Prevention and improved management of serious neurological adverse events during praziquantel-based mass drug administration in a Taenia solium endemic area: Experiences from Madagascar

Abstract

Mass drug administration (MDA) programs involving praziquantel are used in public health programs to control diseases such as schistosomiasis, taeniasis caused by Taenia solium, opisthorchiasis and clonorchiasis. Praziquantel is a systemically dis-tributed anthelmintic drug also used to treat neurocysticercosis (NCC) caused by the larval stages of T. solium in the central nervous system. The doses of praziquantel used in MDA are low compared to those used for the treatment of NCC, but in people with latent NCC (without symptoms or signs), there is a potential risk of neurological adverse events (AE) due to the development of inflammation around the cysts following administration. In Madagasc..