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Schistosomiasis |
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Schistosomiasis
A major public health problem
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease that leads to chronic ill-health. Infection is acquired from infected freshwater containing the larval forms (cercariae) of blood flukes, known as schistosomes. The centimetre-long worms live in the veins draining the urinary tract and intestines, laying eggs that can cause massive damage.
Schistosomiasis affects at least 200 million people worldwide, and more than 700 million people live in endemic areas. The infection is prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical areas, in poor communities without potable water and adequate sanitation. Urinary schistosomiasis is caused by Schistosoma haematobium and intestinal schistosomiasis by any of the organisms S. intercalatum, S. mansoni, S. japonicum, and S. mekongi.
Several million people all over the world suffer from severe morbidity as a consequence of schistosomiasis.
The new WHO strategy on use of anthelminthic drugs now makes it possible to control schistosomiasis in poor and marginalized communities, in conjunction with interventions against lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and soil transmitted helminthiasis.
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WHO coordinated strategy
Preventive chemotherapy in human helminthiasis
This manual and its dose-poles provide health professionals and programmes managers with the latest recommendations. Ref: ISBN 92 4 154710 3
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If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at Email:wormcontrol@who.int
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LATEST NEWS
05 Nov. 2009
Elimination of schistosomiasis from low-transmission areas, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, 18-19 August 2008
20 Aug. 09 | Geneva
Report of an inter-country meeting on strategies to eliminate schistosomiasis from eastern mediterranean region, Muscat, Oman, 6-8 November 2007
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20 Aug. 09 | Geneva
Report of a PAHO/WHO preparatory meeting on epidemiological data needed to plan elimination of schistosomiasis in the Caribbean, Grenada, 13-14 December 2007, from PAHO
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Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases
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