title: Rate of reinfection with intestinal nematodes after treatment of children with mebendazole or albendazole in a highly endemic area.
abstract: The comparative efficacy of albendazole and mebendazole in the treatment of intestinal nematode infections were compared 3 weeks after treatment in a randomized trial among schoolchildren on Pemba Island, Tanzania. Egg counts were compared 3 weeks, 4 months and 6 months after treatment of 731 children seen on each occasion. Differences in the efficacies were apparent with some nematodes 21 d after treatment, but these were no longer apparent 4 months after treatment, and by 6 months intensities of infection were similar to pre-treatment levels. These findings suggest that treatment of schoolchildren every 4 months may be necessary in this highly endemic area in order to have an impact on the intensity of intestinal nematode infections sufficient to be likely to reduce morbidity.
authors.affiliation: Programme of Intestinal Parasitic Infections, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Albonico
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ercole
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chwaya
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Alawi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Savioli
mesh_terms: D015766:Albendazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000969:Antinematodal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001196:Ascariasis / Q000188:drug therapy; D002648:Child; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D006725:Hookworm Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008463:Mebendazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D012008:Recurrence; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013636:Tanzania; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014257:Trichuriasis / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000969:Antinematodal Agents; D008463:Mebendazole; D015766:Albendazole