Open and placebo-controlled studies of albendazole in the treatment of intestinal helminthiasis.

Abstract

Of 73 patients (aged over 15 years) at Magadi Hospital, Kenya, suffering from intestinal helminthiasis, some with concomitant disease, 28 were treated in 2 open studies with 400 mg albendazole as a single dose or the same dose for 3 days. The other 45 patients were entered into a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial receiving the same doses of albendazole or matching placebo. Nearly all the patients had Taenia saginata, either alone or in combination with one or more helminths. In the open studies albendazole given as a single dose and for 3 consecutive days was effective against T. saginata, Ascaris lumbricoides, Necator americanus, Hymenolepis nana, Enterobius vermicularis, Strongyloides stercoralis and Trichuris trichiura. In the placebo-controlled study the cure rate for Taenia saginata was good in single-dose and 3-day treatments. A. lumbricoides, N. americanus, and Taenia solium responded well to both regimes. On the 3-day regimen good results were also obtained against E. vermicularis and S. stercoralis. Albendazole was well tolerated.