Urinary Schistosomiasis Treated with Sodium Antimony Tartrate--a Quantitative Evaluation

Abstract
Seventeen Egyptian male farm-workers aged 8 to 27 years infected with Schistosoma haematobium were given twice-weekly intravenous injections of sodium antimony tartrate in a dose of 0.5 g. (30 mg.) per 15 kg. body weight for 12 injections. Bell's egg-count technique was used to evaluate results on 24-hour urine collections before and at 1, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after treatment. Patients were considered to be cured only when there were no eggs in the urine when examined by the filtration-staining, miracidial-hatching, and 24-hour urinesediment examination methods. At the final follow-up 14 out of 17 patients were found not to be passing eggs in the urine—an 82% cure rate. The mean reduction in egg output in the remaining three patients was 99%. These results are superior to any reported for other antimony drugs.