Praziquantel

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: en, /ËŒpɹæzɪˈkwæntÉ›l/
• Hyphenation: en + pra + zi + quan + tel

Origin

enpyrazine. The drug was developed by the German pharmaceutical companies Bayer and Merck Group in the mid-1970s. The name is established as the drug’s , and follows the -antel suffix pattern for the general anthelmintics category of pharmaceutical products.

Full definition of praziquantel

Noun

1. An anthelmintic medication used to treat a number of types of parasitic worm infections, including clonorchiasis, cysticercosis, opisthorchiasis, schistosomiasis, and tapeworm infections. from 1970s
• 1977, R. Gönnert, Praziquantel, a New Broad-spectrum Antischistosomal Agent, Praziquantel, (2-cyclohexylcarbonyl)-1,2,3,6,7,11b-hexa-hydro-2H pyrazino2,1aisoquinolin-4-one, belongs to a new series of antischistosomal compounds. The results of a detailed study of the efficacy of praziquantel on Schistosoma mansoni in mice, Mastomys and Syrian hamsters are described.
• 1997, Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present, London: HarperCollins,

• In the case of schistosomiasis, ... the techniques of molecular biology are being used to seek vaccines, and praziquantel has transformed therapy.
• 26 May 2009, Donald Gerald McNeil Jr., Parasites: Giving a deworming drug to girls could cut H.I.V. transmission in Africa, The drug praziquantel, which costs only 32 cents per child, would prevent schistosomiasis, a worm disease that starts as a urinary tract infection but, untreated, can lead to female genital sores that make it easier for H.I.V. to enter.

Further reading