A Multinational Trial of the Efficacy of Albendazole Against Soil-transmitted Nematode Infections in Children
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2010-03-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The three major Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH), Ascaris lumbricoides, Necator
americanus/Ancylostoma duodenal and Trichuris trichiura are among the most prevalent
parasites worldwide. The objective of this multicentre international study is to define the
efficacy of a single 400 milligram dose of albendazole (ALB) against these three STHs using a
standardised protocol. The trial will be undertaken among school age children in seven
countries - Brazil, Cameroon, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Tanzania (Zanzibar) and Vietnam -
each with a different epidemiologic pattern of infection. A trial of this nature is urgently
required because in spite of the wide usage of albendazole over the last 3 decades, there is
still no key publication reporting the efficacy of the anthelmintic accurately, and to modern
conventional standards, that can act as a central reference for the baseline efficacy. The
latter is critically important because albendazole is now being used even more widely, as
large scale mass treatment campaigns are being implemented in Africa and elsewhere, with the
intention of reducing morbidity in children. Such large scale usage of a drug risks
resistance developing, but resistance cannot be detected unless benchmark values for baseline
efficacy are widely known.
Phase:
Phase 4
Details
Lead Sponsor:
University Ghent
Collaborators:
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Division of Livestock Industries, Brisbane, Australia George Washington University Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Dpt of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Belgium Queensland Institute of Medical Research University of Nottingham World Health Organization