Bibliographic Info
GuidelineGuideline: preventive chemotherapy to control soil-transmitted helminth infections in at-risk population groups
Year of Publication2017
Issuing InstitutionWorld Health Organization
Recommendation
Status
Updated
Recommended in favor
Strong
Certainty of evidence
Low
Preventive chemotherapy (deworming), using annual or biannuala single-dose albendazole (400 mg) or mebendazole (500 mg), is recommended as a public health intervention for all young children (12-23 months of age), preschool (24-59 months of age) and school-age children living in areas where the baseline prevalence of any soil-transmitted infection is 20% or higher among children, in order to reduce the worm burden of soil-transmitted helminth infections
Notes and Remarks
- 1.Biannual administration is recommended where the baseline prevalence is over 50%.
- 2.A half-dose of albendazole (i.e. 200 mg) is recommended for children 12–23 months of age
- 3.The guideline development group stressed that the recommendation for preventive chemotherapy among children is being made for the outcome of decreasing the worm burden in areas that are endemic for soil-transmitted helminths. The prevalence of soil-transmitted helminths among children is changing and this needs to be taken into account by regularly assessing the worm burden, to ensure that the intervention remains relevant.
- 4.Provision of adequate water, sanitation and hygiene services is fundamental, to break the cycle of infection and reinfection and sustainably control soil-transmitted helminth infections. Collaboration between programmes for control of soil-transmitted helminth infection and water, sanitation and hygiene programmes is essential to ensure prioritization of water and sanitation services to areas that are endemic for soil-transmitted helminths.
- 5.Deworming should be delivered together with promotion of health and hygiene, to reduce transmission by encouraging healthy behaviours, such as hand washing, use of footwear and proper disposal of faeces.
- 6.Routine monitoring for effective coverage and evaluation of the impact of the intervention should be an integral part of preventive chemotherapy programmes, to help inform the decision on continuation or cessation of the programme