***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: A field trial was conducted in the Gezira , Sudan , to evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of praziquantel , a new schistosomicide . In one Arab village 350 patients with Schistosoma mansoni were r and omly assigned to two treatment groups and given 1 X 40 mg kg-1 ( Group A ) or 2 X 20 mg kg-1 given four to six hours apart ( Group B ) . In two small settlements ( camps ) 2 km distant from the Arab village 38 patients with S. mansoni and 43 with concurrent S. mansoni and S. haematobium infections were given 1 X 40 mg kg-1 . Side effects were mild and limited to the first 24 hours after treatment . The main complaints were abdominal pain , diarrhoea , urticaria and /or vomiting and were most common in the camp residents ( 79 % ) with 60 % of Group A and 45 % of Group B having one or more side effects . One month after treatment ' cure ' rates were : Camps 63 % , Group A 84 % and Group B 96 % , and the reduction in egg output was over 95 % . After 12 months re-infection was greater in the camps . As there was no significant difference in the egg output reduction between the two treatment regimes , praziquantel is recommended for mass chemotherapy in Gezira at the logistically simpler regimen of 1 X 40 mg kg-1 The shortage of available information on the impact of low doses of praziquantel was remedied by a trial of 0 , 10 , 20 , 30 and 40 mg kg-1 against double infections of Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni in a rural area of Zimbabwe . No significant differences were found in egg reduction between 20 - 40 mg kg-1 for S. haematobium and between 30 - 40 mg kg-1 for S. mansoni . It is suggested that morbidity control can be achieved with lower dosages of praziquantel than currently recommended Uma pesquisa clinica compreendendo 80 pacientes de ambos os sexos , de 15 a 55 anos de idade , portadores de esquistossomose mansonica cronica , formas intestinal ou hepatintestinal , foi efetivada para avaliar a eficacia do praziquantel em diferentes esquemas posologicos . Os pacientes foram distribuidos aleatoriamente em quatro grupos , com igual numero de casos , sendo tratados com uma das seguintes dosagens : 60 mg/kg em um dia , 60 mg/kg diarios por dois dias , 60 mg/kg diarios por tres dias e 30 mg/kg diarios por seis dias . A avaliacao da cura parasitologica baseou-se na tecnica do oograma quantitativo mediante biopsias da mucosa retal , realizadas antes , bem como um , dois , quatro e seis meses apos o tratamento . Concomitantemente , efetuaram se exames de fezes segundo os metodos qualitativo de Hoffman , Pons & Janer e quantitativo de Kato-Katz . A melhor tolerabilidade foi verificada com 30 mg/kg diarios durante seis dias , enquanto a maior incidencia de efeitos colaterais , em especial tontura e nausea , ocorreu com 60 mg/kg diarios durante tres dias . Nenhuma reacao adversa grave foi observada com o medicamento . Alcancaram se os seguintes indices de cura : 25 % com 60 mg/kg em um dia ; 60 % com 60 mg/kg diarios por dois dias ; 89,5 % com 60 mg/kg diarios por tres dias e 90 % com 30 mg/kg diarios por seis dias . Paralelamente houve uma queda de , respectivamente , 64 % , 73 % , 87 % e84 % no numero mediano de ovos viaveis de S. mansoni por grama de tecido . Assim , constatou se uma correlacao direta entre dose e efeito . Os correspondentes indices de cura , segundo os exames de fezes , foram 39 % , 80 % , 100 % e 95 % com o metodo de Hoffman , Pons & Janer e com o de Kato-Katz 89 % , 100 % , 100 % e 100 % . A discrepância encontrada nos result ados entre os tres metodos parasitologicos decorre da desigualdade na precisao dos mesmos . Qu and o o numero de ovos viaveis por grama de tecido caiu abaixo de 5000 , a diferenca no percentual de achados falso-negativos entre Hoffmann , Pons & Janer ( 28 % ) e Kato-Katz ( 80 % ) tornou-se significativa . Qu and o esse numero baixou para menos de 2000 , a percentagem de result ados falso-negativos encontrada com Hoffman , Pons & Janer ( 49 % ) tambem passou a ser significativa em relacao ao oograma . Em conclusao , ficou provado que o praziquantel e altamente eficaz na infeccao pelo S. mansoni . Administrado na dose total de 180 mg/kg , dividida em tres ou seis dias , o praziquantel proporcionou 90 % de cura . Provavelmente , poderia atingir 100 % se a dose total fosse aumentada para 240 mg/kg . Ademais , confirmou-se que o oograma quantitativo consiste no metodo mais fidedigno para avaliar a eficacia terapeutica de novas drogas na esquistossomose mansonica The efficacy of the antischistosomal drugs praziquantel and oxamniquine was tested on four groups of Ethiopian sugar estate workers . The cure rates , determined by the absence of eggs in stools , were 96 , 93 and 74 % at one , three and six months post-treatment for patients receiving a single dose ( 40 mg kg-1 body weight ) of praziquantel , and 82 , 78 and 78 % for patients on a single dose ( 15 mg kg-1 body weight ) of oxamniquine . When split doses of these drugs were used , praziquantel achieved cure rates of 96 , 95 and 89 % , while the corresponding cure rates for oxamniquine were 98 , 96 and 88 % at one , three and six months post-treatment . In general , there were no statistically significant differences within the single and split doses of each drug , nor between the two drugs except that single doses of praziquantel had significantly higher cure rates than oxamniquine at one and three months post-treatment . Although both drugs produced mild and transient side-effects such as dizziness , abdominal discomfort and diarrhoea , serious side-effects such as seizures were seen only among patients on oxamniquine . As praziquantel is also effective against other forms of schistosomiasis as well as against cestodes , we recommended the use of this drug in mass chemotherapy and in the ambulatory treatment of schistosomiasis in Ethiopia Brazilian schoolchildren with mild- to moderate-intensity schistosome infections ( < 400 Schistosoma mansoni eggs/g stool ) were r and omly allocated to a treatment ( oxamniquine ) or placebo group in a double-blind fashion . Anthropometric measurements were made at baseline , 6 mo , and 1 y for 353 students . At baseline , the groups were not significantly different with respect to nutritional status or selected socioeconomic and biological characteristics , including anthropometric measures . One year later , significant differences were noted only in the nutritional status of boys treated for schistosome infection . Treated boys had greater measurements for weight , triceps skinfold thickness , midarm circumference , arm muscle area , and body mass index than untreated boys . They also showed significant increases over the year in weight , height , midarm circumference , and body mass index . The rates of improvement in weight and height were more accelerated in the first 6 mo after therapy than the last . These results indicate that , at least in boys , chronic S. mansoni infection at any intensity is detrimental to short-term growth and development BACKGROUND Praziquantel treatment of schistosomiasis boosts antischistosome responses , with type 2 helper T cell bias that may contribute to immunologically mediated killing and to protection against reinfection . Praziquantel treatment during pregnancy was recommended in 2002 , but the immunological effects of the treatment had not been investigated . METHODS A cohort of 387 Schistosoma mansoni-infected women were recruited from a larger trial of deworming during pregnancy . Women were r and omized to receive either praziquantel or placebo during pregnancy . Six weeks after delivery , all women received praziquantel .  Cytokine responses to S. mansoni worm and egg antigens were measured in whole blood culture before and 6 weeks after each treatment . RESULTS Schistosome-specific cytokine responses were suppressed during pregnancy . Praziquantel treatment during pregnancy caused significant boosts in interferon-gamma ( IFN-gamma ) , interleukin (IL)-2 , IL-4 , IL-5 , IL-13 , and IL-10 responses to schistosome worm antigen and in IFN-gamma , IL-5 , and IL-13 responses to schistosome egg antigen , but these boosts were not as substantial as those seen for women treated after delivery . CONCLUSION Pregnancy suppresses a potentially beneficial boost in cytokine responses associated with praziquantel treatment . Further studies are needed on the long-term effects that treatment of schistosomiasis during pregnancy have on morbidity and resistance to reinfection among treated women and their offspring BACKGROUND Schistosomiasis is an important parasitic disease in Kenya . Decreasing susceptibility of schistosomes to praziquantel , the major drug used to reduce disease morbidity , has made assessment of new antischistosomal drugs a priority . We aim ed to assess the safety and efficacy of an artesunate-based combination drug in the treatment of schistosomiasis . METHODS In this open-label r and omised trial in Rarieda district of western Kenya , we enrolled school children ( aged 6 - 15 years ) who had Schistosoma mansoni infection according to duplicate Kato-Katz thick smears from a stool sample . Computer-generated block r and omisation was used to assign children ( 1:1 ) to receive artesunate ( 100 mg ) with sulfalene ( also known as sulfamethoxypyrazine ; 250 mg ) plus pyrimethamine ( 12.5 mg ) as one dose every 24 h for 3 days or one dose of praziquantel ( 40 mg/kg per day ) . The primary efficacy endpoint was the number of participants cured 28 days after treatment . Analysis was by intention to treat . This trial is registered with Clinical Trials.gov , number NCT01054651 . RESULTS Between October and December , 2009 , 212 children were enrolled and assigned to receive artesunate with sulfalene plus pyrimethamine ( n=106 ) or praziquantel ( n=106 ) . 69 patients ( 65 % ) were cured in the praziquantel treatment group compared with 15 ( 14 % ) in the artesunate with sulfalene plus pyrimethamine treatment group ( p<0.0001 ) . Adverse events were less common in patients taking artesunate with sulfalene plus pyrimethamine than in those taking praziquantel ( 22 % [ n=23 ] vs 49 % [ n=52 ] , p<0.0001 ) , and no drug-related serious adverse events occurred . INTERPRETATION The st and ard treatment with praziquantel is more effective than artesunate with sulfalene plus pyrimethamine in the treatment of children with S mansoni infection in western Kenya . Whether artemisinin-based combination therapy has a role in the treatment of schistosomiasis is unclear A total of 54 adult patients with chronic intestinal or hepato-intestinal schistosomiasis mansoni were included into a double-blind clinical trial to compare praziquantel and oxamniquine . Following a r and omized allocation , 27 patients received praziquantel — 65 mg/kg bwt — and 27 oxamniquine — 18 mg/kg bwt — in a single oral dose divided into two intakes . The incidence , severity and duration of side-effects were similar for the two drugs . The assessment of therapeutical efficacy was based on the quantitative oogram technique via biopsy of the rectal mucosa , performed at the end of 1 , 2 , 4 and 6 months after treatment . At these same occasions , stool examinations according to Hoffman , Pons & Janer ( HPJ ) and Kato-Katz ( K-K ) methods were undertaken to confront their results with the oogram findings . In order to evaluate the immediate effect of the therapy upon the egg laying activity of the parasite , a limited number of patients was su bmi tted to rectal biopsies on the 6th . and 18th . days subsequent to the drug administration . Both drugs proved to be active anti-schistosomal agents as their coefficients of variation , determined from the oograms made immediatly following the treatment , were above 60 % . Furthermore , out of 27 patients in each group , 24 treated with praziquantel and 22 with oxamniquine have completed the required six months parasitological follow up period . The respective cure rates in accord 
    Output:
    
Praziquantel 40 mg/kg as the st and ard treatment for S. mansoni infection is consistent with the evidence .
Oxamniquine , a largely discarded alternative , also appears effective .