What medicine is Zentel?

1. Uses of Zentel

What medicine is Zentel? Zentel has the main ingredient named Albendazole 200mg (also known as Zentel 200mg). Albendazole has anthelmintic and anti-protozoal activity against intestinal, and tissue parasites. Albendazole's ability to inhibit tubulin polymerization can help stop the growth of worms, eggs, and larvae by disrupting the worm's metabolism, causing the worm to be depleted of energy, immobilized and destroyed. 

Zentel has a broad spectrum of activity against intestinal worms, which are: pinworms, roundworms, hookworms, threadworms, helminths, whipworms, muscle and skin larvae, tapeworms and tapeworm larvae in tissue.

Indications of Zentel:

• Treatment of infections with roundworms, hookworms, roundworms, pinworms;
• Treatment of strongyloidiasis and tapeworm infections if sensitive to the ingredient Albendazole;
• Treatment of parenchymal neurotrophic larval diseases (due to lesions caused by larvae of pork tapeworms, beef tapeworms);
• Treatment of cysts in the liver and peritoneal cavity caused by larvae of the dog tapeworm (Echinococcus granulosus). 

Contraindications of Zentel:

• Patients with a history of allergy to the drug's ingredients/excipients;
• People who are suffering from an acute illness, having a fever over 38.5°C;
• People who are suffering from chronic diseases: liver failure, heart failure, kidney failure, bronchial asthma;
• During pregnancy.

2. How to use Zentel and dosage

How to use: 
Zentel should be taken with food at the main meal of the day. Some people, particularly children, may experience difficulties swallowing the tablets whole and should chew the tablets with a little water, or the tablets may be crushed. If the patient is not cured after three weeks, a second course of treatment is indicated. There is no need for fasting or purging.

Dosage:

• Adults and children over 2 years old: 1 Zentel 400mg tablet or 2 Zentel 200mg tablets;
• Children from 1 - 2 years old: 1 Zentel 200mg tablet;
• Elderly: There is limited experience in using Zentel in people over 65 years of age. Dose adjustment is not required but should use with caution in the elderly with evidence of hepatic dysfunction;
• Patients with kidney failure: No dose adjustment of Zentel is required but with close monitoring;
• Patients with liver failure: Patients with abnormal liver function test results before using Zentel should be prescribed with close monitoring.

In order to have a complete cure in case of pinworm infection, it is necessary to take measures to keep hygiene, and to treat people living in the same house with Zentel.

Overdose: When taking too much Zentel, the patient should be taken to the hospital immediately for timely treatment.
 

3. Side effects of the drug Zentel

Some side effects patients may experience when using Zentel:

• Upper gastrointestinal symptoms: Epigastric pain, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea;
• Neurological symptoms: Headache, dizziness;
• Hepatobiliary symptoms: Increased liver enzymes;
• Skin and subcutaneous tissue symptoms: Erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome;
• Immune system symptoms: Rash, itching, hives. In general, the side effects of Zentel are very rare.

When experiencing side effects caused by drugs, patients should consult their doctors for appropriate treatment.

4. Precautions for Zentel

Some warnings before and while using Zentel:

• Be careful when using Zentel in the elderly, children, people with liver and kidney disease,...;
• Zentel may not be able to treat pre-existing larval cysts in the Central nervous system (especially in areas of high fluke infection). The patient may have some neurological symptoms (convulsions, increased intracranial pressure, focal signs caused by an inflammatory response if the brain parasites die). The above symptoms may appear soon after treatment with Zentel, so appropriate steroid and anticonvulsant therapy should be started immediately;
• In order to avoid using Zentel in early pregnancy without knowing it, women of reproductive age should take the drug during the first week of their menstrual cycle or after a negative pregnancy test;
• Zentel should not be used while breastfeeding, unless prescribed by your doctor.

5. Zentel drug interactions

Some drug interactions of Zentel are:

• Co-administration of Zentel with the following drugs may affect the effectiveness of the drug: Ritonavir, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, and theophyllin;
• When an antiparasitic drug named Praziquantel is co-administered with Zentel, it increases plasma concentrations of the active metabolite of Albendazole (the main ingredient of Zentel).
• When using Zentel, patients should strictly follow the doctor's instructions. At the same time, patients need to inform the doctor about their health history, drugs/supplements they are using to receive appropriate advice, avoid the risk of drug interactions or side effects. 

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