Pediatrics & Therapeutics
Open Access

Abstract

Giardiasis and Cryptosporidiosis - Recent Literature with a Focus on Nitazoxanide

Samra S Blanchard, Benjamin D Gold and Steven Czinn

Nitazoxanide is a Food and Drug Administration approved Thiazolide to treat parasitic infections such as giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis. Since nitazoxanide is available as a liquid suspension, this medication is uniquely suited for the treatment of children. However, there has been a paucity of published studies since its approval. We completed a systematic literature search using a variety of sources including PubMed to identify studies reporting the impact of nitazoxanide in treating parasitic infections in children ages 1 to 11 years. A similar search was conducted on other available treatment for parasitic infection. In total, 28 publications were found to meet the criteria above for nitazoxanide. A similar number of papers were identified to address other therapy commonly used regardless of product information on approved use. Despite the ease of administration and superiority of nitazoxanide to other Non FDA approved therapies for the treatment of Giardia or Cryptosporidium among children, this medication continues to be underutilized. These data indicated the need for additional clinical studies to raise awareness.