Treating children for worms yields long-term benefits, says new study

Re:Treating children for worms yields long-term benefits, sa... by doukdouk on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @11:06AM (#24050704)

I don't see how that would be a problem: even if it was common, handing out pill to one group but not the other would still lead to one group being more "dewormed" than the other, all others things being equal.

Anyway, in this case, I do not believe deworming was as common as you assume:

> Baseline parasitological surveys indicated that helminth infection rates were over 90%, and over a third had a moderate-heavy infection according to a modified WHO infection criteria (Miguel and Kremer 2004)

> Drug take-up rates were high, at approximately 75% in the treatment group, and under 5% in the control group (Miguel and Kremer 2004).

5% of the population taking the drug when >90% should means the drug is not "common".

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Re:Treating children for worms yields long-term benefits, sa... by peter_retief on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @11:29AM (#24050934)

In South Africa it has always been the default to deworm all children. In schools, clinics. https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/government-launches-d...

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Re:Treating children for worms yields long-term benefits, sa... by doukdouk on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @11:46AM (#24051105)

This trial was done in Kenya, not South Africa.

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Re:Treating children for worms yields long-term benefits, sa... by peter_retief on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @12:41PM (#24051735)

I know that, I was relating my own experience of African healthcare since I live in South Africa. Kenya is not that different I imagine.

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