Correspondence
2 June 1985
To the Editor:
I was interested to read of the effectiveness of a single dose of mebendazole for the treatment of abdominal helminthiasia (Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg, 34: 129–133).
The Papua New Guinea Department of Health, in 1983, changed the standard management for hookworm infestation from a single dose of pyrantel to a single dose of mebendazole (5–9 kg 200 mg, more than 10 kg 400 mg). A single dose of mebendazole in children was found to be as effective as twice daily mebendazole for three days and far more efficient at reducing hookworm ova counts than a single dose of pyrantel. This treatment regimen is now standard practice in all outpatient facilities in Papua New Guinea.