Treatment of trichuriasis with a new drug, mebendazole.

Effectiveness of mebendazole, a new anthelminthic drug recommended for treatment of Trichuris trichiura infection, was evaluated in 50 children attending a pediatric outpatient clinic in New York City. Mebendazole, 100 mg. administered orally twice daily for three days resulted in an apparent cure of 48 children. Posttreatment stools of the remaining two children had a substantial reduction in the number of eggs. A second course of treatment, identical to the first, led to the elimination of eggs in the stool specimens of these two children. Mebendazole appears to be an effective drug against Trichuris trichiura.