REINFECTION PATTERNS OF OESOPHAGOSTOMUM-BIFURCUM AFTER ANTHELMINTIC TREATMENT

Subjects infected with the adult worms of Oesophagostomum bifurcum, di agnosed through semiquantitative detection of characteristic third sta ge larvae, were treated in the middle of the dry or in the middle of t he rainy season with two different dosages of albendazole. A third gro up was not treated. The pattern of reinfection after treatment was ana lysed. Transmission of Oesophagostomum infection appeared to be limite d to the rainy season and the rate of reinfection was independent of t he dose of albendazole received. The impact on transmission of develop ing stages that might survive in the nodules in the intestinal wall is discussed.