Single dose metrifonate in the treatment of urinary schistosomiasis in an area of low prevalence and intensity of infection

Abstract

Urine specimens from 638 primary school children in Gokwe Communal Land were examined for S. haematobium ova, and the 187 (29%) children who were excreting eggs were treated with a single lOmg/kg dose of metrifonate. Futher urine samples were collected from all children, whether treated or not, 48 weeks later, and examined for ova. The overall cure rate was 50,8%, and in children not cured egg excretion was reduced by an average 59,9%. Only 12,1% of children were excreting > 50 eggs per ml of urine before treatment, and after this was reduced to 3,9%. Increased egg excretion following treatment was noted in 15 (8,0%) of the infected children, while 21 (4,7%) children with negative urines, and therefore not treated, were excreting eggs 48 weeks later. Thus even in an area where the prevalence and intensity of infection is low, single-dose metrifonate may play a cost-effective role in the control of urinary schistosomiasis.