CCDM TOPIC SCHISTOSOMIASIS

Question 1

Identification

Answer 1

A blood fluke (trematode) infection with adult

male and female worms living within mesenteric or vesical veins of the host over a life span of many years.

Question 2

Schistosoma mansoni and S. japonicum signs and symptoms:

Answer 2

diarrhea, abdominal pain and hepatosplenomegaly. S. japonicum can also cause CNS disease, with
Jacksonian seizures.

Question 3

How is Definitive diagnosis of schistosomiasis achieved?

Answer 3

Egg biopsy specimens, stool by direct smear, or in urine.

Question 4

Mode of transmission:

Answer 4

Mode of transmission—Infection is acquired from water containing free-swimming larval forms (cercariae) that have developed in snails.

Question 5

Incubation period:

Answer 5

primary infections 2–6 weeks after exposure

Question 6

Period of communicability

Answer 6

Not communicable from person to person; may spread the infection by discharging eggs in urine and/or feces into bodies of water for as long as they excrete eggs; it is common for human infections with S. mansoni and
S. haematobium to last in excess of 10 years

Question 7

Specific treatment:

Answer 7

Praziquantel oral dose 40 mg/kg.