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Does Albendazole Affect Fetus During Early Pregnancy?
Hi! I had my periods on 23/2/2014 and had unprotected intercourse on 8th and 12th day of this cycle and took tab albendazole 400mg stat dosage on 15th day of the same cycle . Now I came to know that the pregnancy is to be avoided for 1 month after the last dose of albendazole. So worried if had already conceived would this dose harm my embryo or not? Plz answer my query .... Waiting for reply
Mon, 11 Apr 2016
Hello, and i hope I can help you today.
It is not recommended that Albendazole be taken during the first trimester of pregnancy because the medication has been shown to cause birth defects in laboratory animals if given during pregnancy.
However, there are two reasons that you do not need to worry about the one dose of Albendazole you already took. The first is that there are no studies that Albendazole causes birth defects in humans at all. Secondly, you took the medicine at the time of conception and even though the drug can stay in your system for four weeks, a fetus does not even develop by this time.
Therefore, you do not need to worry about birth defects from the timing of when you took Albendazole. I encourage you to seek prenatal care early in pregnancy and get an ultrasound examination early to make sure the baby develops properly.
I hope I was able to adequately answer your question today and that my advice was helpful.
Best wishes for the rest of the pregnancy,
Dr. Brown
It is not recommended that Albendazole be taken during the first trimester of pregnancy because the medication has been shown to cause birth defects in laboratory animals if given during pregnancy.
However, there are two reasons that you do not need to worry about the one dose of Albendazole you already took. The first is that there are no studies that Albendazole causes birth defects in humans at all. Secondly, you took the medicine at the time of conception and even though the drug can stay in your system for four weeks, a fetus does not even develop by this time.
Therefore, you do not need to worry about birth defects from the timing of when you took Albendazole. I encourage you to seek prenatal care early in pregnancy and get an ultrasound examination early to make sure the baby develops properly.
I hope I was able to adequately answer your question today and that my advice was helpful.
Best wishes for the rest of the pregnancy,
Dr. Brown
I find this answer helpful
2 Doctors agree with this answer
Hallow Dear,
Albendazole falls in FDA pregnancy category: C; meaning thereby that animal studies have revealed evidence of teratogenicity (embryotoxicity and skeletal malformations) in pregnant rats and rabbits. There are no controlled data in human pregnancy. This drug is only recommended for use during pregnancy when there are no alternatives and the benefit outweighs the risk to the fetus.
Patients should avoid pregnancy until at least 1 month after stopping therapy. If a patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, it should be discontinued immediately.
If your unprotected sex results in pregnancy under one month of your consumption of Albendazole, Please inform your Obstetrician about it. You will have to keep the pregnancy monitoring by ultrasonography for first 8 weeks - the period during which the embryo is completely formed. If there is any doubt, the chorion villus biopsy can inform you about any abnormal development of the embryo.
I hope this helps you.
Dr. Nishikant Shrotri
Albendazole falls in FDA pregnancy category: C; meaning thereby that animal studies have revealed evidence of teratogenicity (embryotoxicity and skeletal malformations) in pregnant rats and rabbits. There are no controlled data in human pregnancy. This drug is only recommended for use during pregnancy when there are no alternatives and the benefit outweighs the risk to the fetus.
Patients should avoid pregnancy until at least 1 month after stopping therapy. If a patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, it should be discontinued immediately.
If your unprotected sex results in pregnancy under one month of your consumption of Albendazole, Please inform your Obstetrician about it. You will have to keep the pregnancy monitoring by ultrasonography for first 8 weeks - the period during which the embryo is completely formed. If there is any doubt, the chorion villus biopsy can inform you about any abnormal development of the embryo.
I hope this helps you.
Dr. Nishikant Shrotri
I find this answer helpful
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