Thériault, François L.Maheu-Giroux, MathieuBlouin, BrittanyCasapía, MartinGyorkos, Theresa W.2014-09-082014Thériault, François L., Mathieu Maheu-Giroux, Brittany Blouin, Martin Casapía, and Theresa W. Gyorkos. 2014. “Effects of a Post-Deworming Health Hygiene Education Intervention on Absenteeism in School-Age Children of the Peruvian Amazon.” PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 8 (8): e3007. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003007.1935-2727http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12785826Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are a leading cause of disability and disease burden in school-age children of worm-endemic regions. Their effect on school absenteeism, however, remains unclear. The World Health Organization currently recommends delivering mass deworming and health hygiene education through school-based programs, in an effort to control STH-related morbidity. In this cluster-RCT, the impact of a health hygiene education intervention on absenteeism was measured. From April to June 2010, all Grade 5 students at 18 schools in a worm-endemic region of the Peruvian Amazon were dewormed. Immediately following deworming, nine schools were randomly assigned to the intervention arm of the trial using a matched-pair design. The Grade 5 students attending intervention schools (N = 517) received four months of health hygiene education aimed at increasing knowledge of STH prevention. Grade 5 students from the other nine schools (N = 571) served as controls. Absenteeism was measured daily through teachers' attendance logs. After four months of follow-up, overall absenteeism rates at intervention and control schools were not statistically significantly different. However, post-trial non-randomized analyses have shown that students with moderate-to-heavy Ascaris infections and light hookworm infections four months after deworming had, respectively, missed 2.4% (95% CI: 0.1%, 4.7%) and 4.6% (95% CI: 1.9%, 7.4%) more schooldays during the follow-up period than their uninfected counterparts. These results provide empirical evidence of a direct effect of STH infections on absenteeism in school-age children.en-USMedicine and Health SciencesInfectious DiseasesParasitic DiseasesHelminth InfectionsSoil-Transmitted HelminthiasesAscariasisHookworm DiseasesTrichuriasisPediatricsPublic and Occupational HealthGlobal HealthTropical DiseasesNeglected Tropical DiseasesJournal Article2014-09-0810.1371/journal.pntd.0003007