Parasitological and nutritional status of school-age and preschool-age children in four villages in Southern Leyte, Philippines: Lessons for monitoring the outcome of Community-Led Total Sanitation.

While preventive chemotherapy remains to be a major strategy for the prevention and control of soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH), improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) comprise the long-term strategy to achieve sustained control of STH. This study examined the parasitological and nutritional status of school-age and preschool-age children in four villages in Southern Leyte, Philippines where two of the villages attained Open-Defecation-Free (ODF) status after introduction of Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). A total of 341 children (89.