Towards control of schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa
Approximately 80% of the 200 million people infected with schistosomiasis inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, and the annual mortality is estimated to be 280,000. Praziquantel is the drug of choice in the treatment of schistosomiasis and pregnant women may now be treated. It was agreed at the World Health A...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Journal of helminthology 2005-09, Vol.79 (3), p.181-185 |
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Zusammenfassung: | Approximately 80% of the 200 million people infected with schistosomiasis inhabit
sub-Saharan Africa, and the annual mortality is estimated to be 280,000.
Praziquantel is the drug of choice in the treatment of schistosomiasis and
pregnant women may now be treated. It was agreed at the World Health Assembly in
2001 that at least 75% of school-aged children in high burden areas should be
treated for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth infections by 2010 to
reduce morbidity. A grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the
Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Imperial College of Science, Technology and
Medicine, London has enabled control programmes to be initiated in Uganda,
Tanzania, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. Additional programmes have
recently commenced in Zanzibar with a grant from the Health Foundation to The
Natural History Museum, London and in Cameroon. Combination treatment for
schistosomiasis, gastrointestinal helminths and filariasis reduces costs of
control programmes. The EC Concerted Action Group on ‘Praziquantel: its central
role in the chemotherapy of schistosome infection’ met in Yaoundé Cameroon in
2004 to discuss recent developments in laboratory and field studies. The use of
standard operating procedures will enable data on drug action on schistosomes
produced in different laboratories to be compared. With the ever increasing use
of praziquantel there is a possibility of the development of resistance by
schistosomes to the drug, hence the necessity to explore the activities of other
compounds. Artemether, unlike praziquantel, is effective against immature
schistosomes. The effectiveness of mirazid, an extract of myrrh, is
controversial as data from different laboratories are equivocal. It is suggested
that an independent body such as the World Health Organization should determine
whether mirazid should be used in the treatment of schistosomiasis. |
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ISSN: | 0022-149X 1475-2697 |
DOI: | 10.1079/JOH2005307 |