A case for adoption of continuous albendazole treatment regimen for human echinococcal infections

by Francesca Tamarozzi, John Horton, Marin Muhtarov, Michael Ramharter, Mar Siles-Lucas, Beate Gruener, Dominique A. Vuitton, Solange Bresson-Hadni, Tommaso Manciulli, Enrico Brunetti Cystic (CE) and alveolar (AE) echinococcosis are chronic, neglected parasitic diseases burdened by high morbidity and, for AE, by high mortality, if left untreated. CE and AE have a widespread distribution, including Europe. Albendazole (ABZ), a broad-spectrum benzimidazole drug widely used to tre at parasitic infections, is the drug of choice for the management of CE and AE, and is parasitostatic on echinococcal metacestodes. In Europe, ABZ is licensed for interrupted “cyclic” treatment, for a maximum of 3 cycles. However, better efficacy with no increased side effects has been shown whe n the drug is administered continuously and for longer periods. Current international recommendations, on the basis of clinical, pharmacological, and biological studies, recommend continuous administration of ABZ for months to years for the treatment of CE and AE, and this schedule has been widely i n use for the past 20 years. However, in Europe this internationally recommended schedule, with the exception of France, is technically “off-label”, and, as such, requires an informed consent by the patient and, in some countries, even precludes the reimbursement of the drug cost. Adding to the very high cost of the drug, frequent “out-of-stock” situation, and packaging format impractical for long thera...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research