Treatment of schistosomiasis mansoni with hycanthone in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in St. Lucia

G6PD deficiency was detected in 63 (14·8%) of 427 male children on St. Lucia screened for this condition. 8 G6PD-deficient and 6 non-deficient children, all infected with S. mansoni, were given a single intramuscular dose (3 mg./kg. body weight) of hycanthone, a drug structurally similar to others that cause haemolysis in persons with G6PD deficiency. Serial haematocrit and reticulocyte counts showed no evidence of haemolysis in either group.