Antiparasitic therapy in children.

Treatment of parasitic infections in children presents many challenges for the clinician. Although parasitic infections are ubiquitous on a worldwide basis, with an estimated 1 billion persons infected with intestinal helminthes alone, physicians in the United States and other developed countries are often unfamiliar with the management of these diseases. Children are traveling internationally in larger numbers than ever before, however, and emigration from developing countries to the United States and other Western countries is increasing, so clinicians in these countries are confronted more frequently with parasitic diseases from the tropics. This article describes current approaches to antiparasitic therapy. Drugs used in the treatment of more than one type of parasite are presented once in detail, with reference to the detailed description in subsequent sections.