Evaluation of 5 days single and combined treatment in intestinal amoebiasis

Abstract

Eighty patients with intestinal amebiasis were divided into 4 groups. They were treated for 5 days either by metronidazole 500mg x 3 /day alone, tetracycline 500mg x 4/day alone, a combination of tetracycline and metronidazole in full doses, or by 5 days metronidazole followed by diloxanide furoate 500mg x 3 /day for 10 days. The study showed that metronidazol, tetracycline and their combinations eradicated all the clinical manifestations within the period of the treatment, but they didn't eradicate the shedding of cysts in the stool of some patients. However, metronidazole alone or in combination with tetracycline appeared more efficient based
on the time required for eradication of the clinical manifestations. According to these results, using diloxanide furoat in a dose of 500mg x 3/day for 10 days after the course of metronidazole was necessary to eradicate the shedding of the cysts and the probability of the recurrence.