Tolerability and efficacy of single-dose diethyl carbamazine (DEC) or ivermectin in the clearance of Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaraemia in Pondicherry, south India
Gs. Reddy et al., Tolerability and efficacy of single-dose diethyl carbamazine (DEC) or ivermectin in the clearance of Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaraemia in Pondicherry, south India, TR MED I H, 5(11), 2000, pp. 779-785
In a double blind design the tolerability and efficacy of single-dose DEC (
6 mg/kg/body weight) or ivermectin (400 mug/kg/body weight) was studied in
30 asymptomatic W. bancrofti parasite carriers each. Although both drugs we
re tolerated well, the adverse reaction score (DEC 0.5; ivermectin 1.5) and
overall incidence (DEC 65.0%; ivermectin 93.3%) were significantly higher
in the ivermectin group. Major adverse reactions were fryer, headache and m
yalgia, all of which peaked on the second day post-therapy. Efficacy was me
asured in terms of proportion of cases clearing parasitaemia and reduction
in mean parasite density compared to pretherapy levels. Although at the end
of one year the ivermectin group showed a significantly higher efficacy (3
4.8%, 97.0%) compared to DEC (8.3%, 83.8%), at the end of the second year t
here was no significant difference in efficacy between the drugs (73.7%, 99
.5% for ivermectin; 47.8%, 98.9% for DEC). The tolerability and efficacy of
the two drugs were not significantly different between gender, age and wei
ght classes of patients.