New Delhi, January 12 (IANS). Phase I and III clinical trials have shown that a fixed dose of the combination of drugs Albendazole and Ivermectin can work better against intestinal infections.
Four species of parasitic worms (Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichiuris trichiura, and the hookworms Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus) are responsible for soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH). These parasitic worms are spread through contact with contaminated soil or water, having a significant impact on the nutrition and health of children and women of reproductive age.
The results of the randomized clinical trial, published in the prestigious journal ‘The Lancet Infectious Diseases’, can help endemic countries achieve the control targets set out in WHO’s 2021-2030 Roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases.
“Treatment of soil-transmitted helminthiasis faces challenges,” said the international team of researchers led by the Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal) in Spain.
The objective of the study was to assess the safety and efficacy of a combined tablet for the treatment of T. trichiura hookworm and Strongyloides stercoralis infections in school children in the African countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and Mozambique.
Current strategies against these infections include routine anthelmintic treatment with albendazole for at-risk populations, and improved water, sanitation and hygiene.
The team conducted tests on 1,001 participants (46 percent women and 54 percent men) between January 2022 and March 2023. About 64 percent of the participants were infected with T. trichiura, 36 percent by hookworm, and 10 percent by S. stercoralis. Nine percent of the total 1,001 participants had more than one infection and were included in the analysis for each infecting species.
Of these, 243 participants were given a fixed dose of albendazole, 381 were given a fixed dose of the combination of albendazole (400 mg) and ivermectin (9 mg or 18 mg) and 377 were given three doses of this combination.
Symptoms of infection in the participants included in the second and third phases were common i.e. mild to moderate. However, patients taking the combination dose recovered within 48 hours.
–IANS
MKS/AKJ
