Paromomycin therapy of human cestodiasis with special reference to hymenolepiasis.

Abstract

Paromomycin sulfate (Humatin) was used to treat cestode infections in 28 patients. Eight patients with Taenia saginata, 3 with Taenia solium, and four with Diphyllobothrium latum infections were each successfully treated with a single 4-g dose administered over a 1-hour period for adults and a single dose of 75 mg per kg of body weight for children. Twelve of 13 patients with Hymenolepis nana infections were cured. 10 by the single 4-g dose, and 2 of 3 by the administration of 45 mg per kg of body weight over a period of 5 days. The apparent resistance of H. nana to the single-dose regimen is believed to be related to the low absorption of the antibiotic and the inaccessibility of the cysticercoids that are buried deep within the mucosa of the villi.