Symptoms of schistosomiasis

Talking about parasites usually makes people's scalp tingle. In fact, generally speaking, people cannot see parasites, but they are extremely harmful to the human body. Sometimes they can even cause some related diseases in the body, and these diseases are difficult to cure. That is why people are so afraid of parasites. Oftentimes, parasites invade the human body unintentionally, making it difficult to guard against.

Parasites can often induce diseases in the human body, collectively known as parasitic diseases. Schistosomiasis is a common parasitic disease. Schistosomiasis is a chronic parasitic disease. So, what are the specific symptoms of schistosomiasis? Let’s analyze and explain it in detail below.

Schistosomiasis is a chronic parasitic disease caused by Schistosoma japonicum. It is mainly prevalent in 73 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with an estimated 200 million patients. There are two main types of schistosomiasis: intestinal schistosomiasis, which is mainly caused by Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum; and urinary schistosomiasis, which is caused by Schistosoma haematobium. The main disease prevalent in our country is schistosomiasis japonicum.

Symptoms of schistosomiasis include:

1. Invasive stage

Patients may experience cough, chest pain, and occasional blood in sputum.

2. Acute phase

Clinically, the following characteristics are common:

(1) Fever is the main symptom of this stage. The level, duration and type of fever vary depending on the severity of the infection.

(2) Gastrointestinal symptoms often present as dysentery-like stools that may contain blood and mucus.

(3) Enlarged liver and spleen.

(4) Pulmonary symptoms: Cough is quite common, and may be accompanied by chest pain, bloody sputum, etc.

3. Chronic stage

It often develops into a chronic disease due to reasons such as not being discovered in the acute phase, not being treated or not being treated thoroughly, or repeated infections in small amounts. This stage generally lasts 10 to 20 years, and because of its long course, the severity of symptoms can vary greatly.

4. Late stage

The patient was extremely emaciated and had severe late-stage symptoms such as ascites, splenomegaly, and distended abdominal wall veins.

Treatment for schistosomiasis is as follows:

1. Supportive and symptomatic treatment

For patients with persistent high fever in the acute phase, cortical hormones or antipyretics can be used first to relieve poisoning symptoms and reduce fever. For chronic and late-stage patients, nutrition should be strengthened by giving them a high-protein diet and multiple vitamins, and attention should be paid to the treatment of anemia. When there is portal hypertension in cirrhosis, liver treatment should be strengthened, as well as surgical treatment. People with other intestinal parasitic diseases should receive deworming treatment.

2. Pathogen treatment

(1) Praziquantel is currently the drug of choice for the treatment of schistosomiasis. It has the advantages of high efficiency, low toxicity, mild side effects, oral administration, and short treatment course. It has a killing effect on larvae, juveniles and adults. The cure rate of clinical treatment for acute schistosomiasis is very high. The side effects are few and mild, and may include dizziness, fatigue, sweating, mild abdominal pain, etc.

(2) Artemether and artesunate can also be used to treat schistosomiasis.

In fact, schistosomiasis is still very difficult to treat, so we must strictly prevent the occurrence of schistosomiasis in our daily life. When it comes to prevention, the first thing to do is not to swim in the river in the summer and not to drink the water from the river. If you accidentally touch it, go to the hospital for examination in time to ensure your health.