Strongyloidiasis Treated With Pyrvinium Pamoate

PYRVINIUM chloride (Vanquin) suspension was used by Brown and Sterman in 1958 as a treatment forStrongyloides stercoralisinfection in man with encouraging results.1Production of this compound was later discontinued by the manufacturer in favor of pyrvinium pamoate (Povan) which like the chloride, is effective against oxyuriasis, usually requires only a single dose, and is better tolerated in the gastrointestinal tract.2A trial of pyrvinium pamoate for the treatment of strongyloidiasis was prompted by the paucity of reports of such use,3,4by the unavailability of pyrvinium chloride, and by the disturbing toxicity of dithiazanine,5although the latter is highly efficacious againstStrongyloidesinfection.6 Methods Twenty-four patients with Sstercoralisinfection were selected at random in the Tropical Disease Clinic at Bushwick Health Center, New York. Sstercoralisinfection is the fifth most common helminthiasis found in such clinics.7The presence of the infection