Treatment of Opisthorchis viverrini with mebendazole

Abstract

36 hospitalized Thais (21 males, 15 females, 9 to 63 yr of age) with Opisthorchis viverrini infection were treated with mebendazole in dosages of 20 mg/kg body weight for 4 weeks and 30 mg/kg body weight for 3 or 4 weeks. The drug was found to be effective when given in dosages of 30 mg/kg body weight for 3 to 4 weeks; only a few eggs were found in the stool of 1 of 27 persons at 3 or 4 weeks post-treatment. In follow-up examinations at 6 months, only 2 of 15 persons available were positive. These could have been reinfection, however. Side effects were essentially absent, except in one person who vomited on the first day of treatment.