Praziquantel side effects and efficacy related to Schistosoma mansoni egg loads and morbidity in primary school children in north-east Ethiopia

A total of 611 Schistosoma mansoni infected primary school children from three schools in north-east Ethiopia were treated with praziquantel at 40 mg/kg body weight in a single dose. Pre-treatment, 40.4% had no presenting symptoms and 30–40% had nausea, abdominal cramps and/or bloody-mucoid diarrhoea. None of the pre-treatment symptoms was related to nutritional status, intensity of S. mansoni egg excretion, or to the presence of other concomitant intestinal parasitic infections. During the first 4–6 h post-treatment observation period, 90 (14.7%) children self-presented with severe gastro-intestinal symptoms. Children who self-presented with severe symptoms had a higher mean age and mean S. mansoni egg excretion compared with children who did not self-present. The following day a total of 529 (86.6%) children, including all who self-presented during the first 4–6 h post-treatment, reported for clinical check-up and were subjected to a structured questionnaire interview on symptoms they had experienced over the time lapse following treatment. Among these, 91.5% reported one or more treatment related symptoms which were at times severe. Abdominal cramps (86.9%), diarrhoea with blood and/or mucus (49.5%), dizziness (31.2%) and vomiting (24.9%) were the most common treatment related symptoms. Skin rash with oedema were observed in four cases. Among treatment related symptoms, the combination of abdominal cramps with vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, vomiting alone and general weakness were significantly higher among the malnourished. A proportion of these symptoms increased with increasing categories of S. mansoni egg excretion before and after adjusting for nutritional status and concurrent intestinal parasitic infections. Overall, the cure rate of praziquantel, among 541 children who had stool examination 5 weeks after treatment was 83.2% and this rate decreased with increasing pre-treatment egg counts. In conclusion, most of the treatment related symptoms were mild. However, some of the objective symptoms were at times severe and may reduce drug compliance in primary health care based population chemotherapy.