Taeniasis unresponsive to a single dose of niclosamide: case report of persistent infection with Taenia saginata and a review of therapy.

Abstract

A patient infected in Ethiopia with the beef tapeworm Taenia saginata was unsuccessfully treated with 2 g of niclosamide on four separate occasions over four months. clinical and parasitologic cures were effected by a regimen of 2 g of niclosamide given on three consecutive days. Niclosamide is the drug of choice for treatment of T. saginata and Taenia solium (pork tapeworm) infection; cure rates are approximately 90%. It is not absorbable and thus is nontoxic. Alternative treatments of taeniasis vary in the degree of safety; tin compounds and Aspidium extracts often are toxic. Paromomycin sulfate, which is also nonabsorbable, is effective, although adverse gastrointestinal effects are common with multiple-dose regimens. A relatively safe therapy is with mebendazole, a broad-spectrum anthelmintic agent, although efficacy has varied in different trials. A number of benzimidazoles, as well as nitazoxamide, have been effective against tapeworms. Praziquantel is the best alternative to niclosamide in terms of cost, efficacy, availability, and safety.

• Authors: S H Vermund, S MacLeod, R G Goldstein
• Journal: Reviews of infectious diseases (Rev Infect Dis) 1986 May-Jun Vol. 8 Issue 3 Pg. 423-6 ISSN: 0162-0886 [Print] United States
• PMID: 3726395 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Paromomycin
• Praziquantel
• Mebendazole
• Niclosamide

Topics

• Adult
• Drug Administration Schedule
• Ethiopia
• Humans
• Male
• Mebendazole (therapeutic use)
• Niclosamide (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Paromomycin (therapeutic use)
• Praziquantel (therapeutic use)
• Taeniasis (drug therapy)