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- Jill E. Weatherhead, MD*,†
- Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD*,†
- *Department of Pediatrics (Sections of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine), National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
- †Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX.
AUTHOR DISCLOSURE
Drs Weatherhead and Hotez have disclosed no financial relationships relevant to this article. This commentary does contain a discussion of an unapproved/investigative use of a commercial product/device.
Educational Gaps
Clinicians should know that worm infections are among the most common pediatric infections in developing countries, led by intestinal helminth infections and schistosomiasis, and that these infections have chronic and disabling consequences for child growth and development.
Clinicians should know that some worm infections, such as toxocariasis and cysticercosis, are also common among children living in poverty in the United States and elsewhere in North America and Europe where, in some cases, they are important causes of epilepsy, cognitive impairments, and other illnesses.
Clinicians need a high index of suspicion for linking chronic disabilities in children to infections caused by worms.
Objectives
After completing the article, the reader should be able to:
Recognize the global burden of disease of worms in children.
Discuss the age-intensity distribution for worms in children.
Recognize the unique signs and symptoms of worm infections found predominantly in developing countries, such as intestinal helminth infections (ie, ascariasis, trichuriasis, hookworm infection) and schistosomiasis, as well as those also found widely in impoverished areas in North America and Europe, such as toxocariasis, enterobiasis, and cysticercosis.
Recognize the advantages and disadvantages of diagnostic modalities for helminth infections, schistosomiasis, toxocariasis, taeniasis, and cysticercosis.
Discuss and deliver recommended treatment regimens for intestinal helminth infections, schistosomiasis, toxocariasis, taeniasis, and cysticercosis in nonendemic and endemic countries.
Introduction
Worm infections (also known as helminth infections) are considered among the most common diseases of children living in extreme poverty in the developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In addition, a surprising number of children in the United States and Europe are infected with worms.
The major worm infections of children include the four intestinal helminth infections …
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