In impoverished communities worldwide, children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to malnutrition, anemia, impaired cognitive and physical development, and pregnancy complications. As a result, they remain trapped in poverty, facing the socioeconomic consequences of decreased productivity and an inability to work or go to school because of their poor health.

But the reason behind their suffering may surprise you.

A new article in PLOS NTDs reveals how soil-transmitted helminths — a group of three parasitic worm infections — can be the culprit in many areas with heavy neglected tropical disease (NTD) burdens and bleak living conditions.

The authors, Sabin Vaccine Institute President Dr. Peter Hotez, former World Bank Lead Health Specialist for Africa Dr. Donald Bundy and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Medical Resident Dr. Selvi Rajagopal, focus on vitamin A and iron deficiencies and their relationship to the three soil-transmitted helminths: ascariasis, hookworm and trichuriasis.

On vitamin A, the authors write, “As well as having direct effects, severe vitamin A deficiency can have significant indirect consequences, for example, increasing susceptibility to potentially fatal illnesses such as measles and lower respiratory infections. As a result, the link between vitamin A deficiency and ascariasis has potentially important consequences for global health, especially since ascariasis may be the most common chronic childhood infection worldwide.”

Hookworm and trichuriasis, meanwhile, can lead to iron deficiency anemia. “Among adults, even light [hookworm] infections can produce anemia, especially in pregnant women. … Moderate-to-heavy hookworm infections and trichuriasis specifically have in some circumstances been shown to lead to failure to achieve intellectual potential and cognitive impairment. … Anemia and a moderate-to-heavy parasite burden of either helminth species were identified as independent risk factors for stunting,” the authors explain.

Given the clear linkages between soil-transmitted helminths and malnutrition, the authors suggest that more research be conducted to help identify how programs delivering interventions for each can be integrated in a cost-effective, sustainable way.

To read the full article, “Micronutrient Supplementation and Deworming in Children with Geohelminth Infections,” click here.