The Effect of Deworming on Growth in One-Year-Old Children Living in a Soil-Transmitted Helminth-Endemic Area of Peru: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The World Health Organization recommends starting population-based deworming interventions as of 12 months of age where intestinal worm infection is common; however, little is known about the benefits in early preschool-age children. We conducted a clinical trial to determine the effect of deworming on growth in one-year-old children in Peru. Participating children were randomly assigned to: 1) deworming at 12 months of age; 2) deworming at 18 months of age; 3) deworming at 12 and 18 months of age; or 4) no deworming (i.e. control group). A total of 1760 children were enrolled between September 2011 and June 2012, and followed up for one year. Overall, with one year of follow-up, no effect of deworming on growth could be detected in this population of preschool-age children. The potential benefit of the intervention may have been affected by low baseline infection prevalence and/or low compliance to the randomly assigned intervention. Additional research is required to overcome these challenges and to contribute to strengthening the evidence base on deworming