The Efficacy of Five Anthelmintic Regimes Against Trichuris Trichiura Infections in Schoolchildren in Jimma, Ethiopia

Summary

The major soil-transmitted helminths (STHs), Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm), Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) and Necator americanus/Ancylostoma duodenal (hookworms) are amongst the most prevalent parasites worldwide. An estimated 4.5 billion individuals are at risk for STH and more than one billion individuals are thought to be infected, of which 450 million have significant morbidity attributable from their infection, school-aged children in particular. In this population infections cause stunting of the linear growth, anemia, reduce the cognitive function and contribute to the existing malnutrition. In Jimma (Ethiopia), STH are highly prevalent, affecting more than 60% of the children (data not published).

Current efforts to control STH infections involve periodic mass drug anthelmintic treatment of infected children in endemic areas and are likely to intensify as more attention is addressed to the importance of these neglected diseases. Monitoring drug efficacy in these control programs has become indispensable in order to detect the emergence of resistance and/or identify confounding factors affecting the drug efficacy. Recently a study has evaluated a single dose albendazole (ALB) in school age children across 7 countries, including Ethiopia, revealing that this regime is highly efficacious for the treatment of A. lumbricoides (99.5%) and hookworms (94.8%), but not for T. trichiura (50.8%). For this parasite a repeated dose regime of ALB on consecutive days is likely to be more appropriate. Alternative drugs are mebendazole (single dose 500mg) and pyrantel+oxantel (single dose 10mg/kg), of which the latter holds promise as it can also be administrated to children between 6 months and 2 years. The main objective of the present study, therefore, is to assess the efficacy of 5 different treatment regimes against T. trichiura in schoolchildren in Jimma, Ethiopia, including albendazole (1 x 400mg, 2 x 400mg), mebendazole (1 x 500mg, 2x 500mg) and pyrantel-oxantel (10mg/kg)+mebendazole (500mg).

Conditions

• Infection by Trichuris Trichiura

Interventions

DRUG

Albendazole, 2 x 400mg

Albendazole 2 x 400mg

DRUG

Albendazole 400mg

Albendazole 400mg

DRUG

Mebendazole 500mg

Mebendazole 500mg

DRUG

Mebendazole 2 x 500mg

Mebendazole 2 x 500mg

DRUG

Pyrantel-oxantel + mebendazole

Pyrantel-oxantel + mebendazole

Sponsors & Collaborators

• VLIR-UOS Institutional University Cooperation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University Ghent

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jozef Vercruysse, PhD · University Ghent

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

4 Years

Max Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-12-31

Primary Completion

2011-02-28

Completion

2011-03-31

Countries

• Ethiopia

Study Locations