New Delhi. During monsoon, humidity levels are high; houseflies, mosquitoes and other disease-carrying organisms flourish under these conditions. All fruits and vegetables should be washed with clean water; potassium permanganate can be added if available. Leafy vegetables and cauliflower often contain worms, cautioned Dr KK Aggarwal, President Heart Care Foundation of India.

Roundworms or the Ascaris are abundant in soil. Good sanitation to prevent fecal contamination of soil is required which may not be possible in the monsoon season. A Sri Lankan study has shown that even in the setting of poor sanitary facilities, washing hands before meals and drinking boiled water significantly reduces the risks of Ascaris infection.

However, thus alone may not be sufficient. This is the time to give your child a tablet of de-worming if it has not been given and then to repeat three to four times a year. Mass treatment for all school-age children with single dose mebendazole or albendazole every three to four months has been advocated in most countries. This serves the dual function of treating the children and also reducing the overall worm burden in the community.

To support this he cited that in a large randomized trial of school-based deworming performed in Zanzibar, where single dose mebendazole, given three times a year, decreased intensity of A. lumbricoides infection by 97 percent, compared to those children who received no mebendazole.