Your Baby – July 2019

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&Answers

Questions

OUR EXPERT ANSWERS

YOUR QUESTIONS

Q:

We recently got a kitten for our

three-year-old daughter. Should

we deworm the whole family?

A:

Simon answers: Worms are

fairly specific to their host

species, meaning that it is very

unlikely for a cat to transfer worms to

a human and vice versa. It is possible

to contract roundworms from a cat

if you are digging around in soil that

a cat uses for defecating, but only in

this situation. The resulting worm

infestation is not in the intestines but in

the skin and other organs.

Worms occurring in children are

contracted from the faeces of other

children, and thus worm infections

occur most commonly in areas with

poor hygiene and sanitation.

These worms are called roundworms

and include: ascaris, pinworms,

hookworms, strongyloides and

whipworms. They are mostly acquired

by swallowing an infective egg from

soil that was infected or else by

migrating through the skin as larvae

when digging or standing in infected

soil. Remember that this is soil infected

with worms found in human faeces.

Symptoms caused by worms are

directly related to the intensity of the

infection. Light infections cause no

symptoms at all, but heavy infections

can cause serious complications to

the intestines and lungs. The most

common presentation of worms

is an itchy anus due to pinworms.

Complications from worms can be

iron deficiency or other nutritional

deficiencies including poor absorption,

growth delay and bowel obstruction.

Worms are diagnosed by seeing live

worms in stool or by sending stool to

a laboratory where eggs and larvae can

be spotted under a microscope.

The practice of deworming family

members is really not necessary in

families living in urban environments.

In a school situation where many

children use one sandpit, there may

be necessity to deworm your child

every year to prevent or treat worm

infestation. In the home situation you

need only deworm your pets.

Worms must be treated with

medication, either mebendazole

(Vermox) or albendazole (Zentel).

A single dose is usually sufficient, but

for whipworm and for strongyloides

three or more doses may be necessary.

So, it’s important to know which

worm you’re dealing with before

starting medication.

Please deworm your cat. Don’t dig

in the area where the cat is pooping,

use gloves when gardening, and don’t

worry about your three-year-old unless

she is exposed to sandpits and there’s

a possibility of coming into contact

with other children’s faeces. YB

SHOULD WE DEWORM EVERYONE

NOW THAT WE HAVE A CAT AT HOME?

Dr Simon Strachan

Paediatrician

78 | JULY & AUGUST 2019

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