Clioquinol

• Clioquinol kills parasites.
• In intestinal infections with diarrhea due to amoebiasis or dienamoebiasis.
• Beverage: shake well before use. Measure the amount of drink with the measuring pipette.
• The cure usually lasts 10 days. Complete the entire course. Even if the infection seems to be cured, because there may be parasites left.
• You may feel nauseous and have stomach pain after taking it. The diarrhea can also temporarily increase. If these symptoms do not go away, contact your doctor.
• Drink plenty of fluids if you have diarrhea or you will become dehydrated.
• Your tongue, urine and faeces may turn a greenish color during the course. This is harmless and will disappear after the treatment.

Clioquinol works against infections with some parasites, such as amoebas.
Doctors prescribe it for amoebic infections that can cause diarrhea .

Cause and symptoms

An infection with amoebas mainly occurs in the tropics. People can get an infection from contaminated water or food. Clioquinol is used in the following amoeba infections

• Amoebiasis (another name is amoebic dysentery). This form is mainly found in the tropics or subtropics. You can get the parasite if you consume water or food that has been contaminated with feces. The parasite can settle in the intestines. This causes severe diarrhea with phlegm, stomach pain and fever. Some of the parasites make blisters to ‘hide’ in. Other people can become infected through the faeces containing these blisters. The amoebas can reach the liver from the intestines. This is called liver amoebiasis.
• Dientamoebiasis . This form is not only found in the tropics, but also in the Netherlands. Many people carry this amoeba without being bothered by it. Occasionally they do get diarrhea and stomach pain from this. Especially children between 5 and 14 years old are carriers of this amoeba. The disease therefore mainly occurs in children.

Preventing

• infection You can prevent infections with amoebas by using high-quality mineral water while traveling and by paying attention to hygiene. In the tropics, do not eat ice cream, raw leafy vegetables or unpeeled fruit.

Therapy

• In amebiasis, doctors usually prescribe the drug metronidazole. This kills the parasite in the intestinal wall. It does not kill the vesicles in which the parasite hides. Therefore, this treatment is followed by a course of clioquinol. This drug kills the parasite in the vesicles.
• In severe diene amoebiasis, the doctor can try to see if treatment with a parasite-killing drug helps. Usually doctors prescribe the drug metronidazole, but clioquinol is also used. Clioquinol kills the parasite that causes dienamoebiasis.

Diarrhea

Cause

• Diarrhea can be caused by food or drink that is contaminated with bacteria or amoebas, for example when traveling in a warm country, the so-called traveler’s diarrhea.
• If the diarrhea is accompanied by blood and mucus in the stool and a high fever, this may indicate a serious intestinal infection such as amoebic dysentery.

Treatment

• Usually, ‘traveler’s diarrhea’ disappears on its own after a short time. However, you must guard against dehydration by drinking a lot, possibly a glucose-saline solution (ORS). This is especially important in children and the elderly, as they are more sensitive to dehydration.
  You can limit the discomfort caused by the diarrhea by taking loperamide capsules for up to a few days. This ensures that the intestinal contents remain in the intestines longer and become more compact, but it does not cure the infection.
• In severe diarrhea, such as amoebic dysentery, common dysentery or Salmonella infection, you should not just use loperamide, but you should consult your doctor. In these cases, the bacteria or parasite must be combated. Clioquinol is often used in amoebic dysentery.

Infections of the gastrointestinal tract

Clioquinol works against some parasites, such as amoebas. It is used in the infectious diseases with amoeba, such as amoebiasis and dienamoebiasis.
For more information on amoebiasis and dienamoebiasis in amoebic infections, see.

How should your child use this medicine?

Always check the pharmacy label for the correct dosage.

How?

Shake the bottle before use. Measure the correct amount with the supplied dosing syringe. Have your child take the medicine. Give a sip of water afterwards. Ask the pharmacy to show you exactly how much drink you should give at a time.

Be careful not to spill a drop of the drink on skin, clothing, or bedding. It has a strong yellow color which can stain clothing or bedding. These stains are almost impossible to wash out. The skin can also discolor yellow.

When?

Your child can take the drink before, during and after a meal. If your child develops gastrointestinal complaints from clioquinol, it is best to take the drink immediately after eating.

How long?

Usually the treatment with clioquinol is a course that your child must not interrupt and must complete completely. In total, your child should not take clioquinol for more than 10 days. Therefore, consult the doctor if your child has used clioquinol before . There is a limit to the total amount of clioquinol that your child can safely use.

What are possible clioquinol side effects on skin?

If you are taking this medicine 3 times a day : take the forgotten dose as soon as possible, unless it is less than 2 hours before you are due to take the next dose.

Then skip the missed dose and go back to your normal schedule. You take the forgotten dose at the end of the course.

So you shift the moment when you end the treatment. Do complete the full course, otherwise there is a chance that the complaints will return.