Schistosomiasis is ranked second behind malaria, among human parasitic diseases in terms of public health and socioeconomic importance in subtropical and tropical areas (1)
WHO estimates that 200 million are infected worldwide - of these 20 million suffer severe consequences of infection and 120 million are asymptomatic (1)
In endemic areas
Children are especially vulnerable since they tend to spend time swimming or bathing in water containing infectious cercariae.
Disease-related mortality is low globally, around 200,000 (0.1% of infected patients) per year.
The 2 main forms, parasite species and geographical distribution of Schistosomiasis are as follows (1):
species | geographical distribution |
Schistosoma mansoni | Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname |
Schistosoma japonicum | China, Indonesia, the Philippines |
Schistosoma mekongi | several districts of Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic |
Schistosoma guineensis and related S. intercalatum | rain forest areas of central Africa |
species | geographical distribution |
Schistosoma haematobium | Africa, the Middle East, Corsica (France) |
Reference:
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