Effect of periodic deworming on nutritional status of ascaris-infested preschool children receiving supplementary food

The weight for age of 154 undernourished preschool children in an ascaris-infested community receiving supplementary food was monitored for a year. 74 children were given tetramisole every 4 months, while 80 controls were given placebo. The prevalence of ascaris (roundworm) infection and the severity of protein-energy malnutrition were the same in the two groups at the onset of the study. Stool-positive rates for ascariasis came down significantly in the experimental group during the year, but eradication of the worm was not possible owing to constant re-exposure. Nutritional status remained unaltered in the controls but improved strikingly in the treated children 8 and 12 months after the start of the study. Periodic deworming should form a part of the supplementary feeding programme if malnutrition is associated with ascariasis in the community.

Efficacy of tetramisole and dichloroxylenol against Syngamus trachea in pheasants and turkeys

Two water soluble products currently recommended for the treatment of syngamiasis were tested in pheasants and turkeys. Dichloroxylenol (Rotgape; Adams & Moulson), was found to have no efficacy. Although tetramisole (Game Bird Wormer; ICI) administered in drinking water had a moderate efficacy against three- and four-day-old larvae (47 to 71 per cent), its level of efficacy against infections associated with disease, those of seven days and older, was poor (5 to 29 per cent). It is concluded that neither product is likely to be of value in field outbreaks of syngamiasis.

On the possible anti-rheumatic effects (immuno-effector?)of imidazole derivatives (levamisole, clotrimazole, niridazole)

Some imidazole derivatives (levamisole, clotrimazole) have no significant effect on the rat adjuvant arthritis at dosages used in human therapy. If the effectiveness of these drugs in rheumatoid arthritis is confirmed by double blind studies, it would be necessary to find an explanation other than an immuno-effective action does not occur in some patients.

Partial inhibition of primary lung tumourigenesis by tetramisole

Continuous treatment of mice with tetramisole (TMS, approximately 8 mg/kg/day) resulted in a highly significant (p < 0.002) reduction in numbers of primary lung tumours forming in response to neonatal urethane injection. Kinetic study indicated the slopes of the oncogenesis response curves differed, but not significantly. Therefore inhibition of primary lung tumourigenesis was only partial, even though TMS was given during the early stages of tumour development, continuously, and at near maximum tolerable dosage.

[Effectiveness of Nilzan and Dovenix in the treatment of fascioliasis in cattle and sheep]

The authors tested the effectivity of the foreign preparations Nilzan (tetramisole ++ oxyclozanide) and Dovenix (nitroxynil) in the treatment of cattle and sheep naturally invaded by Fasciola hepatica. The effectiveness of the two preparations was evaluated on the basis of the results of coprological examination in the test and control animals prior to treatment and in two intervals after treatment. In slightly invaded cattle (the average egg number in 3 g of faeces in 28 test cows was 1.46 per animal) the last examination (4 weeks after treatment) showed 100-per-cent extenseffectiveness and intenseffectiveness of both preparations. When the test was finished in sheep (average number of eggs in 3 g of faeces in 45 test ewes--5.40 per animal) six weeks after treatment, the EE of Nilzan was 86.7% and IE 97.4%; in Dovenix EE was 93.4% and IE 99.0%. Both preparations were accepted well, without any side-effects or unfavourable phenomena related to their application.

Studies on the development and chemotherapy of larvae of Parascaris equorum (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea) in experimentally and naturally infected foals

Experimentally induced infections of Parascaris equorum in worm-free pony foals required 14 to 17 days for migration of the larvae through the liver and lungs, and 79 to 110 days to become gametogenically functional. Treatment of experimentally infected or naturally exposed foals during the parenteral phase of development, using levamisole at 8 mg/kg, a mixture of levamisole at 8 mg/kg plus piperazine at 88 mg base equivalent/kg, or dl-tetramisole at 10 mg/kg, was quite efficacious in (1) reducing the number of P. equorum larvae recovered from the small intestines of the foals at necropsy, or (2)delaying the appearance of ascarid eggs in the feces of treated foals beyond the time period observed for the untreated foals. Three formulations of dichlorvos at doses of 10, 20, 30, or 40 mg/kg, and 2 formulations of trichlorfon at 20 or 40 mg/kg, were not effective when treatment was given on or before the 14th day after infective eggs were administered. Treatment with a gel formulation of dichlorvos at 20 mg/kg 17 to 28 days after experimental infection was 100% effective in removing ascarid larvae from the small intestines of poly foals.

[The average degree of parasitosis, a criterion for evaluation of the geohelminthic contamination of a population, and for application of santiary measures]

The severity of ascaridiasis in a region depends first of all on the degree of pollution by ascaris ova of the environemtn and consquently on the per diem output of ascaris ova in the stools. Therefore, the importance of ascaridiasis as an endemic disease, depends of course upon the number of positive cases, their prevalence, but still more, it depends upon the intensity of the infection of the diseased population (global parasitic discharge). Practically, this concept of global parasitic discharge is expressed by the number of ascaris ova expelled per gram and per day by a sample of the considered population. The mean parasitic discharge is the quotient of the global parasitic discharge through the number of positive cases of the sample. An epidemiological survey and a mass chemotherapy test at La Réunion has showed us that the conept of global parasitic discharge is a more representative reliable and sensitive measuring method than prevalence, to evaluate the gravity of endemic ascaridiasis and its variations.

Effects of levamisole (NSC-177023) and tetramisole (NSC-102063) in experimental tumor systems

Levamisole and tetramisole had no antitumor effect against the following transplantable syngeneic murine tumors: L1210 leukemia, P388 leukemia, B16 melanoma, Madison 109 lung tumor, and Lewis lung carcinoma. In the Lewis lung carcinoma system there was no effect on primary tumor growth, metastasis, or survival. Tetramisole had a variable effect on the growth of rhabdomyosarcomas and the survival of BALB/c mice following intramuscular inoculation of Moloney sarcoma virus. In two experiments treatment with tetramisole either prior to or following inoculation of Moloney sarcoma virus increased the number of mice with tumor regression as opposed to progressive tumor growth, incrneased the number of long-term survivors, and prolonged the lifespan of mice that died of tumor. In two further tests neither levamisole nor tetramisole had an effect in this system. In mice immunosuppressed with cyclophosphamide prior to virus inoculation, there was not effect of treatment with levamisole or tetramisole.

An epizootic of cerebral nematodiasis in rabbits due to Ascaris columnarus

An epizootic of cerebral nematodiasis due to ascaris columnaris occurred in a commercial rabbitry, and 80 diseased rabbits died or were killed. The morbidity was high in groups of recently purchased rabbits and in the offspring of 12 breeder rabbits. The breeder rabbits which had been on the farm for more than a yr survived the outbreaks. Wild animals and birds had access to the facilities, but raccoons and skunks were never observed. A columnaris larvae were found on histopathologic examination. and live larvae were recovered from brains of 2 diseased rabbits.

Influence of anthelmintic treatment on the liveweight of outwintered ewe hoggs

Three systems of outwintering ewe hoggs are normally practised on Scottish hill farms. A series of field trials involving some 2000 different animals was conducted to determine the response in liveweight from anthelmintic treatment for roundworms. The results suggest that, under field conditions, a strategic dosing programme using a modern anthelmintic can prevent liveweight loss in ewe hoggs wintered either on the hill or "inbye". The best response may be expected from a two dose regime--one in early winter (mid October to mid November) and the other in winter (mid January to mid February). In away-wintered hoggs, the kinder climate, better pssture, and, in the vast majority of cases, less contaminated ground, appear to outweigh the advantages of dosing after the late autumn.