A randomized, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial on the efficacy of ivermectin against intestinal nematode infections in China

To assess the efficacy of ivermectin against intestinal nematode infections, a randomized, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial was carried out in a total of 816 human individuals infected with different nematodes from three counties in China. The subjects were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups and orally given a single dose of 0.1, 0.2, 0.2 and 0.2 mg/kg ivermectin against Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, Trichuris trichiura and Enterobius vermicularis, respectively. Parallel control groups to each of the ivermectin groups were given a single oral dose of 6.7 mg/kg albendazole. The cure rates with ivermectin and albendazole were 100% (102/102) and 99.0% (101/102) for Ascaris, and 66.7% (68/102) and 67.7% (69/102) for Trichuris, respectively, with no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the two treatments. The parasitological cure rates of albendazole were 69.6% (71/102) for hookworm and 94.1% (96/102) for Enterobius, which were significantly higher than ivermectin (33.3% and 52.9%, respectively, P < 0.0001). The expulsion of worm in the feces reached its peak 1–2 days after ivermectin treatment. The study showed that ivermectin, with few side effects, could be used as an additional treatment tool for intestinal nematodes, especially for the treatment of Ascaris and Trichuris infections in China.