At least six lakhs children in the age group of 1 to 19 years were administered deworming medicine, under the National Deworming campaign on Monday. Under the campaign, there is a target to provide deworming medicine- Albendazole tablets (400 mg) to nearly eight lakhs children, informed Dr AK Pathak Civil Surgeon Bokaro.
“Those children who missed out the dose on Monday (10 February) will get it on a mop-up round on 17 February,” he added.
Aiming to improve health and nutrition-level of children across the district our health workers will provide medicines free of cost to all children during the mop-up rounds too. As worm infection adversely affects children's health in many ways. Worms consume nutrients from tissues of the human body, which leads to the deficiency of nutrients in children, hampering their mental and physical growth, said CS.
Albendazole is a safe deworming medicine for both children and adults.
This medicine makes the worm unconscious and their grip is loosened from the intestines and they come out of the body with faeces when it would be taken in powder form along with water or chewed dry, he said.
Children with excessive infection may experience symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, dehydration, stomach pain and fatigue, after consumption of the medicine. Such situations can be easily managed by school teachers or Aanganwadi workers, he said.
