Mass Deworming Program in Indonesia as A Strategic Tool to Reduce Soil-transmitted Helminth (STH) Burden in High-Risk Population: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Mass deworming program is one of the major preventive measures to reduce the Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) burden in the high-risk population. In Indonesia, the enactment of WHO recommends regularly administering anti-helminthic medication based on STH prevalence has been conducted since 2017 and notably STH prevalence decreased significantly yet no data has demonstrated its efficacyMethods: This review was made based on a reporting system for systematic reviews and meta-analyses review protocol or PRISMA. Databases used in this review included Pubmed, Google Scholar and Clinicalkey for a total of 828 articles.Results: There were only four included studies involving 842 young, preschool and school-aged children. No further quantitative analysis could be performed to analyze mass deworming efficacy in this population but STH prevalence has been reduced following mass deworming programs in several study locations; two last studies could not be determined since no baseline infection status has been evaluated. The other two studies proved the low STH prevalence based on pre- and post-tests following mass drug administration.Conclusions: All studies demonstrated mass deworming programs could be an efficient mode to reduce STH prevalence in high-risk populations, particularly school-age children. Nevertheless, improving outcomes of interest is still inconsistent in the literature.