NCT01111864.

Objective To measure the effects of iron supplementation and anthelmintic treatment on iron status, anaemia, growth, morbidity, and development of children aged 6-59 months. Design Double blind, placebo controlled randomised factorial trial of iron supplementation and anthelmintic treatment. Setting Community in Pemba Island, Zanzibar. Participants 614 preschool children aged 6-59 months. Main outcome measures Development of language and motor skills assessed by parental interview before and after treatment in age appropriate subgroups. Results Before intervention, anaemia was prevalent and severe, and geohelminth infections were prevalent and light-Plasmodium falciparum infection was nearly universal. Iron supplementation significantly improved iron status, but not haemoglobin status. Iron supplementation improved language development by 0.8 (95% confidence interval 0.2 to 1.4) points on the 20 point scale. Iron supplementation also improved motor development, but this effect was modified by baseline haemoglobin concentrations (P = 0.015 for interaction term) and was apparent only in children with baseline haemoglobin concentrations < 90 g/l. In children with a baseline haemoglobin concentration of 68 g/l (one standard deviation below the mean value), iron treatment increased scores by 1.1 (0.1 to 2.1) points on the 18 point motor scale. Mebendazole significantly reduced the number and severity of infections caused by Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura, but not by hookworms. Mebendazole increased development scores by 0.4 ( − 0.3 to 1.1) points on the motor scale and 0.3 ( − 0.3 to 0.9) points on the language scale. Conclusions Iron supplementation improved motor and language development of preschool children in rural Africa. The effects of iron on motor development were limited to children with more severe anaemia (baseline haemoglobin concentration < 90 g/l). Mebendazole had a positive effect on motor and language development, but this was not statistically significant.

Fortified biscuits resulted in a significant improvement in the micronutrient status of primary school children from a poor rural community and also appeared to have a favorable effect on morbidity and cognitive function [corrected].

This low-cost fortified porridge can potentially have a significant effect in reducing anemia and improving iron status and motor development of infants in poor settings. The formulation needs some adjustment in terms of zinc fortification.

In children with poor iron and n-3 FA status, iron supplementation improved verbal and nonverbal learning and memory, particularly in children with anemia. In contrast, DHA/EPA supplementation had no benefits on cognition and impaired working memory in anemic children and long-term memory and retrieval in girls with ID.

Background Schistosoma (S.) haematobium infection is a common cause of genital morbidity in adult women. Ova in the genital mucosal lining may cause lesions, bleeding, pain, discharge, and the damaged surfaces may pose a risk for HIV. In a heterogeneous schistosomiasis endemic area in South Africa, we sought to investigate if young girls had genital symptoms and if this was associated with urinary S. haematobium.MethodologyIn a cross-sectional study of 18 randomly chosen primary schools, we included 1057 schoolgirls between the age of 10 and 12 years. We interviewed assenting girls, whose parents had consented to their participation and examined three urines from each of them for schistosome ova.Principal findingsOne third of the girls reported to have a history of genital symptoms. Prior schistosomal infection was reported by 22% (226/1020), this was associated with current genital symptoms (p<0.001). In regression analysis the genital symptoms were significantly associated both with urinary schistosomiasis (p<0.001) and water contact (p<0.001).ConclusionsEven before sexually active age, a relatively large proportion of the participating girls had similar genital symptoms to those reported for adult genital schistosomiasis previously. Anti-schistosomal treatment should be considered at a young age in order to prevent chronic genital damage and secondary infections such as HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and other super-infections.

No abstract

Background: Schistosomiasis is one of the major health problems in tropical and sub-tropical countries, with school age children usually being the most affected group. In 1998 the Department of Health of the province of KwaZulu-Natal established a pilot programme for helminth control that aimed at regularly treating primary school children for schistosome and intestinal helminth infections. This article describes the baseline situation and the impact of treatment on S. haematobium infection in a cohort of schoolchildren attending grade 3 in a rural part of the province.