[Comparison of the efficacy and safety of praziquantel administered in single dose of 40 versus 60 mg/kg for treating urinary schistosomiasis in Mauritania].

During the last twenty years, praziquantel (PZQ) was the drug of choice for the treatment of schistosomiasis in the majority of national programs. However, a lower rate of cure had been significantly noted on the left bank of the Senegal River. To explain this unusual rate of cure, the assumption of a possible resistance to the drug as well as under-dosing was considered. With an aim of testing this hypothesis of underdosing, we compared the amount of a single dose of 60 mg/kg of PZQ versus the standardized dose of 40 mg/kg used in curing urinary schistosomiasis in Mauritania. One hundred and fifty-one children aged from 10 to 19 years, including 77 in the group of 60 mg/kg and 74 in the group of 40 mg/ kg, were included in the study. The rates of cure were respectively 64.8% for 60 mg/kg and 67.5% for 40 mg/kg three weeks after the administration of the treatment without statistically significant difference. For the majority of the patients, the drug was well tolerated and no serious adverse events were noted; however, clinical signs in the form of abdominal pain associated or not with diarrhea and vomiting were noted. Praziquantel remains an effective and well-tolerated drug: the amount of 40 mg/kg of body weight can still be maintained for the treatment of schistosomiasis in Mauritania.