The anthelmintic effects of pyrantel pamoate, oxantel-pyrantel pamoate, levamisole and mebendazole in the treatment of intestinal nematodes

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A clinical trial was carried out on 793 school-children aged six to 12 years to compare the efficacy of pyrantel pamoate, oxantel-pyrantel pamoate, levamisole and mebendazole, in the treatment of infections with Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Necator americanus. All four drugs were effective against ascariasis, giving cure rates and egg reduction rates in excess of 92%. The cure rates (and egg reduction rates) for trichuriasis with single-dose treatment were 32·1% (71·9%) with pyrantel pamoate, 47·6% (86·2%) with oxantel-pyrantel pamoate, 21·8% (66·5%) with levamisole and 64·;8% (89·8%) with a three-day course of mebendazole. The corresponding rates for necatoriasis were 26·8% (64·1%) with pyrantel pamoate, 35·;2% (70·2%) with oxantel-pyrantel pamoate, 52·h;4 (89·7%) with levamisole and 48·7% (87·7%) with mebendazole. In terms of cost effectiveness, the best anthelmintic for the treatment of A. lumbricoides appeared to be pyrantel pamoate, followed by levamisole and oxantel-pyrantel pamoate. Against T. trichiura, mebendazole and oxantel-pyrantel appeared best, but for heavy infestations, prolonged treatment with mebendazole was cheaper and more effective. For the treatment of N. americanus, mebendazole, levamisole and oxantel-pyrantel pamoate were equally effective, although mebendazole was the cheapest. Mebendazole and oxantel-pyrantel pamoate were the anthelmintics of choice for the treatment of multi-parasitic infections.

This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit: