Morbidity of schistosomiasis in Brazil. IV--Course in treated patients and their controls

Abstract

A comparative study on the evolutive morbidity of schistosomiasis mansoni in treated and non-treated patients in an endemic area was carried-out with evaluation of the treatment after one and six years. In the first year after treatment there was both an improvement in the clinical conditions and a dramatic reduction in the number of S. mansoni eggs eliminated by the treated patients in relation to the controls. However, after six years of observations, although the number of S. mansoni eggs eliminated by the treated patients was still less than in the control group, it was nearly the same number as before treatment. In both treated and non-treated groups there was an increase in the severity of the clinical forms of schistosomiasis, with a certain tendency of greater severity in the control group. Therefore the authors recommend that the specific treatment of the population in endemic area should be done at intervals of two to three years, and that the treatment should be associated to the environmental sanitation, water supply and the education of the population.