SOIL TRANSMITTED HELMINTHS: EFFECTS, PREVENTION AND CONTROL BY WEJULI JUNIOR MIKE

 

SOIL TRANSMITTED HELMINTHS: EFFECTS, PREVENTION AND CONTROL 

Have you ever wondered why some people become lame, blind and or die from issues unnoticed?

Soil transmitted helminths are a category among the neglected tropical disease burden that is most common in Africa.Approximately 1.5 billion people are infected with soil-transmitted helminths worldwide, making this the most common infection in the world.Soil-transmitted helminths mainly refer to the intestinal worms infecting humans that are transmitted through contaminated soil, it involves mainly three categories of the parasites that have the highest burden in the globe which include: Ascaris lumbricoides commonly known as ascaris, Trichuris trichiura commonly known the whip worm and the Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus mainly referred to as the hookworms. The have been rendered neglected yet their have both economic, social and physical disorders rendered to the populations like blindness, disabilities and even deaths. Additionally, soil transmitted helminths are responsible for 5.2 million Disability-adjusted life years

The soil transmitted helminths are mainly found in warm and wet (moist) environments where the sanitation and hygiene are generally poor like the slum regions. Soil-transmitted helminths live in the intestine and their eggs are passed in the feces from infected persons into the environment. If an infected person defecates outside (near bushes, in a garden, or field) a practice commonly referred to as open defecation or if the feces of an infected person are used as fertilizer, eggs are deposited on soil. Ascaris and hookworm eggs become infective as they mature in soil. People are infected with Ascaris and whipworm when eggs are ingested. This can happen when hands or fingers that have contaminated dirt on them are put in the mouth or by consuming vegetables and fruits that have not been carefully cooked, washed or peeled. Hookworm eggs are not infective. They hatch in soil, releasing larvae (immature worms) that mature into a form that can penetrate the skin of humans. Hookworm infection is transmitted primarily by walking barefoot on contaminated soil. One kind of hookworm (Ancylostoma duodenale) can also be transmitted through the ingestion of larvae.

The children in the rural and other vulnerable members in the communities are the most people that are affected with the problem. Basing on the World Health Organization.

EFFECTS OF SOIL TRANSMITTED HELMINTHS.

§  Infected children are nutritionally and physically impaired.

§  Infected women of reproductive age and pregnant women, are at increased risk of iron deficiency anemia. This increases the risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.

CONTROL AND PREVENTION.

§  Periodical treatment of all people living in the endemic regions especially the vulnerable risk groups which include preschool children, school-age children, women of reproductive age (including pregnant women in the second and third trimesters and breastfeeding women) and adults in certain high-risk occupations such as tea-pickers or miners. This practice of deworming is recommended without previous individual diagnosis to all at-risk people living in endemic areas. This intervention reduces morbidity by reducing the worm burden.

§  Health and hygiene education reduces transmission and reinfection by encouraging healthy behaviors. These health behaviors could include discouraging open defecation, encouraging people to set up the latrine facilities, teaching people handwashing with clean water and soap among others.

Much as hygiene is encouraged, it is not always possible especially in the resource limited area like the refuge setting and other poor rural areas hit by calamities.

Hence medical treatment (deworming) with albendazole and mebendazole are effective and readily available at health facilities in country. Thus parents and leaders are encouraged to enforce mass communication of the community to involve themselves in the treatment so as to reduce the burden.