Dekaris for children: instructions for use

To get rid of worms, nowadays, effective means are used that can destroy parasites and quickly remove them from the patient's body. One of them can be called a drug from the company Gedeon Richter called Dekaris. Adults have been using this medication for ascariasis and other helminthiasis for a long time, but is it possible to give it to children and what treatment regimen is used in childhood?

The drug is produced in tablets of two types, which differ in the dosage of the active ingredient and its appearance:

• Children tablets are characterized by a lower concentration of the active ingredient. They have a light orange color, flat round shape and apricot aroma. On one side of these pills, there are risks by which they can be divided into quarters. One pack contains a blister with two pills.
• The drug for adults with a higher dosage is white round tablets without dividing marks, and on one side of them there is an inscription DECARIS 150. They are sold in a pack of one piece.

An antihelminthic component of tablets is levamisole. It is presented in the form of hydrochloride, but in terms of pure levamisole, each tablet contains 50 mg or 150 mg of this substance.

Auxiliary ingredients of the tablets are starch from corn, talc, magnesium stearate and povidone. In addition, yellow dye E110, apricot flavoring and sodium saccharinate are present in tablets containing 50 mg of levamisole. Instead of these ingredients, adult tablets (with 150 mg of levamisole) contain sucrose and lactose monohydrate.

Once in the human body, levamisole is well absorbed in the intestine and after 1.5-2 hours its concentration in the blood becomes maximum. The main effect of this substance is neuromuscular paralysis of worms due to the effect on the muscles and ganglion-like structures in their body. In addition, the drug inhibits bio-energy processes in helminths. As a result, paralyzed worms during the day after taking the pills out of the intestine due to its normal peristalsis.

The drug is especially effective when infected with ascaris, hookworm or American necator. In addition, it affects other parasites that have developed muscles, such as pinworms, claws, intestinal acne, or toxoplasma. However, worms such as tapeworms and flukes, tablets do not act. These parasites are firmly connected with the mucous membrane of the intestine and do not leave the body of the "host" under the action of levamisole.

Separately, it should be mentioned that the levamisole tablets have an immunomodulating effect, which was once used in the treatment of herpes, some autoimmune and immunodeficiency states. It is caused by a stimulating effect on the cells of the immune system - neutrophils, monocytes and T-lymphocytes. The result of increased activity of these cells will increase the body's defenses. However, now this effect of the drug due to the advent of more effective immunomodulators is not claimed, and its antihelminthic effect comes first.

The drug is prescribed for:

• Ascariasis;
• Necatorosis;
• Hookworm;
• Trichocephalosis;
• Strongyloidosis;
• Enterobiasis;
• Toxoplasmosis.

The drug is not prescribed for hypersensitivity to any of its components. Also, these tablets should not be given to children who have developed agranulocytosis in the past when taking any medication. If a small patient has renal failure, the liver is impaired or hematopoietic problems are identified, treatment with Dekaris requires special care and control by the pediatrician.

In some children, treatment causes:

• Headaches;
• Insomnia;
• Dyspepsia, such as diarrhea or nausea;
• Palpitations;
• Dizziness;
• Attacks seizures.

Occasionally, the drug provokes an allergic reaction in the form of a skin rash, and 2-5 weeks after treatment in isolated cases encephalopathy develops. Long-term use or high doses of the drug can lead to agranulocytosis and leukopenia, as well as to the appearance of tremor.

Before applying levamisole, it is recommended to do a blood test. The tablet should be swallowed after a meal in the evening, with a small amount of water. A special diet treatment with this drug does not require, as well as taking laxatives.

The medicine is given only 1 time per dose:

A pediatrician should determine the more accurate dose, focusing on the patient's weight, at the rate of 2.5 mg of levamisole per kilogram of mass. So the child really gets the required amount of active substance, because, for example, at 4 years old one child can weigh 13 kg, and the other 19 kg, and they need different dosages.

Most often for the treatment of helminthiasis, just one pill is enough, but if the doctor sees the need, the medication in the same dosage is repeated after 1-2 weeks. If toxoplasmosis is found in the child, the drug should be drunk for three days in a row, and then repeat this course in a week.

Levamisole, taken in a very large dose, causes intoxication. It provokes nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, vomiting, pain in the head, confusion, and loose stools. If after an overdose no more than a few hours have passed, you should rinse the stomach. Next, you need to seek medical help and monitor the patient's vital signs.

• If a child is treated simultaneously with Decaris and indirectly acting anticoagulants, this may affect the blood coagulation process and requires a dose adjustment of coumarin-like medication.
• Combined use with phenytoin will cause an increase in this drug in the bloodstream.
• Combination with lipophilic drugs (for example, tetrachloromethane or chloroform) increases the toxicity of levamisole.
• To prescribe the drug with drugs that affect the blood, should be very careful.
• Levamisole treatment is incompatible with taking any alcohol-containing remedies.

At home, tablets should be kept out of the reach of children. If the shelf life of 5 years has expired, the drug must be discarded. The optimum temperature for its storage is considered + 15 + 30 degrees.

Parents who gave pills against worms Dekaris to their children, note the high effectiveness of this tool in the fight against ascaris. The advantages of the drug are the small size of the pills, a single dose, low cost. The main disadvantage is that the drug affects only some types of worms. Side effects, such as nausea and headache, are also often noted.

Reviews of parasitologists confirm that the drug quickly relieves patients from ascaris and hookworm. But, although many parents are interested in the use of anthelmintic drugs for prophylaxis, doctors do not advise doing this. They focus on the attention of mothers that all medications affecting the parasites are very toxic to the human body. For this reason, physicians prefer to prescribe them when helminthiasis is confirmed by analyzes.

As a substitute for Dekaris tablets, other agents used for helminthiases can be used.

The most popular ones are:

• Pyrantel This medicine is available in suspension and tablet form. He has the same mechanism of action on worms, so Pirantel is prescribed with the same helminth infections. At the same time it is used in the treatment of children older than six months, which is one of the advantages compared with Decaris. An analogue of the drug, also containing pyrantel, is Helmintox. Such a drug is represented by both suspension and tablets in the shell. He is also assigned to children from 6 months.
• Vermox. This anthelmintic drug contains mebendazole and is also a product of Gedeon Richter. It is available in tablets and is approved for use in children older than 2 years. Pills can be given instead. Vormin, which also include mebendazole and are allowed from the age of two. The main advantage of these drugs is a wider range of antihelminthic action.
• Nemozol. The active ingredient of this drug is albendazole, which also has an extensive spectrum of anthelmintic effects. The drug is represented by a suspension and tablets in the shell, as well as chewable tablets. If there is evidence, it is prescribed to a child of any age.

From the transfer of the popular pediatric doctor E.O. Komarovsky you can learn all about helminths and how to deal with them.