Schistosoma

A genus of trematodes, Schistosoma, commonly known as blood-flukes, are parasitic flatworms which are responsible for a highly significant group of infections in humans termed schistosomiasis. Schistosomiasis is considered by the World Health Organization as the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease, (after malaria), with hundreds of millions infected worldwide. Adult flatworms parasitize mesenteric blood vessels. They are unique among trematodes and any other flatworms in that they are dioecious with distinct sexual dimorphism between male and female. Thousands of eggs are released and reach either the bladder or the intestine (according to the infecting species), and these are then excreted in urine or feces to fresh water. Larvae must then pass through an intermediate snail host, before the next larval stage of the parasite emerges that can infect a new mammalian host by directly penetrating the skin.

eggs
The eggs of these parasites were first seen by Theodor Maximilian Bilharz, a German pathologist working in Egypt in 1851 who found the eggs ofSchistosoma haematobium during the course of a post mortem.

Schistosoma japonicum

Schistosoma haematobium

Schistosoma mansoni

Schistosoma mekongi

Schistosoma intercalatum

Schistosomiasis
The parasitic flatworms of Schistosoma cause a group of chronic infections called schistosomiasis known also as bilharziasis

Species infecting humans

Human Schistosomes
Schistosoma guineensis Bulinus forskalii

West Africa

Schistosoma intercalatum Schistosoma haematobium Schistosoma japonicum Schistosoma malayensis Schistosoma mansoni

Bulinus spp Bulinus spp. Oncomelania spp. Not known Biomphalaria spp.

Africa Africa, Middle East China, East Asia, Philippines South East Asia Africa, South America, Caribbean, Middle East South East Asia

Schistosoma mekongi .Scientific Name

Neotricula aperta First Intermediate Host

Endemic Area

Morphology
Adult schistosomes share all the fundamental features of the digenea. They have a basic bilateral symmetry, oral and ventral suckers, a body covering of a syncytial tegument, a blindendingdigestive system consisting of mouth, oesophagus and bifurcated caeca; the area between the tegument and alimentary canal filled with a loose network of mesoderm cells, and an excretory or osmoregulatory system based on flame cells. Adult worms tend to be 1020 mm (0.40.8 in) long and use globins from their hosts' hemoglobin for their own circulatory system.

Reproduction[edit]
Unlike other trematodes, the schistosomes are dioecious i.e., the sexes are separate. The two sexes display a strong degree of sexual dimorphism, and the male is considerably larger than the female. The male surrounds the female and encloses her within his gynacophoric canal for the entire adult lives of the worms, where they reproduce sexually.

Genome[edit]
The genomes of Schistosoma haematobium, S. japonicum and S. mansoni have been reported.