Treatment of intestinal helminthiasis: mebendazole only or mebendazole-pyrantel pamoate?

Abstract

Background Although intestinal helminthiasis causes highmorbidity and has a negative impact on children’s growth anddevelopment, the efficacy of antihelmintics for multiplehelminthiasis in mass treatment is still doubtful.Objective To compare the efficacy of single dose mebendazoleand a combination of pyrantel pamoate and mebendazole for thetreatment of multiple infections due to Ascaris lumbricoides,hookworm, and Trichuris trichiura.Methods Subjects were elementary school students in Suka Village,Tiga Panah subdistrict, North Sumatera. They were randomizedto either receive mebendazole (M Group) or mebendazole-pyrantel pamoate group (MP Group). Stool examinations wereperfomed on each subjects on day 7, 14, 21, and 28 after treatment.Analyses were perfomed by using chi-squared and Mann-WhitneyU tests.Results The prevalence of intestinal helminthiasis was 95.4%. T.trichiura (88.7%) was the most common cause of infection followedby A. lumbricoides (79.5%), and hookworm (3.1%). Two hundredthirty nine (76.8%) children had multiple infections. Althoughthe egg reduction rate of intestinal helminthiasis in thecombination group was faster than that of the mebendazole group,there was no significant difference in the cure rate of both groups.Conclusion A single dose of mebendazole is preferred for masstreatment of multiple intestinal helminthiasis infections.

Comparison of Albendazole and Mebendazole on Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections among School-Aged Children

“…The combination of A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura infections were found the highest. This is similar to the study previously done in Medan and Karo Regency [5], [20], [21]. The two types of nematodes are transmitted by having infective eggs swallowed [23].…”

“…In this study, the highest helminthiasis prevalence was due to T. trichiura at 89.4%, followed by A. lumbricoides and hookworms at the prevalence of 46.7% and 5%, respectively. Similar data were reported by Dalimunthe from the study done in Karo where the prevalence of T. trichiura, A. lumbricoides and hookworms was at 88.7%, 79.5%, and 3.1%, respectively [21]. T. trichiura infections are higher than the other types of nematodes because of the use of albendazole in the helminthiasis control program, where T. trichiura is less sensitive against single-dose albendazole [7], [19].…”

“…Our study showed a 46.7% prevalence of helminthiasis in Batubara, North Sumatra. The result is lower than the study done by Yunus in Medan with the prevalence of 73%, Dalimunthe in Karo year 2002 with the prevalence of 95.4% and Pasaribu in Karo year 2004 with the prevalence of 91.3% [5], [19], [20], [21]. Among three types of STHs, T. trichiura is often found in STH infection cases in human [2].…”