The World Health Organizations recommended albendazole or mebendazole for treatment. Mass treatment with drugs One strategy to control the disease in areas where it is common is the treatment of entire groups of people regardless of symptoms via mass drug administration. The World Health Organization recommends mass treatments to all at risk groups in endemic communities, especially women of childbearing age, pre-school aged children and school-aged children. Mass treatments can also be provided to pregnant women in their second and third trimesters, and breastfeeding women. This known as mass deworming. While testing and treating children who are infected looks like it is effective, there is significant evidence that concludes that routine deworming, in the absence of a positive test, does not improve nutrition, haemoglobin, school attendance or school performance. For this purpose, broad-spectrum benzimidazoles such as mebendazole and albendazole are the drugs of choice recommended by WHO. These anthelminthics are administered in a single dose are safe, relatively inexpensive, and effective for several months. Mebendazole can be given with a single dose twice a day for three consecutive days. Albendazole is given at a single dose. WHO recommends annual treatment in areas where between 20 and 50% of people are infected, and a twice a year treatment if it is over 50%; and in low risk situation (i.e. less than 20% prevalence) case-by-case treatment. In addition to these, pyrantel pamoate is also equally effective on ascaris. However, it has been reported that albendazole, mebendazole, and pyrantel pamoate are not entirely effective against T. trichiura with single oral doses in population-based control. Drugs for those with other diseases In cases of coinfection, combination therapy with ivermectin and diethylcarbamazine is advocated. However coinfection with malaria and HIV, especially among African women, does not respond well to the current combination therapies. It is more pressing for trichuriasis that the recommended drugs fail to provide positive results. A novel drug tribendimidine, which was approved in China by the CCDC for human use in 2004, has been subjected to clinical trials showing that they are highly effective against major human flukes, ascaris (>90% cure rate) and hookworm (>82%); however with low cure rate for whipworm (<37%). Surgical intervention In some severe cases of ascariasis the numbers of Ascaris worms can cause intestinal obstruction requiring emergency surgery. The obstruction may be due to a collected mass of worms or to a twisting of the intestine. During the surgery the worms may be manually removed.
Soil-transmitted helminthiasis
Helminthiasis
Behavior-altering parasite
Pinworm infection
Tick infestation
Trichiasis
Acariasis
Toxocariasis