Catch-up growth velocities after treatment for Trichuris dysentery syndrome - abstract

ABSTRACT

Children with trichuris dysentery syndrome (TDS) tend to have growth and nutritional deficits, as shown by their consistently short stature and variable amount of wasting (low weight for their attained height). Two previous reports have described the accelerated growth of two small series of these children in their homes after treatment of the dysentery and anaemia. We now report on the 6-month post-treatment growth velocities of a complete series of 63 children with TDS. The children had a mean age of 6.4 years (SD 1.9) at the mid-point of their 6 month interval, whereas their height-age at the mid-point was 3.2 y (SD 1.5). This shows the extent of their stunting. Over the 6-month interval after initiation of treatment the average height velocity was 10.9 cm per year (SD 3.3) and the weight velocity was 4.0 kg per year (SD 2.3). There was no effect of age on the ability to initiate catch-up from stunting (although we cannot as yet say anything about the children's final attained heights). The mean growth velocities of this complete series of Jamaican children and the distributions about these means provide the best evidence to date of the tendency to catch-up growth, without change in environment, after treatment of intense infection of Trichuris trichiura (AU)