Safety Profile of Mass Administration of Albendazole Among School Children (6-19 Years): A Prospective Active Surveillance Study.

Background: Infections with Soil-transmitted Helminths (STHs) impact about 24% of the global population. A disproportionate number of individuals, particularly those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, live in emerging nations. In India, between the ages of one and fourteen, almost 220 million children are susceptible to intestinal worm infestations caused by parasites. The National Deworming Day (NDD) initiative was started by the Indian government in February 2015 as a part of the National Health Mission to address this problem. Though the adverse effects of albendazole in routine therapy are known, the mass administration of the medicine in children as part of a public health program has not been adequately studied.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the occurrence, type, and severity of adverse drug reactions resulting from mass administration of albendazole in school children aged 6-19 years in a district of northern India.

Methods: Twenty specified clusters were randomly chosen from a total of 96 clusters in the district to participate in this prospective, descriptive, observational study that was carried out in Karnal, Haryana. Both a passive approach and an active adverse drug reaction reporting system were used in the study. The six-step process known as Deb’s Active Surveillance & Assisted Reporting System was employed in our study. Adverse drug reactions were recorded using the suspected Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) reporting form of the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI).

Results: Twenty clusters with a combined total of 94 schools and 12,751 students were observed during the study. In this study, there were more female participants (N = 8,060; 63.21%) than male participants (N = 4,691; 36.78%). A total of 29 ADRs were reported. All reported ADRs were mild in nature. It was discovered that there were 1.37 incidences for every 1000 individuals. As illustrated in Fig. (1), the most frequently reported Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) were vomiting (N = 10), nausea (N = 4), abdominal pain (N = 2), and headache (N = 1). The majority of ADRs were categorized as probable (N=18; 62.06%), followed by possible (N=11; 37.93%).

Conclusion: An active surveillance system alongside voluntary passive reporting during the mass administration of medicines can help evaluate the safety profile of the medicinal products. The occurrence of ADRs following mass administration of albendazole in school children was found to be only 1.37 incidences for every 1000 recipients, being mild in nature, with vomiting being the most common.