Schistosomiasis: Life Cycle, Diagnosis, and Controle

Human schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by blood-worms that infect multiple organs, including the liver, intestine, bladder, and urethra. The life cycle of these parasites involves two hosts: snails and mammals. Five species can infect humans. The three most common are S. haematobium, S. japonicum, and S. mansoni. Detection tools for people with schistosomiasis can include Kato-Katz and PCR. Praziquantel is at present the only effective treatment of this disease. In the future, vaccination or gene therapy may be used. Gene therapy research has attracted increasing interest researchers for treatment of schistosomiasis.