[Trial of praziquantel in the treatment of urinary schistosomiasis in Senegal].

2-Cyclohexylcarbonyl-1,2,3,6,7,11b-hexahydro-4H-pyrazino [2,1-a]isoquinolin-4-one (praziquantel, EMBAY 8440, Biltricide) was administered to 78 patients aged from 6 to 18 years. They were divided into 3 groups, receiving single doses of 30 mg and 40 mg/kg b.w. and 2 doses of 20 mg/kg b.w. (at an interval of 6 h), respectively. Tolerance examinations showed that 65% of the patients treated did not complain of any side effects. The remaining patients mentioned abdominal pain, headache and/or nausea. All these symptoms disappeared within a few hours without special treatment. Compared with pretreatment results, clinical examinations after treatment did not reveal any significant changes of haematocrit, haemoglobin, transaminases and bilirubin. Follow-up urine examinations were carried out 6 months after treatment in 71 children, of whom 68 were found to be no longer excreting viable eggs of Schistosoma. This corresponds to a parasitological cure rate of 95.8%. In the three patients who were not cured the number of eggs excreted was reduced by 89.2%. No statistically significant difference in efficacy was recorded between the three doses administered. Praziquantel appears to be an effective, well tolerated and easily administrable schistosomicide and thus a favourable contribution to the control of urinary schistosomiasis.