Anthelmintic Drugs

Anthelmintic Drugs, medicinal drugs used to rid humans or other host animals of infestations by parasitic worms such as tapeworms, roundworms, pinworms, trichinae, flukes, whipworms, schistosomes, and filariae. These drugs are also known as vermifuges. They act by attacking the worms' neuromuscular or respiratory systems, interfering with their metabolism, or making them more susceptible to attack by the host's macrophages. Anthelmintics include mebendazole, pyrantel pamoate, diethylcarbamazine, and niclosamide, among several others. The drugs are generally more effective against gastrointestinal infestations than muscular infestations.