Tolerability and efficacy of single dose albendazole, diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) or co-administration of albendazole with DEC in the clearance of Wuchereria bancroftiin asymptomatic microfilaraemic volunteers in Pondicherry, South India: a hospital-based study

Table 2 Drug regimen and mean pre-therapy Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaraemia levels in the three single dose drug groups

Group	No. patients ≤ 14 years^a	No. patients >14 years^a	Total No. of patients	Drug regimen^b	Pre-therapy microfilaraemia (per mL)^c
1	5 m, 4 f	5 m, 5 f	19	Alb 400 mg	77.6 (22 – 606)
2	3 m, 4 f	5 m, 5 f	17	DEC 6 mg/kg bodyweight	81.3 (22 – 542)
3	4 m, 4 f	5 m, 5 f	18	Alb 400 mg + DEC 6 mg/kg bodyweight	79.4 (24 – 223)

^a m = male, f = female^b Alb = albendazole, DEC = diethylcarbamazine citrate ^c Geometric mean (range in parentheses): the pre-therapy values between the 3 drug groups did not differ significantly (F = 0.024, P = 0.976).