After three courses of Albendazole, I still have worms in my stool. Kindly help.

Question

Hi doctor,

I have a parasitic infection (ascariasis and whipworm), but doctors cannot find any signs in the stool. I have shown photos and videos of parasites in my stool. They advised me to take Albendazole, and I took three courses of Albendazole 400 mg twice daily for five days with the interval of two weeks. Even after medications, I still see twitching worms in my stool. Most worms are small thin ones, around 0.03 to 0.07 inches in length, and rarely see longer worms of length 0.16 inches. Sometimes, I wipe without passing the stool, and I see the tiny hair-like worms on the tissue. They rarely move. I have difficulty in passing a stool for three days with stomach pain. I need to use laxatives to free my stool.

I am cleaning everything and washing my hands all the time. Do you have any suggestions of what more I can do?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your query.

I suggest you send those pieces of worm to the laboratory for microscopic examination. Sometimes, stool examination of ova and cyst can turn negative even if you are suffering from parasitic infections due to intermittent shedding. The stool specimen which you sent to the laboratory would not have contained any parasite at that time leading to a negative report. Pass the stool in a disposable container and send the stool specimen along with the visible parasites to the laboratory. Kindly send the early morning stool specimens of three consecutive days for the laboratory examination.

Coming to the treatment part, only a few parasitic infections respond to Albendazole. Depending on the stool finding, alternative antiparasitic drugs other than Albendazole with suitable dose and duration will be prescribed.

Apart from this, I have some advice for you,

1) Drink a lot of water.

2) Include garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranate, beetroot, and carrot in your food, which can kill parasites.

3) Avoid alcohol, refined foods, and dairy products for few days.

4) Avoid outside foods.

Most parasitic infections are treatable and curable. Do not worry and you will be fine soon.

Take care.

Regards.