Current efforts to limit the ravages of schistosomiasis are pushing the world closer to eliminating a chronic infection that has been associated with human life in the tropics since time immemorial. This notwithstanding, the disease remains a scourge for large populations in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, and the main part of this book is made up by papers dealing with its current distribution, discussing ways and means to establish and implement improved control approaches. While chemotherapy limits the symptoms caused by schistosomiasis, the number of infected people will not decrease until the parasite's life cycle is interrupted. To that end, some papers focus on the intermediate snail host, which is notoriously difficult to control, while others discuss human hygiene and sanitation. The latter approach not only prevents infection through avoiding people being infected from the snail, but more importantly, also stops people infecting the snail by leaving contagious feces and urine in nature. With morbidity reduced by chemotherapy, the immediate target now is the interruption of transmission to be achieved by new tools, such as the novel chemotherapies, improved diagnostics (for humans, animals, and snails), and vaccines discussed in several of the papers. As made clear in this book, a complex infection requires new tools as well as work on many fronts, above all; however, a clear idea is needed as to how to skillfully combine the tools available and sustain implemented control activities.

Human schistosomes (blood flukes) are digenetic trematodes that spend the adult part of their life cycle in humans and a further part in aquatic snails. Despite advances in chemotherapy, schistosomiasis is still a significant infection in the populations of several countries in the tropics. This book replaces a previous volume Schistosomiasis: Epidemiology, Treatment and Control (Heinemann, 1982) by Jordan and Webbe. All chapters have been rewritten by internationally renowned workers. Ultrasound, expected to aid identification of early disease in the field and increase our understanding of its evolution, is discussed in a new chapter. Others, each with an extensive bibliography, review the parasites and their snail intermediate hosts, epidemiology, clinical manifestations and pathology, diagnosis, immunology, drugs and patient management and control. Limitations of the role of chemotherapy in morbidity control are discussed and the need for flexibility in control interventions in the varied epidemiological situations is stressed. An interdisciplinary approach may be necessary to reduce transmission by appropriate measures against the snail intermediate host, and to implement public health measures, including the provision of safe water (with many other medical and social benefits) and health education. This comprehensive volume is for public health workers involved in the prevention and control of the disease, for physicians, and for students and teachers of many disciplines. It also provides a reference book for health planners, social anthropologists, health educators, water and sanitary engineers and others engaged in improving health in the tropics. Physicians in temperate countries will also find it a useful reference book as schistosomiasis, often acute, is being diagnosed more frequently in those returning from holidays in endemic areas.

This book provides an overview on the major neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Leishmaniasis, Buruli Ulcer and Schistosomiasis. In well-structured chapters epidemiology and biology of these parasitic diseases will be discussed in detail. Further, diagnostics and therapeutic approaches as well as prevention strategies will be reviewed. The book will be of interest to basic researchers and clinicians engaged in infectious disease, tropical medicine, and parasitology, and a must-have for scientists specialized in the characteristics of the Sub-Saharan region.

Offering an example for transnational cooperation and successful reduction of a neglected tropical disease, this volume shows how Chinese scientists and local physicians controlled schistosomiasis in Zanzibar. Over a four-year study, local medical specialists and the population of Zanzibar were taught how to diagnose the parasitosis caused by flukes (trematode worms) of the genus Schistosoma. Furthermore, methods to eliminate the disease and prevent new infections were established. The developed control system will avoid repeated increase of human schistosomiasis, which is still prevalent in the tropics and subtropics. Rural populations and poor communities lacking access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation are most affected. This book is a blueprint of activities urgently needed to combat schistosomiasis in countries with low medical impact. The strategies outlined are particularly relevant to parasitologists and professionals in public health, physicians, medical personnel and also governmental, healthcare and pharmaceutical institutions.

"The presence, or absence, of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) can be seen as a proxy for poverty and for the success of interventions aimed at reducing poverty. Today, coverage of the public-health interventions recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) against NTDs may be interpreted as a proxy for universal health coverage and shared prosperity - in short, a proxy for coverage against neglect. As the world's focus shifts from development to sustainable development, from poverty eradication to shared prosperity, and from disease-specific goals to universal health coverage, control of NTDs will assume an important role towards the target of achieving universal health coverage, including individual financial risk protection. Success in overcoming NTDs is a "litmus test" for universal health coverage against NTDs in endemic countries. The first WHO report on NTDs (2010) set the scene by presenting the evidence for how these interventions had produced results. The second report (2013) assessed the progress made in deploying them and detailed the obstacles to their implementation. This third report analyses for the first time the investments needed to achieve the scale up of implementation required to achieve the targets of the WHO Roadmap on NTDs and universal coverage against NTDs. INVESTING TO OVERCOME THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES presents an investment strategy for NTDs and analyses the specific investment case for prevention, control, elimination and eradication of 12 of the 17 NTDs. Such an analysis is justified following the adoption by the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly in 2013 of resolution WHA6612 on neglected tropical diseases, which called for sufficient and predictable funding to achieve the Roadmap's targets and sustain control efforts. The report cautions, however, that it is wise investment and not investment alone that will yield success. The report registers progress and challenges and signals those that lie ahead. Climate change is expected to increase the spread of several vector-borne NTDs, notably dengue, transmission of which is directly influenced by temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and climate variability primarily through their effects on the vector. Investments in vector-borne diseases will avoid the potentially catastrophic expenditures associated with their control. The presence of NTDs will thereby signal an early warning system for climate-sensitive diseases. The ultimate goal is to deliver enhanced and equitable interventions to the most marginalized populations in the context of a changing public-health and investment landscape to ensure that all peoples affected by NTDs have an opportunity to lead healthier and wealthier lives."--Publisher's description.

Schistosomiasis Control, the latest edition in the Advances in Parasitology series first published in 1963, contains comprehensive and up-to-date reviews on all areas of interest in contemporary parasitology. The series includes medical studies of parasites of major influence, such as Plasmodium falciparum and trypanosomes. The series also contains reviews of more traditional areas, such as zoology, taxonomy, and life history, which help to shape current thinking and applications. The 2014 impact factor is 6.226, with a thematic issue focus on Schistosomiasis Control. - Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field of parasitology - Includes medical studies of parasites of major influence, such as Plasmodium falciparum and trypanosomes - Contains contributions from leading authorities and industry experts

This manual focuses on how and when a set of low-cost or free drugs should be used in developing countries to control a set of diseases caused by worm infections. Preventive chemotherapy in this context means using drugs that are effective against a broad range of worm infections to simultaneously treat the four most common diseases caused by worms: river blindness (onchocerciasis), elephantiasis (lymphatic filariasis), schistosomiasis, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Significant opportunities also exist to integrate these efforts with the prevention and control of diseases such as trachoma. The new approach provides a critical first step in combining treatment regimens for diseases which, although different in themselves, require common resources and delivery strategies for control or elimination.

More than 2000 million people worldwide are affected by schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections and 155 000 deaths are reported each year. These infections are diseases associated with poverty, and in school-age populations in developing countries, intestinal helminth infections rank first among the causes of all communicable and noncommunicable diseases. This book describes a cost-effective approach to the control of these infections, based on the use of periodic parasitological surveys of school population samples. It is intended as a guide for health education managers responsible for implementing community-based programmes.

Apart from malaria, schistosomiasis is the most prevalent parasitic infection in the world. It affects more than 200 million people in 76 tropical and subtropical countries, causing great suffering and resulting in thousands of deaths. Written by world authorities, this book examines many aspects of the biology, pathology, and control of the schistosoma parasite. Ranging in topic from infection in Pharaonic Egypt, through DNA relationships and biological systems, to advances in development of vaccines against the parasite, this book is a comprehensive text written for researchers and medical professionals alike.