Researchers have reported positive results from a safety and efficacy study pertaining to tribendimidine, a broad-based treatment for intestinal worm infections.
The group's results demonstrate the success of the new drug from China versus that of the standard albendazole for the treatment of hookworm, large roundworm, whipworm, and, for the first time, threadworm and tapeworm.
The study was jointly implemented by researchers from the Swiss Tropical Institute in Basel, the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases (IPD) in Shanghai, the Yunnan Institute of Parasitic Diseases in Simao, China, and the Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases in Wuxi, China. Details are published October 15th in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Globally, more than one billion people are infected with intestinal worms. These chronic infections negatively impact on child and maternal health, nutritional status, physical performance, and cognitive development. The current control strategy relies on drugs to reduce morbidity, ideally complemented by the provision of safe water and sanitation to curb transmission. Only four drugs are currently recommended by the World Health Organization for treating soil-transmitted helminth infections, making the potential development of drug resistance a concern. Tribendimidine belongs to a different chemical class than current worm treatments. The drug had been developed at IPD and Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical in Zibo, China, and was approved by the China State Food and Drug Administration in 2004.