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Schistosomiasis is an important parasitic disease in Kenya. Decreasing susceptibility of schistosomes to praziquantel, the major drug used to reduce disease morbidity, has made assessment of new antischistosomal drugs a priority. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of an artesunate-based combination drug in the treatment of schistosomiasis.

In this open-label randomised trial in Rarieda district of western Kenya, we enrolled school children (aged 6–15 years) who had Schistosoma mansoni infection according to duplicate Kato-Katz thick smears from a stool sample. Computer-generated block randomisation was used to assign children (1:1) to receive artesunate (100 mg) with sulfalene (also known as sulfamethoxypyrazine; 250 mg) plus pyrimethamine (12·5 mg) as one dose every 24 h for 3 days or one dose of praziquantel (40 mg/kg per day). The primary efficacy endpoint was the …