Summary 2023 COURSE OF DRUGS ELABORATIONS OF ANTIHELMINTHIC DRUGS| GUIDE

2023 COURSE OF DRUGS ELABORATIONS OF ANTIHELMINTHIC DRUGS ANTIHELMINTHIC DRUGS Anthelminthics are drugs that act locally to expel worms from the GI tract or systemically to eradicate adult helminths or developmental forms that invade organs and tissues. TREATMENT OF INFECTIONS CAUSED BY NEMATODES Nematodes are long, cylindrical unsegmented worms that are tapered on both ends. Some intestinal nematodes contain a mouth with three lips while others have a mouth with cutting plates. Infection occurs after ingestion of embryonated eggs or tissues of another host that contain larval forms of the nematodes. Some of the nematodes such as filarial worms and guinea worms live in blood, lymphatics and other tissues and are referred to as tissue nematodes. Others are primarily found in the intestinal tract (intestinal nematodes). The hookworms are a group of worms that have a developmental cycle in soil. The larvae penetrate the skin of humans, enter the venules and are carried to the lungs where they enter the alveoli and may sometimes cause pneumonitis. The larvae then migrate up the trachea and are swallowed. In the intestine, they attach to the mucosa and using the cutting plates and a muscular oesophagus, they feed on the host’s blood and tissue fluid. This may result in vague abdominal pain, diarrhea and anaemia.