Rate of reinfection with intestinal nematodes after treatment of children with mebendazole or albendazole in a highly endemic area.
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.
Albonico
M
M
Programme of Intestinal Parasitic Infections, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Smith
P G
PG
Ercole
E
E
Hall
A
A
Chwaya
H M
HM
Alawi
K S
KS
Savioli
L
L
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
D000969:Antinematodal Agents; D008463:Mebendazole; D015766:Albendazole