Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - May 26, 2009
Donald G. Mcneil Jr.
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. Once lesions appear, the drug can kill the worms but not cure the sores, so girls must be protected before they reach sexual maturity.
The study, by researchers from the Sabin Vaccine Institute, Imperial College London and Oslo University Hospital, appears in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
There are 207 million cases of schistosomiasis in the world, 90 percent of them in Africa. In Africa, humans typically get it from wading into snail-infested water to swim or wash clothes. The worms leave the snails and burrow into the skin; the first symptom is bloody urine.
The success of a pilot program in Burkina Faso suggested that all the 70 million toddlers and school-age children who are infected in Africa could be treated for $22 million; repeating that every two years for a decade would cost $112 million.
"For this relatively small investment, the reproductive health of young women would be improved," the authors wrote, "and there is a reasonable chance that H.I.V./AIDS transmission can be reduced."
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