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Praziquantel (PZQ) is a drug of choice for treating schistosomiasis mansoni. Praziquantel was effectively used to treat schistosomiasis, but there are reports that indicate the appearance of Praziquantel resistance. The objective of this study was to determine the rate of S. mansoni infection before and after single treatment, thus to measure the efficacy of Praziquantel in treating Schistosoma mansoni infected individuals in the study area. The study utilized microscopic examination of two Kato-Katz slides for each individual sample before and after treatment. The cure rate of S. mansoni infection by Praziquantel in the two study areas remains high and with no significant difference. In Timuga cure rate was 93.44% and in Waja 88.99% (χ 2 = 3.644 and P= 0.16). Efficacy of Praziquantel in treating infections due to S. mansoni is still high and there is no evidence for resistance S. mansoni against Praziquantel in Tumuga and Waja.

Magnitude and severity of iron deficiency was evaluated in 413 randomly selected adolescent school girls (10–15 y) from Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Mean (sd) hematocrit (hct) and ferritin levels were 42.9 (3.3) % and 48.4 (25.1) μg/L, respectively. Stunting was common (23.5%) and 27.1% were thin (−2Z) on the basis of BMI. Serum transferrin receptors (sTfR) for the 148 girls with lowest ferritins ranged from 4.5 to 20.5 with mean levels of 8.2 (2.6) mg/L. Mean and median (25th, 75th) for hsCRP were 0.99 (2.4) and 0.4 (0.2, 0.8) mg/L, respectively. The prevalence of anemia in the girls was 7.1% after adjusting hct for elevation (1500–2646 m). Fifty seven (16.2%) of the girls were iron depleted (ferritin < 15μg/L) and 13.7% had low iron stores (ferritin 15–30 μg/L) suggesting that iron deficiency was prevalent in this population. Anthropometric indicators including HAZ (r = 0.16) and MUAC (r = 0.16) correlated (p<0.004) with hct. Girls involved in fire wood collection and agricultural activities had significantly lower hct. The most common parasites were E. histolytica (19.9%) and H. nana (8.6%). However, parasites commonly associated with anemia including hookworm (1.8%), S. mansoni (0.6%) and malaria (0.6%) were rare. Anemia was a public health problem in the adolescents and 30% of the girls were at risk of iron deficiency (ferritin < 30 μg/L). Multifactorial causes of anemia in the adolescent girls needs further investigation. (Supported by: NORAD II, Mekelle Univ, Ethiopia & Oklahoma State Univ, USA).

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