An inclusive dose pole for treatment of schistosomiasis in infants and preschool children with praziquantel.
In large-scale interventions for control of schistosomiasis, use of the WHO dose pole is favoured for mass drug administration of praziquantel. Application of this simple tool has enabled pragmatic tablet dosing using patient height as a proxy for bodyweight, allowing control programmes to expand into resource-poor settings. Here we briefly summarize the inception and development of the existing WHO dose pole and discuss a proposed update which now permits dosing of infants and preschool children (height<94cm). Using this pole, we suggest that mass drug administration can be better optimized, streamlining general treatment to reduce drug wastage which could lead to significant programmatic savings and allocation of treatments to younger children with minimal additional cost.
Sousa-Figueiredo
Jose Carlos
JC
Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK. j.figueiredo@nhm.ac.uk
Day
Matthew
M
Betson
Martha
M
Kabatereine
Narcis B
NB
Stothard
J Russell
JR
D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics; D001827:Body Height; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011223:Praziquantel / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics; D012552:Schistosomiasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000871:Anthelmintics; D011223:Praziquantel