[New trial with thiabendazole for treatment of human strongyloidiasis]

Abstract

Okinawa prefecture is well known as an endemic area of Strongyloides stercoralis infection, and its recent infection rate was reported 6.2%, which was investigated by a new technique to detect S. stercoralis, agar plate method. Traditional treatment with thiabendazole was temporarily effective for S. stercoralis, but the recurrence rate was extremely high. We tried the new treatment for the purpose of complete eradication of the parasite. The patients were divided into two groups, who were given 500 mg of thiabendazole three times daily for 5 days and not medicated for the following 9 days. The medication was repeated 3 times in group 1 which consisted of 92 patients and 4 times in group 2 which consisted of 70 patients. Obtained results were as follows: 1) Six months after treatment, the cure rate was 89.5% in the only one course treatment, and 100% in more than 2 course treatments. 2) Side effects such as nausea, vomiting, anorexia or general fatigue were noted in 67.5% of all the patients after initial treatment, and 45.1% of the patients were dropped out of this trial. The dose of the drug was reduced in 32.1% of the patients, and only 22.8% were treated with full course of the regimen. 3) The elevation of S-GPT was observed in 33.8% of all patients. After initial treatment the rate was only 8.1%, but after 3 or 4 repeated course of treatments the rate was elevated to 39.0% and 45.4%, respectively. The liver injury was closely related to the total dose of thiabendazole and the period of the medication.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)