It is used to treat infections of several types of parasitic worms that live in the digestive system. These parasites include pinworms, roundworms, whipworms, and hookworms. Mebendazole has also been used to treat threadworms and large tapeworms.
Mebendazole does not kill the worms' eggs, and these can cause reinfection and also infect other people. A doctor or pharmacist may advise you to take mebendazole again after 2 weeks, to stop reinfection. However, if the infection comes back, speak to a doctor for advice.
It starts to work straight away but it may take several days to kill all the worms. Mebendazole kills worms but not their eggs. You may need to take a second dose after 2 weeks. It's also important to have good personal hygiene to help stop the worms coming back.
Stomach/abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, or drowsiness may occur. If any of these effects last or get worse, tell your doctor or pharmacist promptly. Remember that this medication has been prescribed because your doctor has judged that the benefit to you is greater than the risk of side effects.
Adults and children 2 years of age and older—100 milligrams (mg) two times a day, morning and evening, for 3 consecutive days. Treatment may need to be repeated in 3 weeks. Children younger than 2 years of age—Use and dose must be determined by your doctor.
There is no evidence that Vermox Tablets are effective in the treatment of cysticercosis. Adults and children over 2 years: For the control of trichuriasis, ascariasis and hookworm infections, one tablet twice a day for three consecutive days. For the control of enterobiasis a single tablet is administered.
If you take too much VERMOX, you may experience abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea. If you are not sure what to do, contact your doctor or pharmacist.
Take one tablet twice daily (i.e. morning and evening) for three consecutive days. Your doctor will advise the appropriate dose depending on the type of worm infection. If anyone takes too many Vermox Tablets, contact a doctor or your nearest Accident & Emergency department taking this leaflet and pack with you.
Taking an extra dose of mebendazole is unlikely to harm you. However, you may get side effects such as: stomach cramps. feeling or being sick (nausea or vomiting)
For oral dosage form (Vermox™ chewable tablets): For roundworms and whipworms: Adults and children 1 year of age and older—500 milligrams (mg) once a day for 1 day. Children younger than 1 year of age—Use and dose must be determined by your doctor.
Threadworm infections most commonly affect young children because they often forget to wash their hands and they share toys with other children. People who are in close contact with someone with a threadworm infection also have a high risk of infection.
Threadworms live about 5-6 weeks in the gut, and then die. However, before they die the female worms lay tiny eggs around the anus. This tends to be at night when you are warm and still in bed. The eggs are too small to see, but cause an itch around the anus.
For other types of common worm infections (such as roundworm, hookworm), take mebendazole by mouth as directed by your doctor, usually twice a day (in the morning and in the evening) for 3 days. If necessary, a second treatment may be given in a few weeks.
You'll likely need to give your doctor a stool sample for a few months to make sure all the worms are gone.
The Deworming Process after a Few Days
You may be surprised to still see live worms in your dog's feces after deworming them, but this is normal. While this can be an unpleasant image, it's actually a good thing — it means the worms are no longer living inside your dog!
This eventually leads to the worms dying within a few days. Once dead, the worms are then removed from the body by going through the gut and into the stool. However, this treatment threadworms only kills the adult worms and their eggs, so it's important to treat the whole family.
Medication kills the worms, but not their eggs, which can survive for two weeks. Therefore, you also need strict hygiene measures for two weeks after taking medication to prevent you from swallowing eggs which may cause a new infection.
Deworm Once Every Six Months
Worms are, unfortunately, a very common and normal issue for children and adults alike. Worms are everywhere and contaminate public areas such as schools and playgrounds. From the age of two years old, children and adults should be dewormed once every six months.
Adam Ratner, the division director of pediatric infectious diseases at Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone, and asked him why the pinworms come out at night. “We don't know why at night — that is the cycle of when worms deposit their eggs,” he said. “It's not known exactly what they're responding to.
As mentioned above, a few hours or days after taking the dewormer, you will feel the need to have a bowel movement (to have a bowel movement) to get rid of the worms in your stool. Previous dewormers remove dead or intact worms so you can see them in the stool.
What to Expect: After taking the pinworm medicine, itching should stop in 5 to 7 days.
However, deworming treatment can have some mild side effects such as - dizziness, nausea, headache, and vomiting. These symptoms likely due to the worms being passed through the child's body and usually disappear after some time. Usually, side effects are seen in children with high infections.
If you are using Vermox™ Chewable tablet: You may take this medicine with or without food. Chew it completely before swallowing. Do not swallow the tablet whole.
Symptoms may include diarrhoea, tiredness and weakness, abdominal pain and weight loss. Some worms cause anaemia.
Chew VERMOX™ CHEWABLE 500 mg tablet completely before swallowing. Do not swallow the tablet whole. For patients who have difficulty chewing the tablet, approximately 2 mL to 3 mL of drinking water can be added to a suitably sized spoon and the VERMOX™ CHEWABLE 500 mg tablet placed into the water.