Mebendazole

This article is about a pharmaceutical drug, for the automobile brand abbreviated as MBZ, see Mercedes-Benz

Mebendazole or MBZ, marketed as Ovex, Vermox, Antiox or Pripsen, is a benzimidazole drug that is used to treat infestations by worms including pinworms, roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms, and whipworms. The active ingredient in Pripsen powder is piperazine.

Mechanism
Mebendazole (C16H13N3O3) causes slow immobilization and death of the worms by selectively and irreversibly blocking uptake of glucose and other nutrients in susceptible adult intestine where helminths dwell. It is a spindle poison that induces chromosome nondisjunction.

Dosage
Oral dosage is 100 mg 12 hourly for 3 days, although sometimes the dosage is just one 500 mg dose, followed by another dose two weeks later if the infection has not cleared up. The dosage may differ depending on which type of worm someone is infected with.