Is your child breeding worms?

By Health Reporter

Are you aware that your child could be incubating worms?

Well, according to experts, up to 60 per cent of children have worms without any telltale signs.

Not only that, your child could be infested by more than one type of worm, all competing for food in the child’s body as they grow and mature.

A Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) parasitologist Jimmy Kihara says the worms will feed off the host’s body, depriving it of important nutrients and destroying vital organs.

The hookworm is a parasitic nematode that lives in the small intestine of its host, which may be a mammal such as a dog, cat, or human. Two species of hookworms commonly infect humans, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus. Photo: US Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

The worms have an inbuilt mechanism that sees food infiltrate into their system. Some worms — like the hookworm — directly feed on blood while others have teeth and will consume whatever your child eats.

Unfortunately for parents, it is difficult to tell when your child is having worms.

Kihara says when a child is infested with the parasites, it may interfere with his or her cognitive ability in school. For example, hookworm infestation has been known to cause intellectual, cognitive and growth retardation.

Many institutions have categorised these children as slow learners without knowing the problem they are experiencing is brought about by worms.

The expert says hookworms are the most common and feed off the blood of the host, causing them to develop anaemia.

The most significant risk of hookworm infection is anaemia, secondary to loss of iron (and protein) in the gut. The worms suck blood voraciously and damage the host’s intestinal walls. However, the blood loss in the stools is not visibly apparent.

As for roundworms, they are known for blocking the intestines with the end result also being anaemia.

Ringworms, on the other hand, will attack the skin, fingers, toenails or foot. The symptoms are characterised by an itchy, burning and flaky rash that is circular. Kihara adds that the skin is also flaky and consists of circular patch of baldness.

Usually it will begin as a small pimple, which becomes larger in size and leaves scaly patches of temporary baldness.

If untreated, ringworm infections can linger on and become chronic.

At the same time ringworms are highly contagious and are, therefore, easily passed on from one child to another?

Unfortunately, the symptoms that a child is infested with worms may take long to appear.

For instance, hookworms may stay between three to five years without any symptoms showing. Scientific evidence has shown that round worms stay in the body between two to three years. By this time, they will have grown in size and can no longer be accommodated there.

On the other hand, bilharzias can stay in the body for a period of up to 20 years. Kihara says during this time, the parasites will interfere with the liver, block blood circulation and, like the effects of other worms, lead to anaemia.

The bilharzias parasite also can cause the spleen to swell, block blood veins in the bladder and predispose the host to cancer of the blood.

Kihara notes that in rural areas, residents will associate these symptoms with witchcraft, prompting them to employ unorthodox tactics to cleanse the child.

He says there is no specific sign to help a parent know their child is suffering from bilharzia unless it is diagnosed in the health facility.

Normally, he says, the symptoms include stomachache and traces of blood in the urine.

According to Government data, the prevalence of bilharzias is about 60 per cent, hookworms is 50 per cent and roundworms is 60 per cent. These figures will vary depending on the endemic areas where the specific parasite is common.