 |
| ASCAROL BONBONS, in chocolate flavor, 1957 |
One of the most popular deworming drugs in the 1950s, was ASCAROL brand, produced by Metro Laboratories, Inc. Metro was then a leading
pharmaceutical company that made popular products as Dhobinol (skin ointment), Elixir
Auri-Bromide and Metrotussin (cough medicine).
ASCAROL Print Ad, 1957
Ascariasis, or roundworm infestation, was a common
children’s condition in the post-war 50s, and the most prevalent in
agricultural Philippines. The soil-transmitted parasitic worms can cause severe
abdominal pain, fatigue, vomiting, anemia, distended abdomen, itching, and
malnutrition and weight loss in kids.
As liquid antihelminthic medicines tended to be
distasteful for kids, Metro Laboratories made the product in chocolate-flavored
candy forms---ASCAROL BONBONS. The albendazole-based
bonbons, came individually-wrapped in a glass jar,, which children can enjoy
like candy, while being treated for
their infestation. No laxatives were required.
ASCAROL Print Ad, 1969
ASCAROL BONBONS
were promoted in print ads, from the 50s to the 70s, becoming household names,
and proven the most effective worm expellant for decades. The rise of new and very affordable multi-worm products halted
ASCAROL’s market success. Combantrin, for example, is Pyrantel-based, which
required only one dose to eliminate all types of worms, and yet it is gentle on
the stomach.
The brand name Ascarol today, is used by Laboratorio NeoFarmaco
of Ecuador, in their de-worming product that is just as popular as the
Philippine brand of old.
No comments:
Post a Comment