Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Oral Milbemycin Oxime/Praziquantel Prevents Dog Skin Worm Infection
By Di Cesare, Angela et al.·Published in Parasites & vectors·2014·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Field clinical study evaluating the efficacy and safety of an oral formulation containing milbemycin oxime/praziquantel (Milbemax®, Novartis Animal Health) in the chemoprevention of the zoonotic canine infection by Dirofilaria repens.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs in Italy were given a monthly chewable tablet called Milbemax, which contains milbemycin oxime and praziquantel, to prevent a parasitic infection called Dirofilaria repens, known to cause skin issues. The study included 249 dogs, and those treated with Milbemax showed a 100% success rate in preventing the infection, while 94.7% of untreated dogs remained free of the parasite. The treatment was found to be safe for all dogs involved. This suggests that using Milbemax monthly can effectively protect dogs from this infection in areas where it is common.
People also search for: dog skin infection prevention · Milbemax for dogs · Dirofilaria repens treatment · monthly heartworm prevention for dogs · dog parasite prevention tablets
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Dirofilaria repens is the causative agent of subcutaneous dirofilariosis of dogs, other animals and humans. This nematode is transmitted by mosquitoes of Aedes, Anopheles and Culex genera. In dogs, the parasite may cause subclinical infection or cutaneous signs. Recently, D. repens has emerged and spread in different geographical areas, with an increase of cases in dogs and humans. Chemoprevention in dogs in endemic areas is the most reliable approach for controlling this infection. This paper describes a randomized, blocked and multicentric clinical field study investigating the efficacy of an oral, chewable formulation containing milbemycin oxime/praziquantel (Milbemax®, Novartis Animal Health) in the chemoprevention of subcutaneous dirofilariosis in dogs. METHODS: This study was conducted in endemic areas of Italy. A total of 249 dogs, at two sites, negative for D. repens, were allocated into two groups (i.e. Treated -T1 vs Untreated-T2) with a ratio of 1:1, and subjected to clinical visits and blood sampling once monthly until the end of the study. All blood samples were microscopically and genetically examined. Animals belonging to T1 group received a minimum target dose of 0.5 mg/kg bodyweight of milbemycin oxime and 5 mg/kg of praziquantel in commercial tablets (Milbemax®) according body weight once every 4 weeks. Animals of group T2 were not treated with Milbemax® but received, when necessary, specific parasiticide treatments. The study duration was 336 ± 2 days for each dog. RESULTS: A total of 219 dogs completed the study (i.e. 111 in T1 and 108 in T2), while 30 dogs (i.e. 13 in T1, 17 in T2) were withdrawn for a variety of reasons unrelated to administration of Milbemax®. The percentages of animals not showing microfilariae of D. repens were 100% (111 animals) in T1 and 94.7% (108 animals out of 114) in group T2. Milbemax® was shown to be safe in treated dogs. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study confirm that the monthly use of Milbemax® in dogs is effective and safe for the prevention of subcutaneous dirofilariosis in endemic areas.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25069770/