ABSTRACT
Pupils attending four secondary boarding schools in Mwanza Municipality, Tanzania, were examined parasitologically for Schistosoma haematobium. Prevalence of infection was highest in the age group 17 to 18 years in both sexes whereas the intensity was highest in the age group 15 to 16 years in girls and 17 to 18 in boys. Absence on grounds of sickness among the pupils studied was not related to the infection and the over-all academic performance was not clearly related to S. haematobium infection in either. Two drugs (tetracycline-HCL and sulphadimidine) commonly used for treatment of many bacterial infections in Tanzania were used. Administration of these drugs to schistosomiasis patients showed that both significantly lowered egg excretion and the degree depended on the dosage. Neither drugs affected the hatching of miracidia. It is speculated that the administration of both drugs might contribute to a higher accumulation of the eggs in the tissues. This effect could lead to more pathogenic effects as well as introducing an element of error in the studies on drug trials and chemotherapy. Treatment using metrifonate (Bilarcil) resulted in cure rates of 76% for girls and 93% for boys.
