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: 0
• Participant gender: All

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
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

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
• Treatments: DMP 777; Mebendazole; Piperazine; Piperazine citrate

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• children attending any one of the participating study health centres for their routine 12-month growth and development visit

• children living in or near the study area

Exclusion Criteria:

• children who are attending the clinic for suspected STH infection

• children who have received deworming treatment in the six months prior to randomization

• parents planning to move outside of the study area within the next 12 months

• children under 12 months of age or 14 months of age or older

• children with serious congenital or chronic medical conditions and who would be considered by the attending staff not to benefit from deworming