Publication:

Adverse events of albendazole due to mass drug administration

Background Soil-transmitted helminths are mostly prevalent in developing countries due to poor sanitation and lack of adequate clean water. The present study examines adverse events (AEs) experienced following administration of albendazole to children (2-19 Years) at Uttarakhand on national de-worming day.

Methods Children were given single doses of albendazole on national de-worming day. Some of children experienced adverse events and were admitted in hospital of Govt Medical college Haldwani (Uttarakhand). Data were collected and analyzed.

Results Total twenty five children were admitted due to albendazole adverse events. Out of these 92% were female. Mean age of admitted children was 14.14 years with standard deviation 3.45. Mean onset of adverse events was 5.6 hours with standard deviation of 1.5 hours. All children were treated symptomatically and were discharged once they recovered. No fatality due to adverse events was observed. Average duration of stay in hospital was 3.4 days. Out of twenty five children 12% children reported four or more adverse events, 40% children reported three adverse events and 48% reported two adverse events. Out AEs, 33% AEs were mild, 19% AEs were moderate, 31% AEs were severe and 17% AEs were serious. Abdominal pain was reported by 76%, headache by 44%, loss of consciousness by 32%, vomiting by 28%, nausea by 16%, convulsions by 12%, rashes by 8%, fever by 8%, and breathlessness by 14% and vertigo by 4%.

Conclusions The adverse events were mild to serious but transient, but all of them recovered after hospitalization. Therefore, it is imperative that mass drug administration programmes put in place surveillance measures in order to ensure timely detection, management and reporting of potential life threatening AEs.