Vermox
[Combined chemotherapy (mebendazole plus praziquantel) in patients with hydatidosis]

[Article in Spanish]

Salto E, Juarez E, Roiz MP, Abad J.

Servicios de Microbiologia, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid.

In February 1989 we began a combined treatment with mebendazole (3 g/day for 30 days) and praziquantel (1.8 g/day for 15 days) with variable rest periods, in a patients with hydatid disease who had been previously unsuccessful treated only with mebendazole. All the patients were monitored with serological techniques and radiography. Generally the treatment was without side-effects. According to radiography results, there was a reduction in the size of the cyst in 5 patients, in 2 there was no change and 1 patient, the cyst continued to increase in size. Results suggest that the combination of mebendazole more praziquantel could be a pharmacological alternative in the medical treatment of hydatid disease.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1822703&dopt=Abstract mebendazole Vermox



Vermox
[Current problems of echinococcosis (Echinococcus multilocularis)]

[Article in German]

Kimmig P, Schelling U.

Landesgesundheitsamt Baden-Wurttemberg.

Alveolar echinococcosis is by far the most dangerous human parasitosis in Central Europe. For the one part this is due to the fact that the parasite is localised in the liver, and for the second part it is due to the infiltrative growth of the larval cestode tissue. The life cycle of echinococcus multilocularis takes place primarily between the fox as final host and mice as intermediate hosts. In this cycle, man is an accidental host and is infected orally via the intake of cestode eggs. The individual channels of infection and their frequency have so far only been subject to speculation. The infection rate of foxes is highest in the range of the Swabian mountain pastures (known as Schwabische Alb) (up to 55 per cent), but recently values of more than 30% have been registered in the adjacent areas as well. No accurate data are available on the infection rate in humans; seroepidemiological data indicate a prevalence between 0.1 and 0.5 per thousand. IHA, IIFT and ELISA are the most frequently used methods in serodiagnostics of echinococcosis. The specific E. multilocularis antigen should be used instead of the commercially available E. granulosus antigen when examining patients for alveolar echinococcosis. In clinical diagnostics, sonography and especially CT are well tried. If the parasitic infestation is discovered early, radical surgery is the method of choice. Chemotherapy with mebendazole (e.g. Vermox) is still unsatisfactory despite improvements. Possibly an echinococcus therapy of foxes via baits containing praziquantel may be a possibility to minimize the transfer to the human organism.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1837903&dopt=Abstract mebendazole Vermox



Vermox
[Mebendazole in the therapy of hydatidosis]

[Article in Italian]

Belicchi M, Cartasegna S, Montorsi M, Peta M, Spiropoulos J, Torzilli G, Costantino D.

Cattedra di Medicina d'Urgenza, Universita, Milano.

The effectiveness of mebendazole as adjuvant treatment in hydatidosis was evaluated in 19 patients; 12 were treated both before and after surgery, 6 were not treated, one had primary treatment only, owing to the refuse of surgery. Mebendazole was administrated at the dosage of 30-50 mg/kg/day po for 30 days followed by a washout of 15 days, for a mean of 4 cycles (range 1-7) and 12 cycles (range 1-24) before and after surgery, respectively. Patients were monitored by total IgE, specific anti-echinococcus IgE and IgG, at diagnosis, just before surgery and thereafter every six months. Antibody titer decrease was observed soon after the first cycles of medical treatment before surgery, as well as a clear-cut drop after surgery, followed by a continuing decrease after the following cycles of mebendazole. Relapse of disease was observed in two patients only at one and two years after surgery respectively. These preliminary results seem to point out that mebendazole might play a role in the treatment of hydatidosis as adjuvant of surgical therapy.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1857841&dopt=Abstract mebendazole Vermox



Vermox
Identification of human hookworm in failed-treatment cases using Chinese hamsters (Cricetulus griseus) and scanning electron microscopy.

Evans AC, Daly TJ, Markus MB.

Research Institute for Diseases in a Tropical Environment, South African Medical Research Council, Nelspruit.

An attempt was made to identify the human hookworm involved in failed-treatment cases using abnormal hosts and scanning electron microscopy. Thirty-seven, 2 to 6 month old Chinese hamsters (Cricetulus griseus) from a closed, outbred, conventional colony, were each given between 20 and 120 filariform larvae per os. The larvae were cultured from faeces from mebendazole (Vermox) 500 mg single-dose, failed-treatment cases living in the lowveld farming area of the Transvaal Province, South Africa. About 60 to 78 days after inoculation, the animals were killed and adult worms were removed from their small intestines. Eleven (30%) of the 37 hamsters harboured a total of 31 adult worms (19 males and 12 females), while 26 hamsters were refractory to infection. The greatest number of worms recovered from a single animal was six. A total of 27 worms (17 males and 10 females) were subjected to examination by scanning electron microscopy. Micrographs showed male and female worms to be morphologically all of the Necator americanus species, as identified by a pair of ventral and dorsal cutting plates, a dorsal tooth and the fused terminus of spicules in the male bursa. The transverse cuticular striations were distinct and smooth. Several points of interest arose from the results of this study and are discussed.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2050988&dopt=Abstract mebendazole Vermox



Vermox
[Experience in eradicating enterobiasis in children in the preschool institutions of the Lithuanian SSR]

[Article in Russian]

Mazhilene OK.

The efficacy of hygienic measures and drug therapy of patients with enterobiasis has been compared in different organized groups of children in various regions of Lithuania. Nondrug measures and drug therapy were of similar efficacy. Vermox administration twice a year decreased the incidence of enterobiasis in children 1.9-fold, while nondrug measures decreased it 1.5-6.1-fold.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2067492&dopt=Abstract mebendazole Vermox



Vermox
Studies on the comparative efficacy of mebendazole, flubendazole and niclosamide against human tapeworm infections.

Varma TK, Shinghal TN, Saxena M, Ahluwalia SS.

The efficacy of Mebendazole and Niclosamide was studied in two groups of 24 and 38 cases, respectively of patients suffering from taeniasis. Mebendazole with dose schedule of 200 and 300 mg twice daily for 3 consecutive days showed a cure rate of 71.42% and 92.30%, whereas Niclosamide at the dose rate of 200mg per patient was 94.76% effective. Flubendazole showed a cure rate of 66.66% only. Mebendazole and Niclosamide possess high taeniacidal activity, ability to reduce the clinical symptoms of taeniasis without any side effects. Niclosamide with high activity and excellent tolerance, is a drug of choice for the treatment of taeniasis in single dose treatment while for hymenolepsiasis it needs extended course.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2103926&dopt=Abstract mebendazole Vermox