Specific schistosomiasis treatment as a strategy for disease control
Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz
;
105(4): 598-603, July 2010. ilus
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-554835
ABSTRACT
The great hope for schistosomiasis treatment began with the development of oxamniquine and praziquantel. These drugs can be administered orally in a single dose and have a high curative power with minor side effects. In this study, we carried out a field experiment involving a population of 3,782 people. The population was examined at four localities in Minas Gerais within the valleys of the Doce and Jequitinhonha Rivers. In this cohort, there were 1,790 patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni (47.3 percent) and we showed that only 1,403 (78.4 percent) could be treated with oxamniquine in a single dose of 12.5-20 mg/kg orally. The other 387 (21.6 percent) were not treated during the first stage because of contraindications (pregnancy or impeditive diseases), absences or refusals. It was observed that, on average, 8.8-17 percent of the infected patients continued to excrete S. mansoni eggs at the end of the 2nd month after treatment and 30-32 percent of the cohort was infected by the end of the 24th month. In one of the areas that we followed-up for a total of 30 years, the prevalence of the infection with S. mansoni fell from 60.8-19.3 percent and the hepatosplenic form of the disease dropped from 5.8-1.3 percent. We conclude that specific treatment of schistosomiasis reduces the prevalence of infection in the short-term and the morbidity due to schistosomiasis in medium to long-term time frames, but does not help to control disease transmission.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Oxamniquine
/
Schistosomicides
/
Schistosomiasis mansoni
Type of study:
Etiology study
/
Incidence study
/
Observational study
/
Prevalence study
/
Risk factors
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz
Journal subject:
Tropical Medicine
/
Parasitology
Year:
2010
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Fiocruz/BR
/
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro/BR
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS