DOH sets deworming drive

The Department of Health (DOH) is conducting a massive deworming campaign in Metro Manila in September following findings that intestinal worms continue to be a problem among children, mostly those living in poor, unsanitary environs.

The campaign targets children aged 1 to 12 years old and will be carried out in health centers, daycare centers and schools across the capital, according to Health Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa.

A team from the DOH-National Capital Region will also visit selected communities to oversee the project, wherein children will be given free deworming tablets, he added.

In a statement, the DOH-NCR office said Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH)—a group of diseases caused by parasitic worms—can cause diarrhea, loss of appetite and intestinal bleeding which may lead to death if untreated.

According to the official, there are three common causes of intestinal parasitism in the country: ascariasis or roundworm infection, trichuriasis or whipworm infection and hookworm infection. The infection is transmitted by eggs present in human feces, which contaminate soil in areas where there is poor sanitation.

The eggs may be ingested when people put their hands or fingers with contaminated dirt in their mouths, when they eat vegetables and fruits that were not thoroughly washed, peeled and cooked, and when they walk barefoot on contaminated soil.