Croke, Kevin, et al. (2024) “Meta-analysis and public policy: Reconciling the evidence on Deworming.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 121, no. 25, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2308733121.

The WHO recommends mass drug administration (MDA) in areas with >20% prevalence. Recent Cochrane meta-analyses endorse treatment of infected individuals but recommend against MDA. A theory-agnostic meta-analysis of the effect of multiple-dose MDA rejects the hypothesis of a common zero effect on child weight, mid-upper arm circumference, and height, and estimates significant average impacts. Estimates of implied treatment effect on infected children with MDA are not significantly different than those found for test and treat trials. These results suggest that MDA is a cost-effective intervention, particularly in the settings recommended by the WHO.