From a weighing scale to a pole: a comparison of two different dosage strategies in mass treatment of XXXX haematobium.

@entity2039 @entity1 @entity4114 @entity2040
BACKGROUND: Clinical @entity2040 in endemic countries is treated with a single dose of @entity2039 per 40 mg/kg body weight. Treating according to weight, in resource-poor settings when thousands of doses are to be administered in mass treatment campaigns, is considered problematic. A calibrated dose-pole based on height was developed and is now used in mass treatment campaigns for determining the doses for schoolchildren. The dose-pole will generate dose errors since every @entity1 population contains individuals that are either short or tall for weight. The aim of this study is to explore whether the WHO @entity2039 pole is a satisfactory dose instrument for mass treatment of @entity4114 . METHODS: In 1996 and 2002, 1,694 @entity1 were surveyed in the Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. We compared doses given by weight to doses given by height using descriptive statistics and regression. CONCLUSIONS AND INTERPRETATION: The WHO dose-pole for @entity2039 is based on height of the @entity1 ; however, @entity1 with the same height will differ in weight. Our study shows that @entity1 with the same weight could qualify for up to four different dose levels based on their height. The largest variation of doses based on the WHO dose-pole will be found in @entity1 below 20 kg of bodyweight. Using bodyweight and tablet halves as the smallest tablet division unit to determine the doses of @entity2039 , one only has to identify every 6th kilogram of bodyweight; the doses will then vary a lot less than when using the WHO dose-pole.
