***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Filariasis control programmes are moving towards a strategy of repeated single-dose mass treatment of endemic population s. Using a combination , such as albendazole ( ALB ) to diethylcarbamazine ( DEC ) gives both macrofilaricidal and anti-helmintic activity . However , the safety of the combination versus DEC alone should be established in field studies in large population s prior to incorporation into national programmes . The present study compared the safety , tolerability , and efficacy of single doses of DEC 6 mg/kg + ALB placebo with DEC 6 mg/kg + ALB 400 mg in population s living in two filariasis endemic villages in the district of Wardha in western India . The study was double blind , parallel group , and r and omized . Safety and tolerability study were studied in males and females older than 5 years .  Safety was assessed by monitoring if adverse events ( AEs ) over 5 days affected daily acivities . Subjects in the 2 treatment groups experienced insignificantly different effects on daily activities and the combination was shown to be safe . Efficacy was evaluated by microfilaraemia ( Mf ) , immunochromatographic test ( ICT ) and ultrasonography ( USG ) at 0 , 3 , 6 , and 12 months of follow up . The efficacy study enrolled 103 male patients ( aged 18 - 50 years ) in microfilariae positive , clinical disease and asymptomatic , amicrofilaremic groups . There was no significant difference in efficacy between groups at 12 months . Within the Mf positive group , significant differences were seen in microfilaraemia ( P < 0.001 ) with both treatments , and in USG ( P < 0.001 and P < 0.004 respectively ) , at 12 months . The present field study has shown the combination of DEC + ALB  to be as safe as the single drug DEC and thus the combination can be put in use in the national filariasis control programmes . Both drugs were adequately absorbed . The study at present does not provide evidence for the greater efficacy of the combination at 12 months follow up . While the safety of the combination has been ascertained , the incorporation or otherwise of ALB into national programmes for greater efficacy must await results of studies with longer follow up This r and omized , placebo-controlled trial investigated the efficacy and nutritional benefit of combining chemotherapeutic treatment for intestinal helminths ( albendazole ) and lymphatic filariasis ( ivermectin ) . Children were infected with Ascaris ( 29.2 % ) , Trichuris ( 42.2 % ) , and hookworm ( 6.9 % ) , with 54.7 % of children having one or more of these parasites . Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaria were found in 13.3 % of the children . Children were r and omly assigned to treatment with placebo , albendazole , ivermectin , or combined therapy . Combination treatment reduced the prevalence of Trichuris infections significantly more than either drug alone . Combination therapy also significantly reduced the prevalence and density of W. bancrofti microfilaremia compared with placebo or ivermectin alone . Only combination therapy result ed in significantly greater gains in height ( hookworm-infected children ) or weight ( Trichuris-infected children ) compared with the placebo group . Combined  albendazole and ivermectin  was a more efficacious treatment for intestinal helminth and W. bancrofti infections  in children and result ed in nutritional benefits not found with either drug alone The efficacy of two strategies for control of Bancroftian filariasis using selective rather than community-wide diethylcarbamazine ( DEC ) chemotherapy was evaluated and compared in two endemic communities of north-eastern Tanzania , with pretreatment microfilariae ( mf ) prevalences of 22 % and 38 % , and geometric mean intensities ( GMIs ) of 668 mf/ml and 735 mf/ml of blood . All mf-positive cases in the first community were offered treatment with 6 mg of DEC/kg of body weight a day for 12 days ( group 1 ) , and those in the second community were offered treatment with two doses of 6 mg of DEC/kg of body weight at an interval of six months ( group 2 ) . The effect of treatment was followed both among those treated and at the community level . In treated individuals , there was a rapid decrease in the mf load that was significantly greater among those receiving the 12-day st and ard dose . One year after the start of treatment , the mf clearance rates were 59 % and 39 % and the GMIs were reduced by 99 % and 97 % among treated individuals in groups 1 and 2 , respectively . However , at the community level , the mf prevalences were 16.3 % and 27.9 % ( reduced by 27 % and 26 % ) and the GMIs were 129 mf/ml and 224 mf/ml ( reduced by 81 % and 70 % ) one year after the start of treatment with the two regimens , respectively , suggesting that transmission continued at a significant level in the villages after treatment . The limitations of selective chemotherapy are discussed , and it is argued that strategies based on mass DEC chemotherapy would be more effective in reducing the microfilarial load in the community and thereby in reducing transmission Forty male Polynesian W. bancrofti carriers with mf counts greater than or equal to 20/ml were treated with a single ivermectin 50 , 100 , 150 or 200 mcg/kg dose . Following therapy , mf levels fell to less than 1 % of pretreatment levels in the carriers treated with the 3 highest doses . After one month , negativation rate was 40 % in patients treated with a 50 mcg/kg dose , significantly lower than in patients treated with higher doses . Recurrence of microfilaremia was observed by 3 months , mf recurrence percentages were significantly lower in patients treated with the 3 highest doses than in patients treated with a 50 mcg/kg dose . At 6 months , mf recurrence percentages reached 49.8 , 12.6 , 14 and 5.4 % of pretreatment levels in carriers treated with 50 , 100 , 150 and 200 mcg/kg , respectively . No significant difference was observed between mf levels by group at 6 and 12 months . With respect to efficacy , a dose greater than or equal to 100 mcg/kg appeared superior to 50 mcg/kg dose ; no significant difference between the 3 highest doses was observed . Some patients developed headache , myalgia and fever within 24 hours following therapy , none of adverse reactions were considered serious . In vector Ae . polynesiensis fed on carriers 6 months after treatment , average numbers of mf ingested and average numbers of L3 cephalic larvae were lower than those observed in mosquitoes fed on non-treated carriers with comparable mf counts . ( ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS In a ' blinded ' trial ( in Sri Lanka , 1996 - 98 ) of 47 male asymptomatic microfilaraemic subjects with Wuchereria bancrofti infection , the safety , tolerability and filaricidal efficacy of 3 single-dose combination regimens were compared : albendazole 400 mg with ivermectin 200 micrograms/kg , albendazole 400 mg with diethylcarbamazine citrate ( DEC ) 6 mg/kg or albendazole 600 mg with ivermectin 400 micrograms/kg . Treated subjects were followed-up for 24 months . This represents the first long-term study using combinations of albendazole with DEC or ivermectin in the above doses against bancroftian filariasis . All subjects had pre-treatment microfilaria ( mf ) counts over 100/mL. All 3 treatments significantly reduced mf counts , with the albendazole-DEC-treated group showing the lowest mf levels at 18 and 24 months post-treatment . Filarial antigen tests suggested that all 3 treatments had significant activity against adult W. bancrofti ; albendazole-DEC combination had the greatest activity according to this test , with antigen levels decreasing to 30.5 % of pre-treatment antigen levels , 24 months after therapy . All 3 treatments were clinical ly safe and well tolerated . These results suggest that a single dose of albendazole 400 mg together with DEC 6 mg/kg is a safe and effective combination for suppression of microfilaraemia of bancroftian filariasis that could be considered for use in filariasis control programmes based on mass treatment of endemic population This r and omized , placebo-controlled trial investigated the tolerance , efficacy , and nutritional benefit of combining chemotherapeutic treatment of intestinal helminths and lymphatic filariasis . Children were infected with Ascaris ( 30.7 % ) , Trichuris ( 53.4 % ) , and hookworm ( 9.7 % ) with 69.9 % having more than one of these parasites . A total of 15.8 % of the children had Wuchereria bancrofti microfilariae . Children were r and omly assigned treatment with placebo , albendazole ( ALB ) , diethylcarbamazine ( DEC ) , or combined therapy . The combination of DEC/ALB reduced microfilarial density compared with placebo , ALB , or DEC ( P < or = 0.03 ) . Albendazole and DEC/ALB reduced the prevalence of Ascaris , Trichuris , and hookworm more than placebo or DEC ( P < or = 0.03 ) . Among Trichuris-infected children , those receiving ALB and DEC/ALB demonstrated greater gains in weight compared with placebo ( P < or = 0.05 ) . Albendazole and DEC/ALB were equally efficacious in treating intestinal helminths and for children with W. bancrofti microfilaremia , DEC/ALB was more effective than DEC , with no increase in severity of adverse reactions Several new chemotherapeutic tools are now available for the control of lymphatic filariasis . Combinations of single doses of antifilarial drugs are generally superior to single drugs . The efficacy and safety of  albendazole  in combination with diethylcarbamazine ( DEC ) or ivermectin , for the treatment of Brugia malayi infection , were investigated , for the first time , in an open , hospital-based study . Fifty-one asymptomatic microfilaraemics ( with 108 - 4034 microfilariae/ml ; median = 531 ) of both sexes and aged 14 - 70 years were r and omly allocated to receive single-dose treatments of ivermectin ( 200 micrograms/kg ) with diethylcarbamazine ( DEC ; 6 mg/kg ) , ivermectin ( 200 micrograms/kg ) with albendazole ( 400 mg ) , DEC ( 6 mg/kg ) with albendazole ( 400 mg ) , or albendazole ( 400 mg ) alone .  Albendazole  alone had no effect on the microfilarial levels at the 1-year follow-up but both groups given  DEC  had significantly lower microfilaraemias ( P < 0.015 and P < 0.02 ) than that given ivermectin with albendazole . Overall , 47%-64 % of those given DEC but only 14 % of those given ivermectin with albendazole appeared to be amicrofilaraemic 1 year post-treatment . The adverse reactions seen in the study were mild , transient and qualitatively similar to those seen earlier with ivermectin and DEC . The combination of  DEC and albendazole  , both well tested drugs , offers a new option for countries such as India where there is no onchocerciasis or loiasis and where ivermectin may not be immediately available . The direct and indirect effects of albendazole on intestinal helminths would be additional benefits The efficacy of re-treatment with the combination of ivermectin ( 150 - 200 micrograms/kg bodyweight ) and albendazole ( 400 mg ) on Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaraemia was assessed in 1997 - 99 in 4 groups of individuals from coastal Ghana , which 1 year previously had received a primary treatment with placebo ( n = 38 ) , albendazole ( n = 39 ) , ivermectin ( n = 34 ) or combination of albendazole and ivermectin ( n = 42 ) , respectively . One year after the re-treatment , an overall mean reduction in microfilarial intensity of 76.2 % in relation to the intensity before re-treatment was observed , with no statistical significant difference between the 4 groups . The groups given primary treatment with placebo or the drug combination showed re-treatment reductions which were lower ( 72.5 % and 69.8 % , respectively ) but not statistically significantly different from the reduction observed 1 year after the primary treatment with the combination ( 86.7 % ) . The efficacy of the combination treatment thus appeared to be largely independent of the type of primary treatment given and multiplicative when used repeatedly To assess the efficacy of diethylcarbamazine ( DEC ) in clearing Wuchereria bancrofti microfilariae ( mf ) from the circulation , we conducted a single blind hospital-based therapeutic trial of 3 DEC regimens . All patients were assessed by filtration of 1 mL of venous blood taken before and 1 , 3 , 6 and  
    Output:
    
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS There is insufficient evidence to confirm or refute that albendazole co-administered with DEC or ivermectin is more effective than DEC or ivermectin alone in clearing microfilariae or killing adult worms .
Albendazole combined with ivermectin appears to have a small effect on microfilaraemia , but this was not consistently demonstrated .