Effectiveness of school-based preventive chemotherapy strategies for sustaining the control of schistosomiasis in Côte d'Ivoire: Results of a 5-year cluster randomized trial.

The three treatment schedules investigated led to a reduction in the prevalence and intensity of S. mansoni infection among children aged 9-12 years. Comparing intervention arms at the end of the study, no statistically significant differences were observed between annual treatement and the other two treatment schedules, neither in reduction of prevalence nor intensity of infection. It is important to combine our results with those of three sister trials conducted simultaneously in other African countries, before final recommendations can be drawn.