Combined drug therapy of intestinal bilharziasis with and without polyposis

ABSTRACT

In endemic areas treatment of intestimal schistosomiasis, especially when complicated with polyposis, is a major medical problem. In the past few years introduction of new drugs gave hope for treatment of such cases. These drugs were mainly niridazole and oxamniquine. Niridazole has to be given repeatedly at two months intervals over a period up to one year. Oxamniquine provides the advantage of short term therapy over 3 days but the cure rate was much lower than niridazole. The two drugs are different pharmacolozically and this encourages us to give both drugs in succession, then simultaneously without accentnation of the side or toxic effects than when either drug was given alone. In this study 493 patients of intestinal bilharziasis, 39 of them with bilharzial colonic polyposis were included, using different schedules of therapy. Niridazole in a dose 4 mg/ kg. B. W. daily for 20 days and oxamniquine 60 mg/kg. B.W. as a total dose divided over 3 days. The best results were obtained when both drugs were given simaltaneously. The cure rate in non polypotic bilharzial cases was 96.5% and in patients with plyposis 64.3%, while the cure rate using oxamniquine alone or using the two drugs in succession starting by either of them gave much less cure rate, [not more than 40%]. We can conchude that the best treatment of intestinal schistosomiasis with or without polyposis is the simultaneous administration of oxamniquine and niridazole in the above mentioned dosage schedule