Both drugs are antiparasitics used to treat helminths (worm-type parasites). Mebendazole is mainly sequestered in the gut lumen (95% is secreted in the feces) and is excellent at killing parasites that are only in the intestinal tract such as:
- pinworms
- whipworms
- hookworms
- roundworms
Albendazole on the other hand is readily absorbed into the systemic circulation and is effective treatment of heminths that are outside of the intestinal tract such as neurocysticercosis (cysts of tapeworms in the brain) and hyatid cyst disease.