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Squirming in your seat?

Be wise Avoid fast food and roadside eateries

It might sound macabre and distasteful, but the truth is, our bodies actually harbour some wriggly and slimy helminthes – or worms, in common parlance. Children are especially prone to worms than adults, because of their less-than-stringent sta ndards of hygiene.

The most common of these worms, the round worm, enters our body through contaminated food. The hook worm, which holds on to the lining of our intestines with the hook-like structures on its head, penetrates our skin when we walk barefoot or sit on western toilets in contaminated places like public lavatories. The tapeworm can find entry into our body only through poorly cooked pork and beef. On the other hand, the filarial worm enters our body through mosquito bites.

“The most common symptoms of worm infestation are tiredness and anaemia, perhaps a lack of hunger, and gastric symptoms like stomach pain, loose motion and vomiting. Sometimes, the worm infestation may show no visible signs,” says Dr. R. Parthasarathy, general physician. But nevertheless, the worms will be feeding on the nutrients you consume for yourself, and cause nutrition deficiencies, while the chemical and mechanical irritation caused by their activities can cause loose motion and an upset stomach. “As for hook worms and pinworms, they can cause bleeding and ulcers in the stomach and intestine, gastric disturbances and diarrhoea with passage of blood and mucus,” says Dr. Bhaskar Raju, Professor, Paediatric Gastroenterology, Institute of Child Health and Government Hospital for Children.

“In the case of round worm infestation, if there are a large number of these worms (and remember, each round worm can grow to a length of 10 cm), these worms coil and form a ball shaped mass and cause intestinal blocks that manifest as abdominal pain, vomiting and constipation,” says Dr. M. K. Ramkumar, family physician. If the round worms enter the lungs through the blood stream, the symptoms of lung infections like excess mucus secretion are mimicked. Tape worms can lodge in our muscles and cause lumps. In extreme cases, they may even enter our brain and cause fits, Dr. Ramkumar says. Then, there are the tiny thread worms, which live in our colon and rectum. “You can sense thread worm infestation when you notice the child scratching its anal region, especially at night, as gravid females have the habit of wriggling to the anal region and laying their eggs there,” Dr. Ramkumar says. Thread worms can cause abdominal discomfort and vaginal irritation too. Filarial worms can make their presence felt through unexplained and unusually high fevers and cold shivers, especially at night, besides leg pain and swelling of the scrotum in some cases.

Dr. Parthasarathy advocates routine de-worming, at intervals of four to six months, especially since these drugs are non-absorbable and have no side effects. However, Dr. Bhaskar Raju doesn’t recommend de-worming as a routine, in cases where reasonably good standards of hygiene are maintained. “In small numbers, roundworms are not harmful, and studies show that round worms can actually augment a child’s immunity,” he says, adding, “But if you suspect that the hygiene levels are not good, or if you notice symptoms, de-worming does help.”

Dr. R. Geetha recommend that a de-worming dose should be followed by a second dose after 21 days to destroy the worms which will subsequently hatch from the cysts present, as de-worming drugs have no action on cysts. Physicians do not recommend de-worming schedules for children below 2 years of age. A 400gm dose of a de-worming tablet for adults and a 200gm tablet or equivalent suspension of a de-worming drug for children less than 20 kg is recommended. But choose the drug and dosage after consulting your doctor.

HEMA VIJAY

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