review · Heliyon
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease involving snail intermediate hosts and mammalian hosts, affecting people living near infested water bodies. It causes symptoms across multiple organs, including fever, headache, dysuria, and hydronephrosis. Standard control measures currently rely on health education, Kato-Katz microscopy for diagnosis, and mass chemotherapy using praziquantel, as no vaccine currently exists. To address the limitations of existing treatments, modern scientific developments are exploring alternative strategies. These include the biochemical and molecular characterisation of the parasite, the potential of gene therapy, and the identification of plant-derived compounds as novel anti-schistosomal agents. Additionally, advanced imaging, molecular methods, and artificial intelligence present new possibilities for diagnostic detection and therapeutic discovery, which could significantly support global efforts to eliminate the disease.
Schistosomiasis remains a widespread parasitic infection causing serious organ damage in communities living close to contaminated water. Because healthcare systems rely almost entirely on a single therapeutic drug and manual microscopy, identifying plant-based medicines, potential vaccines, and artificial intelligence tools is critical for building more sustainable and resilient disease control programmes.
This work points to prospective applications in pharmaceutical development, particularly targeting plant-derived anti-schistosomal agents, vaccines, and gene therapies. It also highlights opportunities for software and diagnostic developers using artificial intelligence and advanced imaging for parasite detection. However, these applications remain at an early review and conceptual stage, with substantial clinical and technological validation required before reaching commercial deployment.
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which affect several organs such as urethra, liver, bladder, intestines, skin and bile ducts. The life cycle of the disease involves an intermediate host (snail) and a mammalian host. It affects people who are in close proximity to water bodies where the intermediate host is abundant. Common clinical manifestations of the disease at various stages include fever, chills, headache, cough, dysuria, hyperplasia and hydronephrosis. To date, most of the control strategies are dependent on effective diagnosis, chemotherapy and public health education on the biology of the vectors and parasites. Microscopy (Kato-Katz) is considered the golden standard for the detection of the parasite, while praziquantel is the drug of choice for the mass treatment of the disease since no vaccines have yet been developed. Most of the previous reviews on schistosomiasis have concentrated on epidemiology, life cycle, diagnosis, control and treatment. Thus, a comprehensive review that is in tune with modern developments is needed. Here, we extend this domain to cover historical perspectives, global impact, symptoms and detection, biochemical and molecular characterization, gene therapy, current drugs and vaccine status. We also discuss the prospects of using plants as potential and alternative sources of novel anti-schistosomal agents. Furthermore, we highlight advanced molecular techniques, imaging and artificial intelligence that may be useful in the future detection and treatment of the disease. Overall, the proper detection of schistosomiasis using state-of-the-art tools and techniques, as well as development of vaccines or new anti-schistosomal drugs may aid in the elimination of the disease.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33070
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