Morbidity induced by Schistosoma haematobium infections, as assessed by ultrasound before and after treatment with praziquantel, in a recently expanded focus (Senegal River basin)

Abstract

Seven years after the completion of two dams in the Senegal River basin, 203 individuals from four villages around Podor in the middle valley, where Schistosoma haematobium infections were present, were examined in June 1995. In December 1995 a single dose of praziquantel (40 mg/kg) was given to each of these subjects, who were re-examined in April 1996. Clinical and parasitological signs of infection were investigated at both examinations, and ultrasonography was performed to check for lesions of the urinary tract induced by S. haematobium. As uninfected controls, 200 people from four villages where S. haematobium was absent were similarly examined, in November 1995.

Prior to treatment, bladder irregularities were observed in 43% of the subjects from Podor but only 6% of the uninfected controls. The severity of the bladder lesions visible by ultrasonography was significantly associated with intensity of infection, despite the generally low levels of infection in the subjects mean = 13.1 eggs/10ml urine). Four months after treatment, however, the frequency of bladder irregularities among the subjects (11%) was similar to that in the uninfected controls and intensities of infection and other clinical signs of disease had also significantly declined. The prevalence of haematuria, for example, fell from 35% pre-treatment to 10% post-treatment.

The results indicate that the onset of S. haematobium morbidity can be relatively rapid even in areas with seasonal and low levels of transmission, and demonstrate that treatment to reduce morbidity in such areas is important and could be relatively simple and very effective.