Schistosomiasis: sanitation plus free drug supplies bring hope of elimination

ATLANTA—Schistosomiasis — also known as bilharzia — could be eliminated from Africa and elsewhere by using two actions together: making simple improvements in sanitation and hygiene and treating infected children with free praziquantel recently made available by the manufacturers. At the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene annual conference Alan Fenwick, Professor of Tropical Parasitology at Imperial College in London, explained why he thinks success against this parasitic disease can be achieved with this combined approach.