title: Long-term treatment of onchocerciasis patients from the Liberian rain-forest with low doses of diethylcarbamazine citrate after complete nodulectomy.
abstract: 60 completely nodulectomized volunteers from the Liberian rain-forest were given an initial treatment with diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC-C) for one week with gradually increasing doses up to a total of 1.1 g per patient. A long-term treatment followed with 50 mg DEC-C per week for 12 months. Immediately after the initial treatment the mean microfilarial density decreased to 4% to 6% of the pre-treatment level. After one year the microfilarial density had again increased to 12% to 29% of the pre-treatment level. Although the intake of the weekly 50 mg DEC-C was in no case regular, the microfilarial densities could be kept at a low level throughout the trial. However, even with the combined treatment--preceding nodulectomy and long-term trial with DEC-C--it was not possible to get the patients free from microfilariae.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004049:Diethylcarbamazine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008842:Microfilariae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008875:Middle Aged; D009854:Onchocerca / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009855:Onchocerciasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D004049:Diethylcarbamazine