Commentary - Archives of General Internal Medicine (2021) Volume 5, Issue 6

Schistosomiasis: A parasitic infection.

Department of Health Science, Federal University of Lafia, Lafia, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author:

Mariliyan Rohan
Department of Health Science University of Lafia Lafia Nigeria
Email: Mariliyanro@students.edu.ng

Accepted on July 19, 2021

Citation: Rohan M. S chistosomiasis: A parasitic infection. Arch Gen Intern Med 2021;5(6):5.

Description

Schistosomiasis, also called as snail fever and bilharzia, is an infection caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. The urinary tract or the digestion tracts might be infected. Signs include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stool, or blood in the urine. The individuals who have been infected for a long time may experience liver damage, kidney failure, infertility, or bladder malignancy. In child, it might cause poor growth and learning trouble.

The infection is spread by contact with fresh water contaminated with the parasites. These parasites are released from infected fresh water snails. The disease is especially common among children in developing countries, Advanced schistosomiasis has become a major public health problem in areas with a heavy burden of schistosomiasis infection. Other high-risk groups include farmers, fishermen, and people using unhygienic water during daily living. Diagnosis is by finding eggs of the parasite in an infected person urine or stool.

Strategies of preventing the infection incorporate further developing access to clean water and reducing the number of snails. In regions where the illness is common, the drug praziquantel might be allowed once every a year to the entire group. This is use to control the number of people infected, and consequently, the spread of the infection. Praziquantel is also the treatment suggested by the World Health Organization for the individuals who are known to be contaminated.

Schistosomiasis affected about 236.6 million individuals worldwide in 2019. An expected 4,400 to 200,000 people die from it each year. The sickness is most usually found in Africa, Asia, and South America. Around 700 million individuals, in more than 70 countries, live in regions where the infection is common. In tropical nations, schistosomiasis is second to malaria among parasitic infections with the best economic impact. Schistosomiasis is recorded as an ignored tropical infection.

Signs and symptoms

Many people don't experience symptoms. In case that symptoms visible, they usually require take 4–6 weeks from the time of infection. The main symptom of the disease may be a general feeling of illness. Within 12 hours of infection, an individual may suffer of a tingling reaction or light ill-advised, due to irritation at the starting. The rash that may create can copy scabies and different kinds of rashes. Different side effects can happen 2 after 10 weeks and can incorporate fever, hurting, a cough, diarrhea, chills, or gland enlargement. These side effects can also be identified with avian schistosomiasis, which doesn't create any further symptoms in people.

The symptoms of schistosomal contamination differ from the cercariae, and later grown-up worms and their eggs, move through the body. In the event that eggs move to the cerebrum or spinal line, seizures, loss of motion, or spinal-line aggravation are conceivable.

Transmission

Infected individuals discharge Schistosoma eggs into water by means of their fecal material or urine. After hatchlings incubate from these eggs, the hatchlings contaminate a quite certain kind of freshwater snail. For instance, in S. haematobium and S. intercalatum it is snails of the variety Bulinus, in S. mansoni it is Biomphalaria, and in S. japonicum it is Oncomelania. The Schistosoma hatchlings go through the following period of their lifecycles in these snails, spending their time reproducing and developing. When this process has been finished, the parasite leaves the snail and enters the water column. The parasite can live in the water for just 48 hours without a mammalian host. When a host has been discovered, the worm enters its veins. For half a month, the worm stays in the vessels, proceeding with its advancement into its grown-up stage.