Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and side effects of praziquantel (PZQ) in the treatment of schistosomiasis in Ethiopia. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, stool specimens were collected from randomly selected 299 school children in Shesha Kekele Elementary School, Wondo Genet, Southern Ethiopia, in April 2010. Stool specimens were examined using a single Kato-Katz thick smear for Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) ova. Children who were found positive for S. mansoni were treated with a single oral dose of PZQ at 40 mg/kg bw and interviewed for treatment-related symptoms 24 hours after drug administration. Four weeks post-treatment, stool specimens were collected from the same children and examined following the same procedure as in the pre-treatment. Drug efficacy was determined based on cure and egg reduction rates. Results: Pre-treatment prevalence of S. mansoni infection was 74.9% with geometric mean egg count of 268. The evaluated generic PZQ produced an overall cure rate of 73.6% (P<0.000 1, OR: 8.33, CI: 5.3-13.1) and egg reduction rate of 68.2% (P=0.03, F=0.64). The cure rate showed significant association with age (χ2=11, P=0.004), the highest rate being observed in the 15-22 age group. 83% of S. mansoni infected children showed various treatment-related symptoms, the most frequent being headache, nausea, and abdominal pain. These symptoms were associated with age (P<0.001) and pre-treatment intensity of infection (P<0.05). Conclusions: The present observations revealed relatively lower cure and egg reduction rates of the PZQ evaluated as compared to previous reports for other PZQ brands in Ethiopia. Hence, in depth studies are recommended to clarify whether the present relatively lower cure rate is the actual cure rate of the praziquantel evaluated, treatment failure, or reduced susceptibility of the parasite. Treatment-related side effects observed were transient and tolerable.

OBJECTIVETo assess the knowledge of Abaye Deneba community members regarding intestinal parasites and prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections.

METHODSKnowledge about intestinal parasites was assessed by administering a questionnaire to 345 randomly selected household heads. Parasitological stool examination of 491 randomly selected individuals was done using the formol ether concentration technique.

RESULTSKnowledge of the Abaye Deneba community about parasitic diseases such as schistosomiasis, amoebiasis, ascariasis and taeniasis was very low. However, 204 (59.3%) members correctly responded that the cause of giardiasis is related to contaminated water and 176 (51.2%) knew how to prevent it. In some cases, respondents did correctly identify causes, symptoms of intestinal parasite infection and ways to prevent it, but they did not accurately link it to the appropriate disease caused by the different intestinal parasite species. Among the 491 stool samples examined, 50.2% of study participants showed infection with at least one intestinal parasite. Schistosoma mansoni was the most prevalent (41.3%) followed by Trichuris trichiura(9.4%), Ascaris lumbricoides (8.4%), Taenia saginata (2.4%), Enterobius vermicularis (2.0%) and hookworm (0.4%). Prevalence of schistosomiasis was highest in men aged 15-24 years.

CONCLUSIONSIntestinal parasitic infection is highly prevalent in communities of the Abaye Deneba area. Nevertheless, the knowledge of the community members about the parasite is less. Implementation of preventive chemotherapy, supplemented with health education, provision and use of sanitary facilities would be recommended to reduce morbidity and control transmission of intestinal parasites in this area.