schistosomiasis

noun

schis·​to·​so·​mi·​a·​sis ˌshi-stə-sō-ˈmī-ə-səs 

plural schistosomiases ˌshi-stə-sō-ˈmī-ə-ˌsēz 

: infestation with or disease caused by schistosomes

specifically : a severe endemic disease of humans in Africa and parts of Asia and South America that is contracted when cercariae released into fresh water (such as a river) by a snail intermediate host penetrate the skin and that is marked especially by blood loss and tissue damage

called also snail fever

Examples of schistosomiasis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Eradication is now a possibility for malaria, thanks to new vaccines, but no schistosomiasis vaccine exists. —Christopher B. Barrett, Foreign Affairs, 25 Sep. 2023

Take schistosomiasis, which is caused by parasitic worms living in fresh water in the tropics. —Christopher B. Barrett, Foreign Affairs, 25 Sep. 2023

For example, if a pharmaceutical company developed an innovative treatment for schistosomiasis, it could be granted an extension on a patent for a profitable drug that treats erectile dysfunction. —Christopher B. Barrett, Foreign Affairs, 25 Sep. 2023

In 2021, researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine identified new compounds that can target the parasitic worms that cause schistosomiasis, raising hopes its elimination could be on the horizon. —Sean Mowbray, Discover Magazine, 28 Apr. 2023

But the rodents can spread a variety of human diseases, including bubonic plague, schistosomiasis, murine typhus, tularemia and leptospirosis. —Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2023

The disease is schistosomiasis, aka snail fever. —Bill Heavey, Field & Stream, 5 Aug. 2020

Cancer took Dad in the late 1980s; ironically, it was caused by schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease caused by flatworms found in the rivers of North Africa and the Middle East. —Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2023

Interestingly, a recent trial did show that wormwood extract is effective for schistosomiasis in Africa, which is caused by a type of worm that is not found in the U.S. Medication to treat worms is not necessary and potentially toxic and therefore not recommended. —Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 10 Sep. 2021

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Word History

Etymology

schistosome or its source, New Latin Schistosoma + -iasis

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

schistosomiasis

noun

schis·​to·​so·​mi·​a·​sis ˌshis-tə-sō-ˈmī-ə-səs  ˌskis- 

plural schistosomiases -ˌsēz 

: infestation with or disease caused by schistosomes

specifically : a severe endemic disease of humans in much of Africa and parts of Asia and South America that is caused by any of three trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma (S. haematobium, S. mansoni, and S. japonicum) which multiply in snail intermediate hosts and are disseminated into freshwaters as furcocercous cercariae that bore into the body when it is in contact with infested water, migrate through the tissues to the visceral venous plexuses (as of the bladder or intestine) where they attain maturity, and cause much of their injury through hemorrhage and damage to tissues resulting from the passage of the usually spiny eggs to the intestine and bladder whence they pass out to start a new cycle of infection in snail hosts

called also bilharzia, bilharziasis, snail fever

compare swimmer's itch