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The Case for Mass Treatment of Intestinal Helminths in Endemic Areas

Overview
Journal PLoS Negl Trop Dis
Specialties Infectious Diseases
Tropical Medicine
Date 2015 Oct 23
PMID 26492528
Citations 17
Authors
Joan Hamory Hicks
Michael Kremer
Edward Miguel
Affiliations
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Abstract

Two articles published earlier this year in the International Journal of Epidemiology [1,2] have re-ignited the debate over the World Health Organization's long-held recommendation of mass-treatment of intestinal helminths in endemic areas. In this note, we discuss the content and relevance of these articles to the policy debate, and review the broader research literature on the educational and economic impacts of deworming. We conclude that existing evidence still indicates that mass deworming is a cost-effective health investment for governments in low-income countries where worm infections are widespread.

Citing Articles

Modeling the Interruption of the Transmission of Soil-Transmitted Helminths Infections in Kenya: Modeling Deworming, Water, and Sanitation Impacts.

Okoyo C, Medley G, Mwandawiro C, Onyango N Front Public Health. 2021; 9:637866.

PMID: 33842421 PMC: 8024473. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.637866.

A Case for Using Genomics and a Bioinformatics Pipeline to Develop Sensitive and Species-Specific PCR-Based Diagnostics for Soil-Transmitted Helminths.

Grant J, Pilotte N, Williams S Front Genet. 2019; 10:883.

PMID: 31608116 PMC: 6768101. DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00883.

The Impact of Anthelmintic Treatment on Human Gut Microbiota Based on Cross-Sectional and Pre- and Postdeworming Comparisons in Western Kenya.

Easton A, Quinones M, Vujkovic-Cvijin I, Oliveira R, Kepha S, Odiere M mBio. 2019; 10(2).

PMID: 31015324 PMC: 6479000. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00519-19.

Efficacy and safety of ivermectin and albendazole co-administration in school-aged children and adults infected with Trichuris trichiura: study protocol for a multi-country randomized controlled double-blind trial.

Patel C, Hurlimann E, Keller L, Hattendorf J, Sayasone S, Ali S BMC Infect Dis. 2019; 19(1):262.

PMID: 30885157 PMC: 6421712. DOI: 10.1186/s12879-019-3882-x.

Deworming in pre-school age children: A global empirical analysis of health outcomes.

Lo N, Snyder J, Addiss D, Heft-Neal S, Andrews J, Bendavid E PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2018; 12(5):e0006500.

PMID: 29852012 PMC: 5997348. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006500.

References
1.
Taylor-Robinson D, Maayan N, Soares-Weiser K, Donegan S, Garner P . Deworming drugs for soil-transmitted intestinal worms in children: effects on nutritional indicators, haemoglobin, and school performance. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015; (7):CD000371. PMC: 4523932. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000371.pub6. View
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Baird S, Hamory Hicks J, Kremer M, Miguel E . Worms at Work: Long-run Impacts of a Child Health Investment. Q J Econ. 2016; 131(4):1637-1680. PMC: 5094294. DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjw022. View
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Hamory Hicks J, Kremer M, Miguel E . Commentary: Deworming externalities and schooling impacts in Kenya: a comment on Aiken et al. (2015) and Davey et al. (2015). Int J Epidemiol. 2015; 44(5):1593-6. DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyv129. View