March Update under 30

 

I was recently asked to speak at an ACNEM conference on ‘Clinical Pearls in Paediatric Practice’ and I talked about 3 key things that have proved to be absolute game-changers in my understanding and better management of children…and guess what one of my topics was…threadworm!!??  Yup.  I am convinced some people who’ve heard me mention this before may start to think I have some sort of perverse interest in these little blighters because what could we possibly need to know about kids being infected with worms that we don’t already know?  However the answer is….HEAPS!

 

I have spoken on this topic previously (basically when anyone will let me! ;)) and I can tell you that it’s this information specifically, what I’ve learnt about the myriad presentations, the individual susceptibility and fresh perspectives on treatment, that attracts the biggest ‘Wow!’, lightbulb moments and ‘oh my goodness you’ve just explained a riddle in half a dozen of my patients that I’ve been unable to solve’ kind of comments more than anything else.  I just experienced this again at the ACNEM conference in NZ. It’s so wonderful to be able to spread the word! (no pun intended!)

Threadworm, in my humble opinion, is one of those under-estimated infections that can be the real linchpin in an ‘unwell’ child’s health story – whether that presents as emotional instability, genitourinary issues, unexplained malnourishment or pronounced chronic inflammation that compromises the child’s ability to manage other immune challenges and because standard stool testing (both through mainstream pathology companies and almost all of the functional companies you might use) are unable to accurately detect and report on the presence of threadworm it is typically missed as a diagnosis.

 

I’ve just recorded this information as an Update in Under 30 so that more people can access this important info plus the download also comes with a key paper that is a great resource for clinicians and parents alike.  If you’re keen to learn more about Threadworm and how it may be playing out in your paediatric and adult patients (aha that’s right, that’s what I said!)  then you can download it here.

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