the prevalence of intestinal worms is 20% or higher.

It is important to note that children are susceptible of acquiring these parasites.  The WHO shows that administration of anthelminthic medicines can dramatically reduce the burden of worms caused by soil-transmitted helminth infections. The Department of Health together with the Department of Education and other partner agencies provide deworming tablets. Tablets come in flavored chewable tablet and it is safe for children older than one year-old. Getting rid of intestinal worms improves the general growth and nutrition of the child, increasing the ability to fight other illnesses and even improving school performance and it also saves from hospitalization caused by severe worm infection.

In addition, nutrition also plays a major role in protecting the health of one’s children after deworming. Parents should know to prepare meals for their children for catch-up growth. Also, Dr. Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development said that “improving basic hygiene, sanitation, health education and providing access to safe drinking-water are also keys to resolve the health and nutritional problems caused by intestinal worms.” (NO I Vazamija Therese A. Villasi, RND)

References:

Guideline: preventive chemotherapy to control soil-transmitted helminth infections in at-risk population groups. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

World Health Organization. Helminth control in school-age children. A guide for managers of control programmes. 2011. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/elena/titles/deworming/en/

WHO recommends large-scale deworming to improve children’s health and nutrition. 29 September 2017. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news/item/29-09-2017-who-recommends-large-scale-deworming-to-improve-children-s-health-and-nutrition