{{short description|Use of anthelmintic drugs}} {{For-text|deworming of humans|[[mass deworming]]|other meanings of "Deworming"|[[Worming (disambiguation)|Worming]]|types of dewormers|[[Anthelmintic]]}}
[[File:Sheep drenching.JPG|thumb|220px|Drenching [[Merino]] hoggets, [[Walcha, New South Wales|Walcha]], NSW]] [[File:U.S. Soldiers Treat Animals With De-Worming Medication In Swaziland.webm|thumb|U.S. soldiers treating animals with de-worming medication in [[Eswatini]] during VETCAP]] '''Deworming''' (sometimes known as '''worming''', '''drenching''' or '''dehelmintization''') is the giving of an [[anthelmintic]] drug (a '''wormer''', '''dewormer''', or '''drench''') to a human or animals to rid them of helminths [[parasite]]s, such as [[roundworm]], [[trematoda|flukes]] and [[tapeworm]]. Purge dewormers for use in [[livestock]] can be formulated as a feed supplement that is eaten, a paste or gel that is deposited at the back of the animal's mouth, a liquid drench given orally, an injectable, or as a pour-on which can be applied to the animal's topline. In [[dog]]s and [[cat]]s, purge dewormers come in many forms including a granular form to be added to food, pill form, chew tablets, and liquid suspensions.
==Animals== [[File:MEDFLAG 11, Ghana, July 2011 (5963615926).jpg|thumb|Application of deworming treatment to cattle]]
=== Large animal === Horses are most often dewormed with a paste or gel placed on the back of the animal's mouth via a dosing syringe; feed dewormers are also used, both single-dose varieties and in a daily, "continuous" feed form. Deworming (drenching) a sheep is usually done with a specific drenching gun that squirts an [[anthelmintic]] into the sheep's throat. Recently anthelmintic herbal drugs and vaccines have been used against gastrointestinal nematodes due to an increase in resistance to anthelmintic drugs that showed significant potential against parasites in large animals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sadr |first1=Soheil |last2=Ahmadi Simab |first2=Pouria |last3=Kasaei |first3=Melika |last4=Gholipour Landi |first4=Mahdieh |last5=Borji |first5=Hassan |last6=Adhami |first6=Ghazaleh |title=Potential of Anthelmintic Herbal Drugs against Gastrointestinal Nematodes in Farm Animals: A Review |journal=Farm Animal Health and Nutrition |date=2022 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=26–30|doi=10.58803/fahn.v1i1.9 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lotfalizadeh |first1=Narges |last2=Sadr |first2=Soheil |last3=Moghaddam |first3=Safa |last4=Saberi Najjar |first4=Mahdis |last5=Khakshoor |first5=Amin |last6=Ahmadi Simab |first6=Pouria |last7=Borji |first7=Hassan |title=The Innate Immunity Defense against Gastrointestinal Nematodes: Vaccine Development |journal=Farm Animal Health and Nutrition |date=2022 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=31–38|doi=10.58803/fahn.v1i2.10 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==== Anthelmintics ==== {| class="wikitable" |+Equine Anthelmintics<ref>{{Cite book|title=Equine Clinical Pharmacology|last=Bertone|first=Joseph|publisher=Elsevier|year=2004|pages=65}}</ref> !Drug class !Anthelmintic !Targeted parasite(s) |- |Macrocyclic lactones | *[[Ivermectin]] *[[Moxidectin]] |Cyathostomes (adult small [[Strongylida|strongyles]]); migrating large strongyle larvae; adult large strongyles; [[Parascaris equorum|ascarids]]; [[Botfly|bots]] |- |[[Benzimidazole]]s | *[[Fenbendazole]] *[[Oxfendazole]] *[[Mebendazole]] |Cyathostomes (adult small strongyles); migrating large strongyle larvae; adult large strongyles; ascarids; bots |- |[[Pyrimidine]]s | *[[Pyrantel Pamoate|Pyrantel pamoate]] * Pyrantel tartrate |Cyathosyomes (adult small strongyles); adult large strongyles; ascarids |- |[[Heterocyclic compound|Heterocyclics]] | *[[Piperazine]] |Cyathosyomes (adult small strongyles); adult large strongyles; ascarids |- |Pyrazinoisoquinolines | *[[Praziquantel]] |[[Cestoda|Tapeworms]] |}
=== Small animal === The [[Companion Animal Parasite Council|Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC)]] recommends deworming treatments at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of age for puppies and concurrent treatments to the mother. They also recommend deworming treatments at 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks of age for kittens and the mother. Depending on animal health and lifestyle factors, quarterly treatments may also be recommended.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/capc-primary-guidelines|title=CAPC primary guidelines|website=DVM360|date=March 2008 }}</ref> <!--To eliminate reactivated larvae and prevent horizontal transmission from puppies that may be shedding roundworm and hookworm egg.<ref>Misra, SC. Experimental prenatal infection of Toxocara canis in dogs and effective chemotherapeutic measures. Indian J Anim Sci.1972.</ref>-->
== Humans == {{Further|Mass deworming}} Mass deworming campaigns of school children have been used both as a preventive as well as a treatment method for [[helminthiasis]], which includes [[soil transmitted helminthiasis]] in children. Children can be treated by administering, for example, [[mebendazole]] and [[albendazole]]. The cost is relatively low. According to the [[World Health Organization|World Health Organization (WHO)]], over 870 million children (half of the children in the world) are at risk of parasitic worm infection.<ref>{{cite web|title=Soil Transmitted Helminths|url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs366/en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120820003930/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs366/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 20, 2012|publisher=WHO|access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> Worm infections interfere with nutrient uptake, can lead to anemia, malnourishment and impaired mental and physical development, and pose a serious threat to children's health, education, and productivity. Infected children are often too sick or tired to concentrate at school, or to attend at all.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miguel|first1=Edward|title=Worms at work: Long-run impacts of a child health investment|journal=Working Paper|date=May 2015|volume=131|issue=4|pages=1637–1680|doi=10.1093/qje/qjw022|pmid=27818531|pmc=5094294|url=http://emiguel.econ.berkeley.edu/assets/miguel_research/64/Worms-at-Work_2015-07-23.pdf|access-date=28 July 2015|display-authors=etal|archive-date=2021-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116020318/http://emiguel.econ.berkeley.edu/assets/miguel_research/64/Worms-at-Work_2015-07-23.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Anthelmintic]] *[[Horse care]] *[[Parasitism]]
== References == {{reflist}}
[[Category:Veterinary procedures]]