It is also recommended that if the patient also has anemia that ferrous sulfate (200 mg) be administered three times daily at the same time as anthelmintic treatment; this should be continued until hemoglobin values return to normal which could take up to 3 months.Hookworm infection can be treated with local cryotherapy when the hookworm is still in the skin.Albendazole is effective both in the intestinal stage and during the stage the parasite is still migrating under the skin.In case of anemia, iron supplementation can cause relief symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia. However, as red blood cell levels are restored, shortage of other essentials such as folic acid or vitamin B12 may develop, so these might also be supplemented. During the 1910s, common treatments for hookworm included thymol, 2-naphthol, chloroform, gasoline, and eucalyptus oil. By the 1940s, the treatment of choice used tetrachloroethylene, given as 3 to 4 cc in the fasting state, followed by 30 to 45 g of sodium sulfate. Tetrachloroethylene was reported to have a cure rate of 80 percent for Necator infections, but 25 percent in Ancylostoma infections, and often produced mild intoxication in the patient. Reinfection and drug resistance
Other important issues related to the treatment of hookworm are reinfection and drug resistance. It has been shown that reinfection after treatment can be extremely high. Some studies even show that 80% of pretreatment hookworm infection rates can be seen in treated communities within 30–36 months.
However, another study in Salvador, Brazil found that improved drainage and sewerage had a significant impact on the prevalence of hookworm infection but no impact at all on the intensity of hookworm infection. This seems to suggest that environmental control alone has a limited but incomplete effect on the transmission of hookworms. It is imperative, therefore, that more research is performed to understand the efficacy and sustainability of integrated programs that combine numerous preventive methods including education, sanitation, and treatment. Treatment
Anthelmintic drugs
The most common treatment for hookworm are benzimidazoles, specifically albendazole and mebendazole. BZAs kill adult worms by binding to the nematodes β-tubulin and subsequently inhibiting microtubule polymerization within the parasite. In certain circumstances, levamisole and pyrantel pamoate may be used. A 2008 review found that the efficacy of single-dose treatments for hookworm infections were as follows: 72% for albendazole, 15% for mebendazole, and 31% for pyrantel pamoate. This substantiates prior claims that albendazole is much more effective than mebendazole for hookworm infections. Also of note is that the World Health Organization does recommend anthelmintic treatment in pregnant women after the first trimester.