Rr. Cabello et al., NITAZOXANIDE FOR THE TREATMENT OF INTESTINAL PROTOZOAN AND HELMINTHICINFECTIONS IN MEXICO, Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 91(6), 1997, pp. 701-703
Citations number
7
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Tropical Medicine
A study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nitazoxanide as a singl
e agent for the treatment of a broad spectrum of mixed parasitic infec
tions, both protozoa and helminths, was conducted at a primary school
in San Pedro Toliman, Queretaro, Mexico. Three faecal samples from 182
4 adults and children were screened for the presence of oocysts, cysts
, trophozoites, eggs or larvae of intestinal protozoa or helminths. Tw
o hundred and forty-six adults and children infected with at least one
protozoan and 2 helminths were given 7.5 mg/kg of nitazoxanide (500 m
g to adults and 200 mg to children less than 12 years old) every 12 h
for 3 consecutive days. Faecal samples were examined on days 6, 7, 8,
13, 14 and 15 (+/-1) following initiation of treatment, using formalin
-ether concentration and Kato-Katz egg counting. Treatment with nitazo
xanide was 71-100% effective in eliminating evidence of infection with
Entamoeba histolytica/E, dispar, Giardia duodenalis, Blastocystis hom
inis, Isospora belli, Enterobius vermicularis, Ascaris lumbricoides, T
richuris trichiura and Hymenolepis nana. Haematology and clinical chem
istry values obtained before and after treatment remained unaffected b
y nitazoxanide. The drug was well tolerated, with only 15 patients (6.
1%) reporting mild abdominal pain that lasted less than 24 h.