PRAZIQUANTEL IN THE TREATMENT OF SCHISTOSOMA-MANSONI INFECTION - COMPARISON OF 40 AND 60 MG KG BODYWEIGHT REGIMENS/

Two different regimens of praziquantel, 40 mg/kg in a single dose and 60 mg/kg in two divided doses administered 6 hr apart, for the treatme nt of Schistosoma mansoni infection were compared in Abu Homos, Eqypt. Participants in this study included 1,588 subjects of both sexes betw een five and 50 years old from two rural communities; 730 from Farshou t and 858 from Om El-Laban. The prevalence of S. mansoni infection was 57.9% in Farshout and 69.0% in Om El-Laban. Infected subjects receive d 60 mg/kg of praziquantel in two divided doses 6 hr apart at Farshout and 40 mg/kg in a single dose at Om El-Laban. Eight to ten weeks afte r treatment, three stool samples were collected from each treated subj ect on three consecutive days and evaluated quantitatively by the modi fied Kato technique. The failure was significantly higher at Om El-Lab an than at Farshout (14.5% versus 4.1% (odds ratio [OR] = 3.95, P < 0. 0001). A significantly higher failure rate was consistent after adjust ment for age and number of excreted S. mansoni eggs per gram of feces before treatment (OR = 3.75, P < 0.0001). In spite of differences amon g cure rates between the two regimens, we recommend 60 mg/kg on an ind ividual basis but not for population treatment, since administration o f a single dose of a drug is more practical than two doses given 6 hr apart.