LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON PRAZIQUANTEL
The European Commission set up in 1997 a Concerted Action entitled
"Patterns of praziquantel usage and monitoring of possible resistance in
Africa". The objective of this 3-years initiative is to establish a network
of scientists, field workers and health administrators dealing with the
treatment of schistosomiasis, with the aim to examine in a global
perspective various issues related to praziquantel usage, among which: drug
costs and distribution, administration dosage and schedules, side-effects,
appearance of drug resistance (with possible initiatives for the collection
and study of suspected specimens), basic biology of drug action, policies
of drug management in case of resistance.
The first meeting was held in Rome in January 1998 (see
Parasitology Today 14: 390, 1998) and a second meeting is planned for
February 1999 in Morocco. The experiences of scientists and health workers
from various endemic and nonendemic countries (Egypt, Morocco, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, South Africa; Italy, England,
Belgium) and international organizations (WHO, EU) are presently being
shared. Additional contributions of information and experience would be
highly welcome from anyone involved with praziquantel at any level:
laboratory/research, field/clinical, health administration, drug
production. Participation to the meetings is obviously limited by practical
constraints, but some enlargement of the present group can be considered
for individuals that might give particularly valuable contributions. As one
of the major concerns of the group is the possible appearance of resistance
to praziquantel, any information on this issue would be particularly
valuable, especially if coming from endemic countries that are not yet
represented in the group.
Please address any comments, queries, contributions to the group
coordinator: Donato Cioli, Institute of Cell Biology, 43 Viale Marx, 00137
Rome, Italy; fax +3906 8273287; e-mail: dcioli at ibc.rm.cnr.it.
Additional information on the Concerted Action on praziquantel can
be obtained from the SHARED site at: http://www.shared.de.
Donato Cioli
mail: Institute of Cell Biology, 43 Viale Marx, 00137 Rome, Italy
phone: +39 06 8609 0340
fax: +39 06 827 3287
e-mail: dcioli at ibc.rm.cnr.it
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