[Diphyllobothrium latum infection in Akita Prefecture. Infections occurring from 1974 to 1981 and the clinical effect of paromomycin sulfate].

Forty-one patients, aged 2 to 68 years old, infected with Diphyllobothrium latum in Akita prefecture were treated using paromomycin sulfate from 1974 to 1981. Paromomycin sulfate was administered orally in a single dose of 20, 30 mg/kg or 50 mg/kg. Twenty-three cases expelled tapeworms. However, only 9 (28.1%) out of 32 tapeworms expelled had their scolex. It can be said that all cases were successfully treated with paromomycin sulfate, since they showed the egg-negative on 3 weeks or 1 month after the treatment. The drug was well tolerated and no side effects were encountered in any patients. It was suggested that paromomycin sulfate was effective and also safe therapeutic agent for the treatment of D. latum infection.