STUDIES ON SCHISTOSOMIASIS IN WESTERN KENYA - II - EFFICACY OF PRAZIQUANTEL FOR TREATMENT OF SCHISTOSOMIASIS IN PERSONS COINFECTED WITH HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-1

Praziquantel is the drug of choice for schistosomiasis chemotherapy. A lthough the exact mechanism of how praziquantel kills schistosomes rem ains poorly understood, the immune response of the host is an importan t factor in drug efficacy. It is thus possible that disease states of humans that lead to immunodeficiencies, such as infection with human i mmunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), may render praziquantel less effectiv e in treating schistosomiasis, To test this hypothesis, persons with h igh levels of Schistosoma mansoni infection who were or were not also infected with HIV-1 were treated with a standard regimen of praziquant el and monitored by quantitative fecal examination and plasma circulat ing cathodic antigen. Both groups responded to praziquantel therapy eq ually and individuals with low percentages (< 20%) of CD4(+) T cells d id not differ from individuals with higher CD4 cell percentages. These data demonstrate that persons with HIV-1 infection can be treated eff ectively for schistosomiasis with praziquantel.