Schistosoma (redirected from Schistosomes)

Schistosoma /Schis·to·so·ma/ (-so´mah) a genus of blood flukes, including S. haemato´bium of Africa, S. japon´icum of East Asia, S. manso´ni of Africa, South America, and the West Indies, and S. intercala´tum of Central Africa. The invertebrate hosts are snails. Human infection (schistosomiasis) follows contact with contaminated water; flukes penetrate the skin, enter the bloodstream, and make their way to other organs.schistoso´mal

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Schis·to·so·ma (shst-sm, sks-)

n.

A genus of digenetic trematodes that includes the blood flukes of humans and domestic animals that cause schistosomiasis. Also called Bilharzia.

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Schistosoma

[shis′təsō′mə]

Etymology: Gk, schistos, cleft, soma, body

a genus of blood flukes that may cause urinary, GI, or liver disease in humans and that requires fecal contamination of water and freshwater snails as intermediate hosts. Schistosoma haematobium, found chiefly in Africa and the Middle East, affects the bladder, ureter, and pelvic organs, causing painful frequent urination and hematuria. S. japonicum, found in Japan, the Philippines, and Eastern Asia, causes GI ulcerations and fibrosis of the liver. S. mansoni, found in Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and tropical America, causes symptoms similar to those caused by S. japonicum. Also called Bilharzia. See also schistosomiasis.

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Schistosoma

a genus of elongated dioecious trematodes which inhabit blood vessels of the host. The eggs are found in the wall of the bladder, uterus and urethra. Includes S. bovis (ruminants), S. curassoni (ruminants), S. haematobium (humans), S. incognitum (pigs, dogs), S. indicum (ruminants, horses), S. intercalatum (humans, ruminants, horses), S. japonicum (humans, many other species), S. magrebowiei (ruminants, zebra), S. lieperi (wild artiodactyls), S. mansoni (humans, wild animals), S. mattheei (most species), S. mekongi (humans, dogs), S. nasalis (ruminants, horses), S. rodhaini (dogs, rodents), S. spindale (ruminants, dogs), S. suis (see S. incognitum, above).

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Schistosoma

Parasitology A genus of elongated sexually dimorphic trematodes, the blood flukes, of phylum Platyhelminthes, Class Trematoda, of which there are 3 major human pathogens: S hematobium, S japonicum, and S mansoni; Schistosoma spp infect ±200 million worldwide, kill 800,000/yr; morbidity is due to exuberant tissue reaction to the eggs–they don't replicate in humans. See Circumoval body, Pipestem fibrosis.