Schistosomiasis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Schistosomiasis
Synonyms	Bilharzia, snail fever, Katayama fever
11-year-old boy with abdominal fluid and portal hypertension due to schistosomiasis (Agusan del Sur, Philippines)
Symptoms	Abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stool, blood in the urine
Complications	Liver damage, kidney failure, infertility, bladder cancer
Causes	Schistosomes from freshwater snails
Diagnostic method	Finding eggs of the parasite in urine or stool, antibodies in blood
Prevention	Access to clean water
Medication	Praziquantel
Frequency	252 million (2015)
Deaths	4,400–200,000

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by Schistosoma species. Schistotoma are flukes, a kind of Trematode. It was previously called Bilharzia. Its intermediate host is freshwater snails.

Images for kids

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  Skin blisters on the forearm, created by the entrance of Schistosoma parasites

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  Calcification of the bladder wall caused by deposition of calcium around the Schistosoma eggs on a plain X-ray image of the pelvis, in a 44-year-old sub-Saharan man, due to urinary schistosomiasis

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  Life cycle of Schistosoma spp.

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  Lifecycle stages of a typical trematode, Schistosoma japonicum.

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  High-powered detailed micrograph of Schistosoma parasite eggs in human bladder tissue

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  "Schistosomes are here. People and livestock are strictly prohibited from entering the water!", a warning painted on a Yangtze levee in Honghu, Hubei, China

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  Ethiopian children treated for Schistosoma mansoni

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  Geographic representation of Schistosomiasis endemic countries and their preventive chemotherapy requirement status in the year of 2020 from the World Health Organization.

See also

In Spanish: Esquistosomiasis para niños