Comparative randomised trial of high and conventional doses of praziquantel in the treatment of schistosomiasis mansoni.

The efficacy of oral praziquantel in the treatment of schistosomiasis has been considered low by most public health institutions. In this paper, we compared the efficacy of two dosages of praziquantel (80 mg/kg vs. 50 mg/kg) in patients with chronic schistosomiasis mansoni. Two hundred eighty-eight patients with schistosomiasis from a community in Brazil were randomly divided into two groups: 145 patients (Group 1) received 80 mg/kg body weight of oral praziquantel divided in two equal doses with 1 h interval and 143 patients (Group 2) received 50 mg/kg body weight of oral praziquantel. To keep the study masked, patients in Group 2 received placebo 1 h after the first dose. All patients were subjected to clinical and ultrasonographic examination. Cure assessment was performed by repeating two stool examinations, by a quantitative method, at 30, 90 and 180 days after treatment. The morbidity of schistosomiasis was low, with a few cases of light periportal thickening and 16 cases of mild splenomegaly. The cure rates were 89.7% for Group 1 and 83.9% for Group 2. There was no difference in the efficacy of both therapeutic dosages of praziquantel assayed. The adverse reactions were more frequent with higher dosage.

Comparative randomised trial of high and conventional doses of praziquantel in the treatment of schistosomiasis mansoni

The efficacy of oral praziquantel in the treatment of schistosomiasis has been considered low by most public health institutions. In this paper, we compared the efficacy of two dosages of praziquantel (80 mg/kg vs. 50 mg/kg) in patients with chronic schistosomiasis mansoni. Two hundred eighty-eight patients with schistosomiasis from a community in Brazil were randomly divided into two groups: 145 patients (Group 1) received 80 mg/kg body weight of oral praziquantel divided in two equal doses with 1 h interval and 143 patients (Group 2) received 50 mg/kg body weight of oral praziquantel. To keep the study masked, patients in Group 2 received placebo 1 h after the first dose. All patients were subjected to clinical and ultrasonographic examination. Cure assessment was performed by repeating two stool examinations, by a quantitative method, at 30, 90 and 180 days after treatment. The morbidity of schistosomiasis was low, with a few cases of light periportal thickening and 16 cases of mild splenomegaly. The cure rates were 89.7 percent for Group 1 and 83.9 percent for Group 2. There was no difference in the efficacy of both therapeutic dosages of praziquantel assayed. The adverse reactions were more frequent with higher dosage.

Situaçäo atual da filariose bancroftiana na cidade de Maceió, estado de Alagoas, Brasil / Present status of bancroftian filariasis in Maceió, state of Alagoas, Brazil

Determina a prevalência e a distribuiçäo da filariose linfática bancroftiana na área urbana de Maceió, estado de Alagoas, assim como identifica os insetos vetores na regiäo, com esse objetivo, foram realizados inquéritos hemoscópicos e entomológicos. Foram examinados, pelo método da gota espessa, amostras de sangue de 10.450 escolares oriundos de diferentes regioes da cidade, sendo detectado 0,66 por cento de indivíduos microfilarêmicos por Wuchereria bancrofti. A parasitose tem distribuiçäo focal com 80 por cento dos indivíduos com infecçäo patente detectados em duas regioes vizinhas, cujas prevalências atingiram 1,24 por cento e 5,25 por cento. Estudos paralelos feitos em amostras populacionais com indivíduos de diferentes faixas etárias mostraram prevalências semelhantes às detectadas entre os escolares. No entanto, o exame dos familiares de indivíduos infectados pela W. bancrofti mostrou prevalência seis vezes mais alta, sugerindo maior transmissäo no intradomicílio. A percentagem de parasitados foi maior no grupo etário mais jovem (< 20 anos). Mosquitos culex quinquefasciatus capturados nos bairros onde a parasitose foi detectada apresentavam taxas de infecçäo natural de 0,28 por cento até 4,62 por cento. Descreve a ocorrência da transmissäo natural da filariose bancroftiana na área urbana de Maceió, Alagoas. Medidas de controle da filariose foram planejadas para conter sua expansäo na regiäo analisada.