Facts and Statistics

FACTS

• There are two types of intestinal worm infections. The first is caused by roundworms, whipworms or hookworms that are transmitted through human contact with infected soil. The second is schistosomiasis, which is caused by flatworms transmitted through human contact with water-borne infected snails.

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  Soil-transmitted worms are spread when an infected person defecates outside and contaminates the soil. Children, pregnant women, and others who come in contact with the soil through bare feet or hands, or by eating food contaminated with eggs, also become infected. After treatment for soil-transmitted worms, victims feel near immediate relief from abdominal pain and the worms are expelled from their bodies within about 24 hours.
• Worms cause:
  • Anemia
  • Vitamin A deficiency
  • Stunted growth
  • Poor intellectual development
  • Impaired cognitive function
  • Damage to the liver, intestine, and urinary tract
• Deworming medicines are comparatively inexpensive for individuals in developed nations to provide to others. A single tablet (US $.02) of albendazole or mebendazole is effective against soil-transmitted worms, and a single dose of praziquantel (US $.20) is effective against schistosomiasis.
• Deworming:
  • reduces malnutrition and anemia
  • improves maternal health
  • decreases children's vulnerability to other infectious diseases
  • leads to greater intellectual development that will be related to income in adulthood.
• Deworming empowers girls. A good education gives girls in developing countries a big head-start. Deworming, when associated with school meals or take-home rations, has been shown to contribute to higher school enrollment of girls, and higher retention and lower dropout rates.
• Children aged 2 – 5, school-age children, adolescent girls, and women of childbearing age are the populations most vulnerable to intestinal worm infection.
• The positive effects of Worm Busters deworming activities cascade throughout the community. The health of its children is improved, and a community sees first-hand the importance of better hygiene and sanitation.

  STATISTICS

  Two billion	The number of people affected worldwide, one third the global population
  300 million	The number of people who suffer severe and permanent impairments as a result of untreated worm infections
  200 million	The number of school years lost due to worm-associated absenteeism in low- and middle-income countries
  3.75 points	Average IQ loss in children infected by worms
  11-12%	The percentage of the total disease burden taken up by worm infection of children aged 5-14 years in low-income countries

  LINKS

  Parasitic Diseases and Vector Control (PVC), Geneva, Switzerland
  http://www.who.int/topics/intestinal_diseases_parasitic/en/
  http://www.who.int/topics/schistosomiasis/en/

  Case in Point: Ecuador

  As part of a national deworming campaign, more than 80,000 people in the province of Manabi have been able to regularly receive doses of deworming medication. Under the direction of el Instituto Nacional de la Niñez y la Familia (INNFA) and the First Lady of Ecuador, social organizations and local governments teamed with hundreds of community volunteers who made it possible to reach remote rural populations where infection rates among children are especially high.

  Deworming changes lives for the better. Fast.

  Help Worm Busters spread better lives to more of Latin America and the Caribbean.

  It's a Fact. Worms are treatable. Worms are beatable.