Strategies to Decrease the Prevalence of Soil-Transmitted Helminths in Central India

Abstract

Background Intestinal parasites are a major public health problem in tropical countries. Over 1.5 billion people are infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STH), of which 225 million are in India. Parasitic infections are associated with poor sanitation, lack of safe potable water, and improper hygiene. Materials and Methods The study was undertaken to ascertain the impact of control strategies, namely open-defecation free drive and mass drug administration of single dose albendazole. Stool samples received at AIIMS Bhopal Microbiology laboratory, across all age groups, were studied for protozoan trophozoites/cysts and helminthic ova. Results Out of 4,620 stool samples, 389 (8.41%) were positive either for protozoal or helminthic infections. Protozoan infections were more common than helminthic infections with Giardia duodenalis infection being the most common, 201 (51.67%), followed by Entamoeba histolytica, 174 (44.73%). The helminthic infections constituted 14 (3.5%) of the positive stool samples with Hookworm ova in 6 (1.5%) cases. Conclusion This study proves that strategies, namely “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” and “National Deworming Day” started in 2014 and 2015 led to significant reduction of intestinal parasite infections in Central India, with a higher reduction of STH compared with protozoan parasite infection being ascribed to the activity spectrum of albendazole.

A positive consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic: how the counterfactual experience of school closures is accelerating a multisectoral response to the treatment of neglected tropical diseases

“…In Kenya, the National School-Based Programme includes extensive monitoring and evaluation to track annual and overall impact [ 61 ]. In India, the National Deworming Day is the world's largest single-day public health campaign, covering over 200 million children [ 2 ]. With substantial government investment and political commitment, India is the exemplar of domestic contribution to deworming, and also of implementing allied programmes, such as its Total Sanitation Campaign.…”

“…This is a success that has depended conceptually on major changes in the perception of the value of public health intervention versus individual treatment, on the availability of donated drugs, and on the cost-efficiency of targeted treatment campaigns outside of the traditional health system and delivered through schools. As a result, school-based mass drug administration (MDA) programmes emerged as one of the largest and most extensive public health interventions in low-income countries, with the National Deworming Day programme in India ranking among the most extensive regular public health interventions anywhere in the world [ 2 ].…”

Maiden Impact Factor to Journal of Laboratory Physicians: An Encouragement for Editors and Authors

“…Another interesting study published in the same issue was on cystic echinococcosis, 9 which shows that in India these two parameters are improved in last few decades leading to declining seroprevalence of water born zoonotic diseases like echinococcosis. A similar publication in the June 2023 issue also endorses the impact of reduction in the number of opendefecation cases 10 and deworm the world. 11 However, a case reported in the March 2023 issue indicates that most of the fruits of improved supply of safe drinking water and improved hygiene are being enjoyed by population of mainland of India and not by the north-eastern parts of the country.…”