Albendazole Dosing for a 26-Month-Old Child
For a 26-month-old child, the recommended dose of albendazole is 400 mg as a single dose for most parasitic infections. 1, 2
Dosing Guidelines
- For children over 24 months of age, a single dose of 400 mg albendazole is recommended for treating common parasitic infections such as hookworm, ascariasis, and enterobiasis 1
- For specific parasitic infections like strongyloidiasis or neurocysticercosis, the dosing regimen may need to be extended to 400 mg daily for 3 days or longer, depending on the parasite 1, 3
- Albendazole is administered orally and should be given with food, particularly a fatty meal, to enhance absorption 2
Efficacy Considerations
- Single-dose albendazole (400 mg) has demonstrated excellent cure rates for Ascaris (100%) and hookworm infections (98.8%) 4
- For Trichuris (whipworm) infections, efficacy of single-dose therapy is lower (27-60%), and multiple doses or combination therapy may be required 4, 5
- For persistent or difficult-to-treat infections, particularly Trichuris, longer treatment courses (3-7 days) have shown improved efficacy 6
Administration Tips
- Albendazole tablets may be difficult for young children to swallow whole 2
- The tablet can be crushed and mixed with food to facilitate administration in young children 2
- Administration with a fatty meal significantly increases bioavailability (up to 5-fold) 2
Safety Considerations
- Albendazole has an excellent safety profile with over several hundred million patient exposures 3
- Gastrointestinal side effects are the most common adverse events but occur in less than 1% of patients 3
- For treatment courses longer than 14 days, monitoring for hepatotoxicity and leukopenia is recommended 7
Special Situations
- For empirical treatment of asymptomatic eosinophilia in children aged 12-24 months, expert consultation is advised before administering albendazole 1
- For immunocompromised patients with certain infections like microsporidiosis, higher doses (7.5 mg/kg twice daily) may be necessary 7