@article{29795,
  keywords = {Africa, School-aged children, Treatment, schistosomiasis, Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)},
  author = {Mduluza T and Mutapi F},
  title = {Putting the treatment of paediatric schistosomiasis into context.},
  abstract = {<p>Despite increased international efforts to control schistosomiasis using preventive chemotherapy, several challenges still exist in reaching the target populations. Until recently, preschool-aged children had been excluded from the recommended target population for mass drug administration, i.e. primary school children aged 6-15 years. Our studies and those of others provided the evidence base for the need to treat preschool-aged children that led to recommendations by the World Health Organization to include preschool-aged children in treatment programmes in 2010. The major challenge now lies in the unavailability of a child-size formulation of the appropriate anthelmintic drug, praziquantel.The currently available formulation of praziquantel presents several problems. First, it is a large tablet, making it difficult for young children and infants to swallow it and thus requires its breaking/crushing to allow for safe uptake. Second, it is bitter so it is often mixed with a sweetener to make it palatable for young children. Third, the current formulation of 600&nbsp;mg does not allow for flexible dose adjustments for this age group. Thus, there is a need to formulate a child-appropriate praziquantel tablet.This paper discusses the target product profile for paediatric praziquantel, as well as knowledge gaps pertinent to the successful control of schistosome infection and disease in preschool-aged children.</p>
},
  year = {2017},
  journal = {Infectious diseases of poverty},
  volume = {6},
  pages = {85},
  issn = {2049-9957},
  url = {https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40249-017-0300-8},
  doi = {10.1186/s40249-017-0300-8},
  language = {eng},
}