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UNIMED Pharmaceuticals announced that it had applied to the FDA for permission to market NTZ (nitazoxanide) for treating cryptosporidial diarrhea in people with AIDS. The company expects that
an FDA advisory committee will consider the drug around May of this year. NTZ is already approved in Mexico.
NTZ is a very broad spectrum drug, active against many parasites and bacteria. This is important because it is often hard to identify the specific cause for AIDS diarrhea. Exact diagnosis becomes less critical
if the drug is active against more than one microbial cause.
UNIMED has found only a few complete cures of cryptosporidiosis after NTZ treatment. But the first person we knew who used the drug has been cured. He is a physician and had complete flexibility to
adjust his dose when necessary, as he was not following a research protocol.
Cryptosporidiosis occurs mostly in the summer, often after heavy rains wash cow manure into municipal water supplies, or from swimming in contaminated pools or lakes. Person to person spread is also
very important.
The PWA Health Group, the oldest AIDS buyers' club in New York, is still carrying NTZ.
Editor's Note: from AIDS Treatment News
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