Articles: child.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Evaluation of a new antihelminthic for trichuriasis, hookworm, and stronglyloidiasis.
Mebendazole was tested in a double-blind trial for its efficacy in the treatment and control of enteric helminths. One hundred and twenty-two children from a community near the Gulf of Carpentaria, and from a community in Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland were divided into two equal groups to receive a course of either mebendazole or placebo after the identification of one or more intestinal helminths in a single pretreatment specimen of faeces. Between the tenth and twentieth days after a four-day course of treatment, three specimens of faeces were collected from each child. ⋯ No cases of Ascaris lumbricoides infestation were present. No side effects or adverse reactions to the drug were noted and patient acceptance was excellent. Mebendazole appears to be a safe drug for use in the treatment of human parasitic intestinal nematode infestations, and should be especially useful in the treatment and control of trichuriasis.
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A standardized medical examination of four to five year old children was introduced into Victorian preschools in 1977. This combined a neurodevelopmental screening with a physical examination. ⋯ The number of children referred for intervention or therapy from the disadvantaged group was 176 (34%) compared with 88 children (17.6%) from the more advantaged group. A standardized examination of the preschool child is desirable, so that consistently comparable results can be obtained and epidemiological trends can be more readily identified.