The Effect of a Deworming Intervention to Improve Early Childhood Growth and Development in Resource-poor Areas
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2013-07-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Worldwide, over 2 billion people suffer from worm infections in developing countries. These
infections are especially damaging to the health of children, resulting in both short-term
and lifelong disability. Older children with worm infections are more likely to be stunted,
underweight, vulnerable to other illnesses and perform poorly in school compared to
non-infected children. Large-scale deworming programs in school-age children are therefore
recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO also recommends deworming of
preschool-age children (as of 12 months of age) in these areas; however, the benefits of
deworming, especially in the 12-24 month age group, have been inadequately studied. This
knowledge is urgently needed as studies show that all children have a similar potential for
healthy growth and development, provided that appropriate nutrition and health interventions
are given in the critical window of opportunity before the age of two.
Therefore, the investigators are proposing to undertake a randomized controlled trial to
determine the effect of deworming program for improving growth and development in children
between 12 and 24 months of age. Our results will provide solid rigorous evidence on if,
when, and how often, deworming should be integrated into routine child health care packages
provided by Ministries of Health in the 130 countries in the world where worm infections are
endemic.
Phase:
Phase 4
Details
Lead Sponsor:
McGill University Health Center McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Collaborators:
Asociacion Civil Selva Amazonica Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) McGill University Thrasher Research Fund World Health Organization