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.人体血吸虫病（schistosomiasis）是一类由血吸虫引发的寄生虫病，该病原体可侵染肝脏、肠道、膀胱及尿道等多个人体器官。此类寄生虫的生命周期需要两类宿主：螺类与哺乳类动物。目前已知有5种血吸虫可感染人类，其中最为常见的3种分别为埃及血吸虫（S. haematobium）、日本血吸虫（S. japonicum）以及曼氏血吸虫（S. mansoni）。人体血吸虫病的检测手段包括加藤厚涂片法（Kato-Katz）与聚合酶链式反应（PCR）。吡喹酮（Praziquantel）是目前治疗该疾病的唯一有效药物。未来或可通过疫苗接种或基因疗法开展治疗。针对血吸虫病治疗的基因疗法研究，正日益受到研究者们的广泛关注。