A field trial using praziquantel (Biltricide^R) to treat Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium infection in Gezira, Sudan

Abstract

A field trial was conducted in the Gezira, Sudan, to evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of praziquantel, a new schistosomicide. In one Arab village 350 patients with Schistosoma mansoni were randomly assigned to two treatment groups and given 1 × 40 mg kg⁻¹ (Group A) or 2 × 20 mg kg⁻¹ given four to six hours apart (Group B). In two small settlements (camps) 2 km distant from the Arab village 38 patients with S. mansoni and 43 with concurrent S. mansoni and S. haematobium infections were given 1 × 40 mg kg⁻¹.

Side effects were mild and limited to the first 24 hours after treatment. The main complaints were abdominal pain, diarrhoea, urticaria and/or vomiting and were most common in the camp residents (79%) with 60% of Group A and 45% of Group B having one or more side effects.

One month after treatment ‘cure’ rates were: Camps 63%, Group A 84% and Group B 96%, and the reduction in egg output was over 95%. After 12 months re-infection was greater in the camps. As there was no significant difference in the egg output reduction between the two treatment regimes, praziquantel is recommended for mass chemotherapy in Gezira at the logistically simpler regimen of 1 × 40 mg.kg⁻¹.