title: Prophylactic effect of artemether on human schistosomiasis mansoni among Egyptian children: A randomized controlled trial.
abstract: A double-blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted in an endemic focus for Schistosoma mansoni in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Northern Nile Delta, Egypt, to evaluate the prophylactic effect of artemether (ART) given in conjunction with praziquantel (PZQ). The study encompassed 913 primary school children randomly assigned to two treatment groups PZQ/ART and PZQ/ART-placebo. At baseline, both groups received 40 mg/kg body weight of PZQ twice four weeks apart, after which one group received 6 mg/kg body weight of ART every 3 weeks in 5 cycles during the transmission season and the other group received ART-placebo. At the end of the study, prevalence of infection among the PZQ/ART was approximately half that of the PZQ/ART-placebo group, i.e. 6.7% versus 11.6%, and incidence of new infections for the PZQ/ART was 2.7% versus 6.5% for the PZQ/ART-placebo. In conclusion, PZQ/ART combined therapy might be considered as an adjunct measure against human schistosomiasis, by specifically reducing transmission and therefore contribute to disease elimination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Health, High Institute of Public Health, University Of Alexandria, Egypt. Electronic address: elmorshedyh@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Hala
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Elmorshedy
authors.affiliation: The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: marcel.tanner@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanner
authors.affiliation: University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Ingerod, Brastad, Sweden. Electronic address: robert.bergquist@outlook.com.
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Bergquist
authors.affiliation: Parasitology Department, National Liver Institute, Menoufeya University, Menoufeya, Egypt. Electronic address: Soraya_sharaf@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Soraya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharaf
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Health, High Institute of Public Health, University Of Alexandria, Egypt.
authors.forename: Rashida
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barakat
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000077549:Artemether; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011223:Praziquantel / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015995:Prevalence; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000187:drug effects*; D012555:Schistosomiasis mansoni / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012556:Schistosomicides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012574:Schools
chemical_list: D037621:Artemisinins; D012556:Schistosomicides; D011223:Praziquantel; D000077549:Artemether
keywords: Artemether; Egypt; Praziquantel; Prophylaxis; Randomized control trial; Schistosoma mansoni