[Therapeutic and economic aspects of dracunculosis in a Parisian hospital].

We studied 18 cases of dracunculosis treated in our department of Internal Medicine in Paris. The mean duration of the hospital stay is 38 days (15 to 90). The cost of this stay, calculated on the basis of the daily charge, accounts for 93.3 % of the total cost. The longest stays are due to serious subcutaneous infections at the site of the worm and to multiple or complex associated diseases. Average charge for laboratory test, roentgenograms or other investigations amounts to 4.4 % of the cost of the hospital stay. A significant part of these investigations is warranted by cellulitis and the diagnosis of associated conditions. Antibodies prescribed for subcutaneous infections account for almost all of the drug expense (2.3 % of the total cost). Thus, investigations and treatment together amount to only 6.7 % of the daily charge. Traditional treatment of dracunculosis is based on manual extraction of the worm. Thiabendazole was added in 12 of the 18 patients. The average duration of hospitalization (34 days) and average charge for investigations and drug treatment (FF 611) were less in these 12 patients than in the 6 others (47 days, FF 1286). However, this result is to be considered with caution as the number of patients in each group is small, treatments were assigned without any statistical rule, subcutaneous infections were more or less serious and associated diseases may have had a bearing on results.