The effect of anthelmintic treatment on helminth infection and anaemia

A 24-week randomized double blind intervention trial was conducted on adult female tea pluckers from an estate in Bangladesh to investigate the impact of iron supplementation and anthelmintic treatment on changes in ferritin and haemoglobin levels as well as on prevalence and intensity of helminth i nfections. A total of 553 nomen mere randomly assigned to 1 of 4 interventi on groups: group 1 received iron supplementation on a weekly basis, group 2 received anthelmintic treatment at the beginning and half way through the trial, group 3 received both iron supplementation as group 1 and anthelmint ic treatment as group 2, and group 4 was a control group and received place bos for both iron supplementation and anthelmintic treatment. Prevalence an d intensity of helminth infections (egg counts/g stool) of Ascaris lumbrico ides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworms significantly fell in the 2 groups receiving anthelmintic treatment and there were some reductions in the 2 gr oups not receiving anthelminthic treatment. Haemoglobin and haematocrit con centrations increased significantly in the iron supplemented groups with sm aller increases in the anthelmintic only group. All women showed a decrease in serum ferritin levels post-trial with greater losses in the 2 dewormed groups. Significant negative associations were found between hookworm egg c ounts and ferritin levels and Trichuris trichiura egg counts and haemoglobi n concentration.