De-worming day: ‘Take care of hygiene and de-worm regularly’

Srinagar, Aug 10: Doctors advise parents to take care of hygiene around their children to prevent them from worms.
National De-worming day was observed on Friday by administering de-worming tablets to children.
Speaking with The Kashmir Monitor, doctors said the children get easily infected as they tend play in unhygienic conditions.
Pediatrician, Dr Suhial Naik said, “Transmission of worm takes place through contaminated food and water or while playing in an open field. A single worm can cause fatal complications if it reaches into the gall bladder or its ducts.”
He, however, said that Kashmir has relatively low occurrence of the disease.
“The reason is our better sanitation system compared to the other states,” he said.
Dr Suhail said the people in Kashmir have not become conscious of the diseases.
“People from north and south Kashmir hesitate in feeding their children de-worming medicines. But we have assured them that the medicine is safe and has negligible side effects.”
Worm infestation can cause anemia, malnutrition, impaired mental and physical health.
Head Department of Community Medicine at Government Medical College here, Dr Salim Khan, said, “Due to unhygienic conditions, it is necessary for everyone to de-worm in every three months. Every person harbors a worm inside his or her body, and, if ignored, it can cause severe health issues.”
He said on an average three to four children daily complain of worm obstruction in Kashmir.
“Among them, one or two are operated upon for removing those worms.”
According to WHO soil transmitted parasitic worms are among the most common infection worldwide.
The parasitic worm lives in the human intestine and consumes most of the nutrients which are necessary for the body and intern resulted in weakness related problems. They produce thousands of eggs per day which are passed out through faeces and spread to other places.