It is the custom for some parents to deworm their children before they go back to school. They do this to ensure that whatever worms or helminths they may have picked up during the long summer break, they can get rid of them.

Helminths are a group of parasites commonly referred to as worms and include schistosomes and soil-transmitted helminths. Schistosome and soil-transmitted helminth infections are among the most common infections in developing countries and can impair nutritional status by causing internal bleeding, which can lead to loss of iron and aenemia. This can manifest itself by blood being in the stool of children. Worm infections can also cause malabsorption of nutrients, causing children not to put on any weight. Diarrhoea and loss of appetite, which can lead to a reduction in energy intake, can also occur.

Worm infections can also cause cognitive impairment, as well as tissue damage that may require corrective surgery, if they are very severe.

The nutritional impairment caused by schistosome and soil-transmitted helminth infections during childhood has been shown to have a significant impact on growth and development of children. Periodic treatment (deworming) of children, together with improvement of water and sanitation, and health education may reduce the transmission of schistosome and soil-transmitted helminth infections.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends periodic treatment with anthelminthic (deworming) medicines, without previous individual diagnosis to pre-school and school-aged children living in areas where worm infections are common.

Treatment should be given once a year when the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections in the community is over 20 per cent, and twice a year when the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections in the community exceeds 50 per cent.

With a single tablet, we can eliminate worms in children and stop parasites from absorbing the critical nutrients a child needs to develop. There is no need to mix up all sort of concoctions. There are cheap deworming medications available. Speak to your paediatrician or your district nurse, who will guide you on the best choice of medication.

Dr Rosmond Adams, MD is a medical doctor and a public health specialist. He is also an ethicist with training in research ethics and medical ethics. He is the head of Health Information, Communicable Disease and Emergency Response at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).

He is also a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Coordination Mechanism (GCM) on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

(The views expressed here are not written on behalf of CARPHA nor the WHO)