Praziquantel

Treatment for the parasitic illness schistosomiasis is more effective if children have a snack before receiving the drug praziquantel.

The study in Zanzibar, part of Tanzania, involved a three-drug regimen of ivermectin, albendazole and praziquantel. The drugs are active against worms that cause elephantiasis and schistosomiasis and soil-worms or helminths.

Praziquantel, (2-cyclohexylcarbonyl)-1,2,3,6,7,11b-hexa-hydro-2H pyrazino[2,1a]isoquinolin-4-one, belongs to a new series of antischistosomal compounds. The results of a detailed study of the efficacy of praziquantel on Schistosoma mansoni in mice, Mastomys and Syrian hamsters are described.

In the case of schistosomiasis, […] the techniques of molecular biology are being used to seek vaccines, and praziquantel has transformed therapy.

The drug praziquantel, which costs only 32 cents per child, would prevent schistosomiasis, a worm disease that starts as a urinary tract infection but, untreated, can lead to female genital sores that make it easier for H.I.V. to enter.