Strategy | STH Overview | STH Control | Mebendazole | Focus on Children

Up to 1.2 billion people globally are estimated to be infected with one or more of the soil-transmitted helminths (STH): roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides), whipworms (Trichuris trichuria) or hookworms (Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus). These worms thrive in areas of the world where the soil is warm and humid and sanitation is inadequate.

STH infections are spread when people come into contact with feces of an infected individual through contaminated food or when larvae penetrate the skin in the case of hookworms. Thus, this disease disproportionately affects the poor in tropical and sub-tropical countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that STH infections cause as many as 135,000 deaths a year. But the public health significance of STH infections lies in the chronic and disabling effects such as abdominal pain and distension, intestinal obstruction, iron-deficiency anemia, increased susceptibility to other serious infections, stunted growth and impaired cognitive development in children. These conditions may ultimately have socio-economic consequences such as poor school performance in children and decreased labor productivity in adults.