Urological complications of endemic schistosomiasis in schoolchildren

Abstract
All 234 schoolchildren who were infected with S. haematobium when examined in June 1964 were alive and apparently well in December 1966. In the interval, infected children were given monthly intramuscular injections of stibocaptate. At the end of 1966, 162 of the 234 children were still at school, and 149 of them were admitted to hospital for examination. 60 (40·3%) were voiding viable eggs of S. haematobium in the urine, but the numbers of eggs were very much reduced when compared with 1964. Radiologically the amount of urological lesions in the children was about the same in 1966 as in 1964. The urological state of some children had improved between examinations, in others it was little changed or had deteriorated. Urological changes could not be related to parasitological cure. Several patients showed apparent resolution of ureteric deformity and hydronephrosis, but there was no reversal of bladder calcification. For the child with urological complications of urinary schistosomiasis who lives in an area where infection is endemic, the outlook is not as grave as was once thought.
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