About mebendazole (2024)

FAQs

About mebendazole? ›

Mebendazole is a type of medicine for treating worms. It's used mainly for infections of the gut such as threadworms (sometimes known as pinworms) and other less common worm infections (whipworm, roundworm and hookworm). It works by stopping worms from using sugar (glucose) to live. This kills the worms.

It works by stopping the worms using sugar (glucose). Without glucose, the cells of the worms lose their energy supply and quickly die. Mebendazole does not kill the eggs of the worm. This is why you may need to take another dose 2 weeks later to help prevent reinfection.

Mebendazole is best taken with meals, especially fatty ones (eg, meals that include whole milk or ice cream). This helps to clear up the infection by helping your body absorb the medicine better. However, if you are on a low-fat diet, check with your doctor.

There have been reports of neutropenia and agranulocytosis with mebendazole use at higher doses and with more prolonged durations of treatment, as in helminth infections. Elderly patients and patients with comorbid conditions like liver impairment and/or end-stage renal disease require close monitoring.

This medicine may cause serious skin reactions when taken together with metronidazole. Check with your doctor right away if you have blistering, peeling, or loose skin, red skin lesions, severe acne or skin rash, sores or ulcers on the skin, or fever or chills while you are using this medicine.

Mebendazole is between 90-100% effective at killing the threadworms, but they cannot kill the eggs. Strict hygiene measures should still be followed for two weeks after treatment (see above). You should see your GP if the infection persists after using medication.

Official answer. Yes, it is normal to see dead threadworms in the persons bowel motions. Depending on the frequency of bathroom visits this can take up to one week.

Whether the patient eats or does not eat does not affect the effectiveness of deworming. Patients just need to be careful not to get too hungry before using the dewormer. After taking deworming medicine, about 8 - 12 hours the medicine will take effect.

Key facts. You'll usually take mebendazole as a single dose to treat threadworms, but you might need to take it for around 3 days for some other types of worm infection. It starts to work straight away but it may take several days to kill all the worms.

Gut microbiota diversity increased after Enterobius infection, and it peaked after administration of mebendazole. At the phylum level, pinworm infection and mebendazole deworming were associated with a decreased relative abundance of Fusobacteria and an increased proportion of Actinobacteria.

Why is mebendazole no longer available? ›

Why is Mebendazole discontinued? Mebendazole was discontinued in 2011 due to the poor tissue penetration of Mebendazole and the current availability of albendazole and not for safety or efficacy reasons, stated by the Federal Register determination.

Mebendazole is usually well tolerated and the liver injury reported with its use has been mild and self-limited in course. Patients with hypersensitivity and acute liver injury attributed to mebendazole should avoid repeat exposure.

Mebendazole is not suitable for some people. To make sure it's safe for you, tell a pharmacist or doctor if you: have ever had an allergic reaction to mebendazole or any other medicine. are pregnant or breastfeeding.

ringing in the ears, low blood pressure, bloody urine, and. a drop in number of blood cells.

Mebendazole sometimes causes diarrhea, abdominal pain, and elevated liver enzymes. In rare cases, it has been associated with a dangerously low white blood cell count, low platelet count, and hair loss, with a risk of agranulocytosis in rare cases.

Albendazole and mebendazole are most frequently prescribed for treatment of intestinal nematode infections (ascariasis, hookworm infections, trichuriasis, strongyloidiasis, and enterobiasis) and can also be used for intestinal tapeworm infections (taeniases and hymenolepiasis).

It starts to work straight away but it may take several days to kill all the worms. Mebendazole kills worms but not their eggs. You may need to take a second dose after 2 weeks. It's also important to have good personal hygiene to help stop the worms coming back.

Choose a dewormer with few side effects: Symptoms after taking an dewormer are usually nausea, fatigue, irritability, headaches... these are often highly toxic drugs. Therefore, when choosing a dewormer, it is advisable to choose a type with such low medicinal properties that will minimize unnecessary reactions.

What to Expect: After taking the pinworm medicine, itching should stop in 5 to 7 days.