Question: My grandson aged 4 years is a very poor eater; in fact, he has not started eating solids so far and his meals have to be given in pureed form. He tries solids like biscuits, bread and noodles sometimes but after one or two attempts spits them out. He does not eat anything in school except some milk or custard sometimes. He also gets cold very frequently. Otherwise he is hyperactive and always wants to play. I do not know whether it is lack of appetite or just no interest in food. His height is normal and weight is about 16 kg. Could this be due to worms? Can we give him a dose of Zentel and some vitamin syrup?

My grandson would be taking his first dose of Albendazole this weekend. In the meantime there are two other symptoms that he has: First, in his sleep he is very restless, he grinds his teeth and flays his legs and moves around on the bed throughout the night. Secondly, he does not want to have anything in the morning; even if he is given milk he vomits it out. As a result he stays hungry from 8 PM the previous night till 2 PM next day when he returns from school. Even when he is fed pureed food for lunch and dinner by his mother, he takes over one hour to finish the meal. He just does not have interest in food unlike most children.

Do the above symptoms have anything to do with worms or any gastric problems? Further, is his aversion to solids psychological? Once about two years back, he choked on a biscuiit. Even now when he tries to eat solids he does not chew properly and tries to swallow and then spits out the solid saying it will get stuck.

Thanks and regards.

My grandson has some cold and cough. Can Albendazole Suspension dose be given or should we wait for the cold & cough to become all right?

Dear Doctor,

Subsequent to the last question, we had given 20 ml of Albendazole suspension to my grandson. But he does not like medicine given orally and he vomited it out immediately (within one or two minutes). Can the medicine be given again? If so, has it to be given after food only or can it be given on empty stomach also (otherwise he takes out the food also while vomiting). Secondly, should the medicine be given at night only or can it be given at any time during the day?

My grandson is also becoming increasingly averse to food, especially in the morning and in the school. Yesterday, he cried in the school for two hours saying he does not want to eat anything and today in the morning he vomited when his mother tried to force him to eat before going to school. Could the aversion to food be due to worms only?

My grandson came back from school at 2 PM. After getting up in the morning, he had only some XXXXXXX juice and some lassi. My daughter gave him Zentel (first instalment - 10 ml). After that he started crying that he does not want more. My daughter gave him some water. After 5 minutes, my daughter tried giving him the remaining 10 ml. He then vomited. Some orange-colored fluid came out(He had XXXXXXX juice at 12 Noon). Finally, she was able to give him only another 7-8 ml out of the 10 ml of second instalment.

Would sufficient quantity have been taken by my grandson? He must have taken 15 ml over 20-25 minutes. Will it be effective? Or he has to be given again? If he has to be given again, in what other form Albendazole is available, since he appears to have decided to vomit it out in the suspension form?