Trichuriasis, academic performance and nutritional status in children - abstract

ABSTRACT

Severe infections of the geohelminth Trichuris trichiura detrimentally affect young children's growth and development. There is concern that mild to moderate infections may affect older children's school performance and nutritional status. We therefore examined the relationship between varying intensities of infection and school achievement, attendance and nutritional status in 616 schoolchildren. The children were aged 7 to 11 years and were identified from 14 schools. Four hundred and nine children with Trichuris infections of intensities greater than 1200 eggs per gram of stool (EPG) were first identified, then for every two infected children in a class, an uninfected child was selected. Reading, spelling and arithmetic tests were administered by trained testers and the children's weights and heights were measured. School attendance was obtained from class registers while socioeconomic status was measured, using a questionnaire. The infected children were divided into four groups based on their level of infection 1200-1999, 2000-3999, 4 000-9999 and 10 000EPG and over. The data were analyzed using multiple regression. After controlling for socioeconomic status, gender, age, school, and the presence of Ascaris infections, the uninfected children had higher reading and arithmetic scores than children with infections of over 4000EPG and were taller than those with intensities over 2000EPG. However, there were no significant differences in spelling, school attendance and body mass index. These results suggest that moderate levels of infections have adverse effects on school achievement and growth (AU)