It is important that your doctor check your progress after treatment. This is to make sure that the infection is cleared up completely, and to allow your doctor to check for any unwanted effects.

If your symptoms do not improve after you have taken ALBENZA for the full course of treatment, or if they become worse, check with your doctor.

For women of childbearing age, it is important that you use birth control while taking albendazole since ALBENZA can cause birth defects or other problems.

Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.

Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:

• Rare
  • Fever;  skin rash or itching;  sore throat;  unusual tiredness and weakness  
  
  

Other side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. However, check with your doctor if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome:

• Less common
  • Abdominal pain;  diarrhea;  dizziness;  headache;  nausea;  vomiting 
  
  

• Rare
  • Thinning or loss of hair 
  
  

Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your doctor.

Once a medicine has been approved for marketing for a certain use, experience may show that it is also useful for other medical problems. Although these uses are not included in product labeling in the U.S., albendazole is used in certain patients with the following infections:

• Capillariasis;
• Cutaneous larva migrans;
• Common roundworms (ascariasis);
• Hookworms (ancylostomiasis and necatoriasis);
• Pinworms (enterobiasis or oxyuriasis);
• Strongyloidiasis;
• Tapeworms (taeniasis);
• Trichostrongyliasis;
• Whipworms (trichuriasis).

For patients taking albendazole for hookworms:

• In hookworm infections, anemia may occur. Therefore, your doctor may want you to take iron supplements. If so, it is important to take iron every day while you are being treated for hookworm infection. Do not miss any doses. Your doctor may also want you to keep taking iron supplements for at least 3 to 6 months after you stop taking albendazole. If you have any questions about this, check with your doctor.

For patients taking albendazole for pinworms:

• In some patients, pinworms may return after treatment with albendazole. Wear pajamas and underwear to sleep, take a bath every day, and wash (not shake) all bedding and nightclothes (pajamas) after treatment to help prevent reinfection. Treatment may be repeated after 3 weeks.
• Pinworms may be easily passed from one person to another, especially among persons in the same household. Therefore, all household members may have to be treated at the same time to prevent their infection or reinfection.

Other than the above information, there is no additional information relating to proper use, precautions, or side effects for these uses.