title: Efficacy and side effects of praziquantel against Schistosoma mansoni in a community of western Côte d'Ivoire.
abstract: Praziquantel is efficacious against the adult stages of all human schistosome parasites, and has become the drug of choice for morbidity control of schistosomiasis. There is concern that resistance to praziquantel might develop or already exists, and could be further facilitated through new control initiatives relying on large-scale administration of praziquantel. Therefore, monitoring praziquantel efficacy in different epidemiological settings is required. We assessed the efficacy and side effects of praziquantel against Schistosoma mansoni in a rural community of western Côte d'Ivoire. Three consecutive stool specimens from 545 children and adults were examined by the Kato-Katz technique, revealing an overall prevalence of 40.9%. S. mansoni-infected individuals were treated with a single oral dose of praziquantel at 40 mg/kg. The most frequent side effects were abdominal pain, dizziness and diarrhoea. The overall cure rate, assessed 6 weeks post-treatment, was 60.9%. Moderate or heavy infections were only cleared in half or one-third of the individuals, respectively. The total egg count reduction was 61.4%. Infection intensity pre-treatment was significantly associated with age, cure rate, reported diarrhoea and dizziness. Our findings call for additional studies that rigorously evaluate the efficacy of praziquantel against different schistosome species in entire communities, using similarly sensitive diagnostic approaches as employed here.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Raso
authors.forename: Eliézer K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: N'Goran
authors.forename: Abale
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toty
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luginbühl
authors.forename: Cynthia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Adjoua
authors.forename: Norbert T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Tian-Bi
authors.forename: Isaac I
authors.initials: II
authors.lastname: Bogoch
authors.forename: Penelope
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vounatsou
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanner
authors.forename: Jürg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Utzinger
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D011223:Praziquantel / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D015995:Prevalence; D012555:Schistosomiasis mansoni / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D011223:Praziquantel