Should deworming during pregnancy?

The use of anthelmintic drugs in pregnant women has been considered taboo. However, new generation dewormers can help pregnant women get rid of these parasites without harming the baby.

Mebendazol wormworm (Photo: stanford.edu)

There are about 2 billion people infected with helminths with 300 million people severely affected. Pregnant women make up a significant proportion. Prolonged helminth infections can cause malnutrition, iron deficiency, anemia, liver and lung diseases .

In the past, the use of deworming and fluke in pregnant women was considered impossible, due to concerns about the safety and benefits of treatment for mothers and the fetus.

However, Praziquantel is classified in Group B in the list of drugs used for pregnant women (safe in experimental animals but should be cautious in humans). This drug has been studied and tested in both humans and animals to assess the safety of pregnancy, but no evidence of teratogenicity was found.

With Mebendazol, a very popular anthelmintic drug, it was also tested at a dose of 100 mg / day for 3 consecutive days for pregnant women, including those who were pregnant for the first 3 months. As a result, no abnormalities of pregnancy were found. Thus, at the usual therapeutic dose, mebendazole is considered safe for human pregnancy.

Albendazol is a derivative of the benzimidazol group, capable of causing teratogenicity in animals when used in high doses. But in some human studies, the drug appears to be safe for pregnant women when taken at regular doses.

With some other anthelmintic drugs like levamisol, pyrantel, there is not enough information about safety for pregnant women.

As recommended by the World Health Organization, women who are pregnant with severe helminth infections should erase praziquantel, mebendazol or albendazol because the benefits are greater than the risk, but should wait for the first 3 months of pregnancy.

According to BS. Nguyen Huu Truong