Ascaris and growth rates: a randomized trial of treatment

Abstract

Three hundred forty-one Tanzanian preschool children were randomly assigned to levamisole or placebo treatment given at three-month intervals. Weights and heights were measured at the tri-monthly treatment visits for a period of one year. Among the 273 children who were seen and weighed at the one-year follow-up visit, the rate of weight gain was 8 per cent greater for those receiving levamisole than for placebo-treated controls (p = .06). In 78 children known to be infected with Ascaris at baseline, the rate of weight gain was 21 per cent greater in children treated with levamisole than in those receiving placebo (p = .03). The rate of height gain was no different for treatment and placebo groups.