Abstract
BackgroundChemotherapy with praziquantel (PZQ) is the mainstay of schistosomiasis control. However, there are recent concerns about tolerance or resistance to PZQ, so that monitoring its efficacy in different settings is required.MethodsA longitudinal study was conducted to evaluate the impact of PZQ for the treatment of Schistosoma haematobium infection among schoolchildren at Al Salamania, Central Sudan. Parasitological examinations for S. haematobium were performed in a cohort of schoolchildren (6–15 years of age) before and 1 year after treatment with a single dose of PZQ 40 mg/kg.ResultsOut of 562 (309 boys and 253 girls) schoolchildren recruited from three elementary schools, 420 completed one longitudinal dataset that comprised of data from two time points; baseline, and follow-up 1 year after treatment with a single dose of PZQ 40 mg/kg for S. haematobium infection. A single dose of PZQ significantly reduced the prevalence of S. haematobium infection by 83.3% (from 51.4% to 8.6%) and the geometric mean intensity of infection of positive individuals by 17.0% (from 87.7 to 72.8 eggs/10 ml of urine) 1 year after treatment. While there was no significant difference in the reduction of the prevalence of S. haematobium infection between the gender or age groups, there was a significantly higher reduction of intensity of S. haematobium infection among girls in comparison with boys.ConclusionThere was a significant reduction of S. haematobium infection 1 year after PZQ treatment in this setting.
Highlights
Chemotherapy with praziquantel (PZQ) is the mainstay of schistosomiasis control
In 2000, it was estimated that 70 million people had hematuria, 32 million had dysuria associated with Schistosoma haematobium, 18 million had major bladder wall pathology, 10 million people had S. haematobium related renal failure; and schistosomiasis related bladder cancer, resulting in an estimated mortality of 150 000 people per year in subSaharan Africa [4]
There was no significant difference in the data of children who dropped-out or missed the follow-up survey to those included in both surveys
Summary
Chemotherapy with praziquantel (PZQ) is the mainstay of schistosomiasis control. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines recommend that in communities with schistosomiasis, and a prevalence of 10% up to 50%, school-aged children and high-risk groups of adults should be treated with PZQ once every two years. Mass therapy with PZQ has been employed in many national control programmes for schistosomiasis across sub-Saharan Africa, including Sudan. The present longitudinal study aimed to investigate the prevalence and intensity of S. haematobium infection 1 year after treatment with PZQ among schoolchildren at Al Salamania in central Sudan so as to add to the body of research on the epidemiology and effects of schistosomiasis infections among schoolchildren in Sudan [7,15,16]
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