Attention to deworming malnourished children

Malnutrition is a condition where the child's body is not given enough energy, protein as well as other micronutrients to ensure the body develops normally. In addition to methods of caring for malnourished children such as habitat sanitation, diet changes, parents should pay attention to deworming children periodically.

Malnutrition in children is a condition where the body has a shortage of necessary nutrients, which directly affects the growth of weight, height as well as the general development of the child. Malnutrition is common in children under 3 years of age. Malnutrition causes many consequences such as:

• Increases the risk of disease in a child: When the baby is malnourished, the resistance will be less, creating conditions for bacteria to penetrate, causing diarrhea, respiratory infections,… make your baby even more anorexic, skinny,…
• Effects on physical development: Malnutrition causes all the body systems in the child's body to be underdeve developed, causing the baby to be slow to develop height and weight compared to the general standard. If prolonged, malnutrition affects the physique and body as the baby matures;
• Affects the intellect: Malnutrition slows the baby's brain development, slow reflexes, inflexibility and poor reception;
• Psychological effects: Children who are slow to develop height, intellect compared to their peers will lack confidence, timidity, more shyness.

Malnutrition in children is often derived from many factors such as:

• Due to nutrition: Improper feeding of babies when the mother is missing or losing milk, feeding the child supplements incorrectly in quantity and quality,…
• Due to prolonged illness: Children with gastrointestinal diseases, repeated respiratory infections, complications after pneumonia, measles, entestence,… often thin, malnourished compared to peers;
• Due to physical malformations: Premature babies, fetal malnutrition, cleft lip defects, cleft palate, congenital heart;
• Due to socio-economic conditions: Malnutrition is a disease of poor economic conditions, low population.

• Do not gain weight or lose weight;
• Atrophy of fat in the arms, fleshy;
• Atrophy, loss of all layer of fat under the skin of the abdomen;
• Blue skin, fallen hair, fragile, recolored;
• Poor appetite, or gastrointestinal disorders (diarrhea, live stools);
• Severe: Edema or atrophy, manifestations of vitamin deficiency causing chicken overload, corneal dryness, corneal ulcers.

For malnourished children, attention should be paid to the following:

Sanitation of the living environment: Ensure feeding, sleeping, playing in a cool, clean and bright place. Children's toys need to be clean and dry. Leave the garbage in a closed place, away from the shelter and avoid the mosquito fly beans. Children need to be cooked, drink boiled. Cooked food should be fed immediately, if left for more than 3 hours, it is necessary to boil again to feed the baby. Avoid contaminated and contaminated foods because they are a source of diarrhea, food poisoning,… Food processing tools for children must also ensure hygiene;

Personal hygiene: Bathe your child regularly, keep them warm in winter to avoid cold infections, respiratory infections. At the same time, parents need to keep children clean clothes, neat hair heads, help them have a habit of maintaining clean oral hygiene, do not eat too many sweets to avoid inflammatory diseases, tooth decay. At the same time, do not let the child suck his hands, put dirty hands on his face, do not put dirty toys on his mouth to avoid helminthiasis;

Psychology: Parents should not be angry, intimidate when the child is anorexic because it will make the child have a grest and even more do not want to eat. Even when the baby tries to swallow, the body is difficult to absorb due to the psycho-psychological effects. Therefore, when feeding the child, parents should create a comfortable, positive atmosphere;

Care when the baby is sick: When your child is sick, especially with diarrhea or respiratory inflammation, parents need to understand how to handle it at home. In addition to drug treatment, parents need to pay attention to proper nutritional care to help children recover quickly. To care for the child during the illness, parents should feed the baby with nutritious foods so that he can fight the disease. The feeds can be stewed, mashed or fed at least one by the baby, divided into several small meals during the day;

Deworming: Helminth infection is the cause of the baby's thin, malnourished baby despite eating enough substances. Therefore, to avoid worming of the child, parents should deworm the child periodically as directed by the doctor depending on the age of the child;

Vaccination: Vaccinate children with adequate injections as recommended by the Ministry of Health to help them increase their resistance, contribute to fighting malnutrition;

Reasonable advocacy: Parents should encourage children to mobilize appropriately so that the bodies in the body work more effectively, strengthen the immune system, promote increased height, increase energy burning and stimulate children's appetite, eat better, repel malnutrition.

Children often crawl on the floor, suck their hands or put toys in their mouths,… These instincts of the baby cause worms such as ringworm , hairworm,wireworm,… easy to enter the body. When children are infected with worms, in addition to their residence, absorption of nutrients of the body, worms also cause many symptoms such as: Digestive disorders, hindering the absorption of nutrition of children, causing them to slow down, malnutrition, poor resistance, susceptible to other bacterial infections. In particular, there are also some dangerous complications of worm infection such as: bile worm, intestinal obstruction, severe anemia caused by hookworms, genital infections caused by wireworms,…

Usually, children 2 years and older should deworm. However, in cases where the child is malnourished, slow to grow due to infection with worms, parents can deworm earlier as prescribed by a doctor. Some commonly used drugs for deworming children are:

• Albendazol: Inhibits glucose collection in larvae and adult worms, reduces glycogen reserves, reduces energy, so worms are active and die. The drug has an effect on many types of worms such as chopsticks, hooks, hair, needles, eels. The only disposable dose for children from 2 years old is 400mg. If you want to treat hookworms, take Albendazol 1 tablet a day, take it for 3 consecutive days;
• Mebendazol: Makes worms deplete glycogen reserves and inhibits the reproduction of worms. This drug is only used for children over 2 years old. To deworm the needle, parents give the child 100mg, after 2-4 weeks of drinking repeat again. To remove one or more worms such as hooks, hair, needles, take a single dose of 400mg;
• Pyrantel: There are special medicinal herbs, hemilltox content of 125mg and 250mg, which works by closing nerves – the body of worms, causing them to become paralyzed and intestinal perists will push them out. Pyrantel rubs can be used to deworm ringworm, hookworms, wireworm for children 1 year and older up to a dosage of 10mg/kg of weight. If the child has a lot of pinworms, it can be repeated after 1 week in the above dosage.

The above deworming drugs are prepared in the form of tablets, fragrant, sweet, can be chewed or ground before in orally or in liquid form. Depending on the age of the child, parents can choose the appropriate form of medicine. Worm pills can also be taken at any time of the day, without the need to fast. However, it is best to give the child in the evening before going to bed. The period of deworming periodically is every 6 months because after this period the body can re-infect the worms again.

• Practice the habit of washing your hands after going to the bathroom and before eating;
• Give your baby boiled water to cool, eat cooked vegetables and fruits must be peeled after washing;
• Regularly cut your child's fingernails and wash their anus with bath soap after each time they go for a bye. Do not allow your baby to go promiscuously;
• In rural areas, it is necessary to arrange a treatment area far from the place of accommodation, not let the baby play with the sandy soil;
• Periodically deworm every 6 months for the whole family.

Parents should pay attention to how to care for malnourishedchildren, periodically deworm their babies to help them quickly catch up with growth momentum with their peers of the same age group.

As a key area of Share99 Health System, Pediatrics always brings satisfaction to customers and is highly appreciated by industry experts with:

• Gathering a team of leading doctors in Pediatrics:including leading experts, highly specialized (professors, associate professors, doctors, masters), experienced, used to work at large hospitals such as Bach Mai, 108.. The doctors are well-trained, professional, mind-centered, knowledgeable about the child's psychology. In addition to domestic pediatricians, pediatrics also has the participation of foreign experts (Japan, Singapore, Australia, USA) always pioneering the application of the latest and most effective treatment regimens.
• Comprehensive services:In the field of Pediatrics, Share99 provides a chain of continuous medical examination and treatment services from Newborn to Pediatrics and Vaccines,… according to international standards to take care of your baby's health with parents from birth to adulthood
• Intensive techniques:Share99 has successfully implemented many specialized techniques to make the treatment of difficult diseases in Pediatrics more effective: neurosurgery – skull, hematoma stem cell transplantation in cancer treatment.
• Professional care:In addition to understanding the young psychology, Share99 also pay special attention to the children's play space, help them play comfortably and get acquainted with the hospital environment, cooperate in treatment, improve the efficiency of medical examination and treatment.