Worms being a very common health problem for children and adults alike, experts recommend that deworming should get done twice a year or every six months, starting from the age of two years old. Deworming is the process that involves the use of medication to get rid of intestinal parasites like worms.
When infected with worms, it should be dewormed periodically, for adults and children over 2 years old should be dewormed 2 to 3 times a year, ie every 4 to 6 months.
These guidelines recommend that if regular deworming is used, animals should be treated at least 4 times a year, with no more than 3 months between each treatment. This is based on some research indicating that dropping treatment to 3-4 times per year had no effect on parasite levels.
Deworming is not always necessary, but is recommended for children who live in endemic areas once a year when the prevalence of soil-transmitted parasitic worms in the community is over 20% and twice a year when the prevalence of soil-transmitted parasitic worms in the community is 50%.
Be aware: You can worm your dog too often
And it has no obvious benefit. In fact, over-worming your dog can actually backfire, and make your dog build up a tolerance – you most certainly don't want that.
Puppies should be wormed every two weeks until twelve weeks of age, then monthly until six months of age. Once they have reached six months of age, a puppy can transfer onto an 'adult' worming schedule. All adult dogs need to be wormed every three months for effective protection.
Coconut is the most effective home remedy to treat intestinal worms. Consume a tbsp of crushed coconut in your breakfast. After 3 hours, drink about one glass of lukewarm milk mixed with 2 tbsps of castor oil. Drink this for a week to get rid of all types of intestinal worms.
Note: Albendazole and Mebendazole do not kill worm eggs, so be aware that you still have the risk of reinfection or transmission to others. Therefore, to ensure effective deworming and prevent recurrence, you should take an additional dose of the drug every 2 weeks.
Worm infestation can also lead to death.
On the surface, deworming looks like a non-threatening affair, but a lack of it can actually be fatal for you. It is mostly our daily, unhygienic habits that lead to worm infestation.
Pets should be wormed every month up to 6 months of age, then 4 times a year after that for Roundworm and Tapeworm. Lungworm treatment for dogs needs to be done monthly. Worming treatments can either be done at home or by the vet in the practice.
Adult dogs should receive a deworming treatment at least twice a year, or approximately every six months. If your dog participates in activities that could increase their risk of acquiring parasites, your vet may recommend more frequent deworming treatments.
Currently, we recommend monthly deworming for all dogs in the summer months. If we have milder winters or if you have very young children, we may recommend deworming monthly all year round. There are several other types of parasitic worms as well (hookworms, whipworms). This is where the fecal test can be useful.
Side effects of deworming treatment
There may be some mild side effects like dizziness, nausea, headache, and vomiting, all likely due to the worms being passed through the child's body. These side effects disappear after some time. Side effects are usually experienced by children with high infections.
Symptoms may include diarrhoea, tiredness and weakness, abdominal pain and weight loss. Some worms cause anaemia.
The Deworming Process after a Few Days
You may be surprised to still see live worms in your dog's feces after deworming them, but this is normal. While this can be an unpleasant image, it's actually a good thing — it means the worms are no longer living inside your dog!
adults need deworming because there is a mild chance of parasites getting in our body orally either due to poor hygiene or outside food. protection is to maintain hygiene and have well cooked food.
The best way to diagnose this infection is to do a tape test. The best time to do this is in the morning before bathing, because pinworms lay their eggs at night. Steps for the test are: Firmly press the sticky side of a 1-inch (2.5 centimeters) strip of cellophane tape over the anal area for a few seconds.
Eat more raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, and carrots, all of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites. In one study, researchers found that a mixture of honey and papaya seeds cleared stools of parasites in 23 out of 30 subjects. Drink a lot of water to help flush out your system.
Adults and children of 2 years and over : 1 chocolate square (100mg) twice each day for 3 consecutive days. Combantrin-1 with Mebendazole chocolate squares may be taken with or without food.
It is recommend to deworm your dogs once monthly. Most dewormers for dogs are very safe and do not have much impact on the system other than to do their job and make sure the dog doesn't have worms.
If infection is particularly common, the frequency of treatment may be increased to twice a year for intestinal worms and once a year for schistosomiasis.
Infants under 1 year should not be dewormed. For children under the age of 13 to 23 months, the dosage is 200mg. (single dose) For children above 2 years of age, the dosage is 400mg.
Puppies who are not dewormed may become ill and experience growth retardation. The most common parasites found in puppies are hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, tapeworms, and Giardia spp. If your dog is infected, you will probably notice the tapeworm segments in his fur around his back end or in the faeces.
Generally puppies are over this stage by 6-8 months of age and we can stop the monthly deworming. There are important exceptions to the "stop at 8 months" recommendation. Canine roundworms are infectious to humans, especially to children (it is a hygiene thing).