A new study in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) found that treating women subsistence farmers with just a single dose of a cheap deworming medication significantly improved their physical stamina for the grueling agriculture work needed for their family's survival. The results of treatment could be twofold: improved health for farming women and increased food production by women who have the stamina to farm more efficiently.
The finding, published today online in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, spotlights whether women of child bearing age - who may be especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of an intestinal parasite called hookworm - should be included in mass drug treatment campaigns targeting the infections, which are acquired from contact with soil contaminated with human sewage. These intestinal worms feed on blood and cause chronic anemia.
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