Abstract

Parasitic infections occur wherever living standards are low. With increasing world travel, physicians anywhere may encounter them. The choice of a drug for their treatment is often difficult because many of the effective drugs have serious toxic effects. The following table is intended to help in the selection by indicating the drug of choice and alternative drugs for use against each parasite. It also provides summary information about dosage as recommended by our consultants. It reflects a careful consensus of opinion, though not unanimity. It differs from the table in the American Medical Letter of November 8, 1963 partly because it also reflects experience gained in other regions of the world and partly because many of the drugs are more readily available in the U.K. and the Commonwealth. A table of drugs for the treatment of microbial infections appeared in the Medical Letter, Brit. ed. 1963, 2, 17.