Finally, it is likely that the adverse effects of helminths take
time to be evident in this nutritionally vulnerable age group.
Our study targets young children who are just acquiring initial helminth infections and therefore the deleterious effects
of the worms for child health may not yet be evident. Short
exposure duration may be limiting the lack of expected helminth-induced effects in these young children. Thus, better
nutritional status might be associated with early incidence of
infection, but over time, the association could reverse as infection takes its nutritional toll. However, the nutritional toll of
hookworms, which cause intestinal blood loss in amounts proportional to the number of adult worms in the gut, is likely
to be evident immediately, although it may be apparent only
above a certain worm burden threshold