Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) is an important drug for treatment and control of
lymphatic filariasis. To assess its possible effect on Ascaris and hookworm
infections, we conducted a double-blind two-armed study with children in T
anzania. Twenty six Ascaris-infected children were given a single dose of D
EC (6 mg/kg body weight) and 25 were given a placebo. Twenty children in th
e treatment group and eighteen controls were also infected with hookworms.
One month after treatment the geometric mean intensity (GMI) of Ascaris egg
output was reduced by 60.2% in the treatment group; two children (7.7%) ha
d stopped excreting Ascaris eggs, and some Ascaris worms were also expelled
. In hookworm-infected children in the treatment group, the geometric mean
intensity of hookworm egg output was reduced by 6.7% 1 month after treatmen
t. Neither for Ascaris nor for hookworm, however, was the observed reductio
n in egg output at 1 month after treatment statistically significant. The t
reatment efficacy of a single dose of DEC (6 mg/kg) in these infections the
refore was low.