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Home :: Family Health :: Schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis - Schistosomiasis symptom, treatment, causesSchistosomiasis is a parasitic disease (also called bilharziasis) caused by flukes (flatworms) of the genus schistosoma. The parasites spend the larval stage of their life in freshwater snails, where they develop into free swimming intermediate, forms called cercariae that are released into, water and can burrow into the skin (or membranes lining the mouth, anus or vagina) of humans or other animals who drink, bathe or swim in polluted water. After penetrating the body the cercariae migrate to the liver, where they mature in 1 to 3 months before moving through the bloodstream to the bladder or in-testines to lay their eggs. The eggs leave the body in the faeces or urine to contaminate water, where they hatch into larvae that infest snails to start the cycle again. Schistosomiasis is endemic in many hot parts of the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and central and South, America. Australian travellers in these regions are sometimes infected. Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia (bill-HAR-zi-a), is a disease caused by parasitic worms. It is the major health risk in the rural areas of Central China and Egypt and continues to rank high in other developing countries. In the form of 'acute' schistosomiasis, it is sometimes referred to as snail fever and cutaneous schistosomiasis may sometimes be commonly called swimmer's itch . In certain African communities the process of overcoming schistosomiasis is an important rite of passage. Although it has a low mortality rate , schistosomiasis can be very debilitating. ( Bilharzia , or bilharziosis , is the eponym for schistosomiasis in many countries, after Theodor Bilharz , who first described the cause of urinary schistosomiasis in 1851.) Schistosomiasis affects over 200 million people in tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Africa, and Asia. The long-lived adult worms inhabit the hepatic portal vasculature or vesical veins of the bladder , and the eggs laid by the females in the tissues are the cause of pathology, the severity of which is related to worm burden and intensity of the host response. The most recent estimates suggest mortality rates directly attributable to schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa at 280,000 per year, with millions of people showing clinical symptoms. Schistosomiasis thus remains an important public health problem. Symptoms of SchistosomiasisSymptoms are variable, depending on the extent of infestation and whether the adult flukes lodge in the bladder or intestines. Initially an itchy rash develops where the cercariae enter the skin, Weeks later fever, hives and liver enlargement and tenderness may develop as the parasites mature. In the bladder and intestines, a sensitivity reaction to the eggs leads to CYSTITIS (bladder inflammation) or diarrhoea. Without treatment, CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER may develop. Some common Symptoms of Schistosomiasis :
Treatment of SchistosomiasisSchistosomiasis is confirmed by finding eggs in faeces, urine or biopsies. Treatment is by means of anthelmintic drugs. Prevention is by snail control hygienic sewage disposal, and avoiding water that may be polluted.
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