The state and perspectives for
chemotherapy of
cyst-forming and non-
cyst-forming coccidia in humans and animals are summarized. In
toxoplasmosis the therapeutic care of transplacental
infections, which have gone out of control because of immunodeficiency, is in the forefront of attempts at improvement. Predominant drugs in use are
pyrimethamine combined with a
sulfonamide or with
clindamycin, or
trimethoprim plus
sulfamethoxazole. For reasons of tolerability in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, after 3 months of
therapy a maintenance treatment on 2 days a week has recently given very positive results. In cats,
monensin and
toltrazuril are effective against the intestinal developmental stages of Toxoplasma gondii, the later
drug affecting to a reasonable extent the extraintestinal stages as well. Attempts to treat neosporosis and
sarcocystosis remain in the initial stages. The same is true for
cryptosporidiosis in humans and animals. A number of highly effective drugs are available for prophylaxis of poultry
coccidiosis. Increasing problems with resistance have led to new treatment schemes such as shuttle and rotation programs. In addition to a new polyether, semduramycin, a benzeneacetonitrile derivative (
diclazuril) has been developed in recent years. After three decades a new
drug (
toltrazuril), a symmetrical triazinone derivative, has brought improvements for
therapy and/or metaphylaxis in
coccidiosis of poultry and mammals. The increasing possibilities for vaccination may result in new aspects for the use of chemotherapeutics, i.e., new combinations and/or shuttle or rotation programs.