Half of Vietnamese population have parasitic worms

Vietnam has over 45 million people infected with intestinal worms which deprive 1.5 million liters of blood from their hosts and cause many health problems, local online newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth) News reported Wednesday.

Vietnam's National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology has released the figures recently when launching a program to call on local people to de-worm twice a year.

A recent small-scale survey in Ho Chi Minh City showed that 56. 4 percent of parents do not have their children de-wormed every six months and 4.1 percent of parents have never had their children derwormed.

Intestinal worm infection often leads to anemia, micro-nutrient deficiency, loss of concentration, liver, gall and lung diseases, and adverse effects on the physical and spiritual development of the infected people, especially women and children.

According to a global nutrition survey made in 2014, Vietnam was among the 78 countries suffering the greatest burden of malnutrition, including malnutrition in children under five years old and anemia in women in reproductive ages. Accordingly, the proportion of underweight children in Vietnam in 2014 was 14.5 percent, and the rate of short and stunted children was 24.9 percent. Endi