Chemotherapy of onchocerciasis: a controlled clinical trial of topical diethylcarbamazine (DEC) in Guatemala
Taylor, H.R.; Langham, M.E.; de Stahl, E.M.; Figueroa, L.N.; Beltranena, F.
Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie 31(3): 357-364
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0303-4208 PMID: 7003855 Document Number: 162826
Fifty-six adult patients in Guatemala infected with Onchocerca volvulus were treated with a lotion containing 2% diethylcarbamazine citrate all over their bodies daily for 7 days and then weekly for 7 weeks. Their reactions were compared in a blind clinical trial with those of 61 similar people treated by a placebo. In both groups the number of microfilariae (mf) in skin snips fell steeply in the first week and then rose very slightly. The mean count in the treated group fell from 31.8 to 4.6 mf/snip and that in the control group fell from 22.9 to 15.3 mf/snip. The fall in the treated group was proportionally similar for people with light, moderate or heavy microfilarial loads, and the side effects were similar in the 3 groups. The side effects consisted mainly of skin changes, fever and malaise and they occurred in nearly one third of the treated people and in some of those receiving placebo.