Reducing intestinal nematode infection: Efficacy of albendazole and mebendazole

The widespread use of mebendazole and albendazole for treating intestinal n ematode infections in human populations is raising concerns that careful mo nitoring procedures should be in place to identify any emergence of drug re sistance. In this article, Andy Bennett and Helen Guyatt discuss whether be nchmark parasitological drug efficacy rates can be defined for these anthel mintics, by analysing published data on cure rates and egg reduction rates in the treatment of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworm.