NITAZOXANIDE FOR THE TREATMENT OF INTESTINAL PROTOZOAN AND HELMINTHICINFECTIONS IN MEXICO

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.