Contents:
- Medical Video: GSK: Controlling worms, investing in the future
- What is a worm infection?
- How can intestinal worms be a cause of stunting?
- How do you prevent worms?
Medical Video: GSK: Controlling worms, investing in the future
In the education activity in Jakarta on April 20, 2018, which was titled "Worm Infection and Its Relationship to Nutritional Disorders that Affect Stunting", it was found that worm infection could not be underestimated. Worms can cause children to become malnourished and eventually cause stunting.
According to 2015 data from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, intestinal worms are still a major health problem with an incidence of 28.12 percent. Sadly, this number still cannot represent many regions in Indonesia which has the potential to reach more than 50 percent. So, what is the relationship between worm infections can cause stunting in children? See the following review.
What is a worm infection?
Worm infection is a disease that occurs because of the presence of worms that nest in the human intestine. However, worms that attack the human body can vary. For example tapeworms, hookworms, pinworms, or roundworms. Each of these worms can cause various effects when infecting the human body.
Anyone can get worm infections if there is direct contact between your skin and dirt or dirty water containing worm eggs. After the worm's egg penetrates the skin or is ingested and enters the body, the egg will move into the blood vessels and go to the organs in your body, such as the intestine. In the intestine, the worm's eggs will reproduce to produce very large amounts.
Not only that, the worm will also bite the intestinal wall to absorb various nutrients that enter the body. This condition will certainly be very dangerous, especially for children under the age of four in the growth period.
Quoted from Healthline page, there are some symptoms that might be caused when someone is infected with worms, namely:
- Stomach ache
- Diarrhea
- Dysentery, which is diarrhea accompanied by mucus and blood in the stool
- Nausea and vomiting
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Appetite disappears
Be vigilant if this appears to you, family members, and especially to the child. If not treated immediately, worm infections can cause even more severe health problems.
How can intestinal worms be a cause of stunting?
Although worm infections can attack all age groups, the age of children who have the highest risk of developing this disease. The reason is, children still tend to play in all places, both in clean environments and that have been contaminated with various germs. Coupled with the child's immune system that is not perfect, so children are susceptible to disease.
There are various health risks that can haunt when children are worms, one of which appears to be a growth disorder that causes a child's body to be shorter than his age friends, this is called stunting.
Stunting is widely associated because of the problem of chronic malnutrition caused by the nutritional intake of children during their growth period is not sufficiently well. Usually this condition occurs for a long time, can be from a baby to a child aged two years. It turns out that besides, the worm factor indirectly also contributes in influencing the growth period of your child.
According to the Public Library of Science, there are two kinds of effects caused by intestinal worms that attack children, namely anemia and stunting. Causes of anemia include lack of micronutrients such as iron, folate, riboflavin, vitamin A, and vitamin B12.
In addition, worm infections can also be a cause of stunting. Initially, worms that absorb nutrients in the child's body will cause a child's appetite to decrease so that over time the child may experience malnutrition problems. If these nutritional problems are not dealt with immediately, it can affect the child's physical and mental growth. This is what eventually causes stunting.
Furthermore, this condition will certainly weaken the child's brain function, increasing the risk of getting an infectious disease, making it not as agile as other children in general.
How do you prevent worms?
Although this worm infection looks creepy, you can still reduce the risk before this disease attacks your baby to be the cause of stunting. Check out the following methods.
- Keep the environment clean by removing trash in its place and ensuring drainage of waste water flows smoothly.
- Always defecate in the toilet.
- Always cook fish, beef and other seafood until cooked. Avoid consuming it raw.
- Familiarize children to always wash their hands and feet using soap and clean water, before and after holding something.
- Routinely cleanse and cut the nails of the little hands and feet.
- Get used to children to always use footwear every time they want to leave the house.
- Always close the food so that it is not touched by animals that can spread germs.
- Take worm medicine according to the dosage of use.
If the child has a health problem, whether mild or severe, do not delay to see a doctor or related health services.
