Praziquantel (2-cyclohexylcarbonyl-1,2,3,6,7,11b-hexahydro-4H-pyrazino[2,1-a]++ +isoquinolin- 4-one, EMBAY 8440, Biltricide) has been used in 4853 patients with Opisthorchis viverrini infection. 786 patients were treated as inpatients with extensive clinical evaluation and the rest were out-patients. A cure rate (evaluated with 5 faecal samples) of 100% was obtained in groups given 6 X 25 mg/kg on 2 days and 3 X 25 mg/kg on 1 day, while in groups given 2 X 25 mg/kg, 1 X 25 mg/kg and 1 X 40 mg/kg all on 1 day the cure rates were 88, 44 and 91%, respectively. With one sample evaluation the parasitological cure rate was 96% in further 96 patients excreting the geometric mean (GM) of 5394 eggs per gram (EPG) and receiving 1 X 40 mg/kg. Another 68 patients with an egg output of 26044 (GM/EPG) and treated with 1 X 50 mg/kg showed a cure rate of 97% by similar evaluation. Side effects were mild and transient and were more frequent in higher dosage groups. They included anorexia, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, epigastric pain, rumbling in the abdomen, diarrhoea, lassitude, myalgia, headache, dizziness, sleeplessness, sleepiness, "hot sensation", shortness of breath, and skin rash in a few cases. Headache (30.7%) was most common in the 6 X 25 mg/kg group. In 53 patients with severe jaundice the side effects were similar. There was no evidence of toxicity. Remarkable was one patient treated with 1 X 50 mg/kg who expelled 5636 O. viverrini worms, most of which were elongated and damaged. When a single dose is prescribed it should be given at bed time to reduce the side effect of sedation.
AbstractEnhanced potency inactivated poliovirus vaccine (EIPV), combined with diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine, was compared with oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) regarding immunogenicity in Thai infants, vaccinated at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. EIPV induced significantly higher seroconversion rates than OPV to all 3 poliovirus types after the second and third immunization. After 3 doses of each vaccine, at 7 months of age, all infants receiving EIPV proved seropositive for poliovirus type 1, type 2 and type 3 neutralizing antibodies, whereas of those receiving OPV, 9% remained seronegative (titre <1:4) for type 1 (p = 0.0042) and 11% for type 3 (p =0.0013). All participating children were given an additional dose of OPV at the age of 9 months and tested again at 12 months of age. At that point, virtually all infants had poliovirus neutralizing antibodies, but the geometric mean titres to each poliovirus type were significantly higher in the vaccinees who had received EIPV. It is concluded that the greater immunogenicity of EIPV vis-à-vis 3 doses of OPV may be biologically significant for protection against poliovirus types 1 and 3 in countries where cases of poliomyelitis occur in young children. These findings warrant considering EIPV, alone or in combination with OPV, for an immunization programme in Thailand and similar countries in the future.
The effect of a high protein-calorie diet was studied on a 45 year-old Thai woman suffering from severe nutritional deficiency i.e. anaemia and multiple vitamin deficiencies. Several clinical chemical parameters in blood, red cells and urine for the assessment of the nutritional status were investigated at the time of admission to the hospital and after two and four weeks hospitalization. The patient was only treated with the high protein-calorie diet of the hospital and did not receive any vitamin supplementation. Only with this treatment the clinical signs disappeared within 4 weeks and also all the biochemical abnormalities returned to normal. With this study it is demonstrated that high multiple vitamin supplementation may not always be necessary for the good treatment and recovery of hospitalized patients suffering from vitamin deficiencies.
Lipid composition (i.e. total cholesterol, free cholesterol, cholesteryl ester, triglycerides and phospholipids) in the individual serum lipoprotein fractions (i.e. high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein and very low-density lipoprotein) were studied in 24 healthy controls and 18 opisthorchiasis patients admitted to the Bangkok Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Tropical Medicine. The two groups were similar in age range, sex ratio and anthropometric data. Other background data such as blood pressure and alcohol consumption, were also similar in the two groups. All the patients had the habit of eating raw or half-cooked fish. Abnormalities of high-density lipoprotein content in the opisthorchiasis group showed as low cholesterol and cholesteryl ester concentrations but with high triglyceride concentrations. These may result from disturbance of the synthesis of nascent disk high-density lipoprotein or the removal of lipid content in lipoproteins.
'%3e%3cpath fill='%23012169' d='M0 0v30h60V0z'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='6' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='4' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30' clip-path='url(%23b)'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='10' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='6' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)