schistosomiasis

n. (Medicine) infection caused by parasitic bacteria from the genus Schistosoma (causes anemia, pain, and organ malfunction)

Schistosomiasis or bilharzia is a parasitic disease caused by several species of flatworm. The acute form of schistosomiasis is sometimes known as snail fever and cutaneous schistosomiasis is sometimes commonly called swimmer's itch. The disease affects many people in developing countries, and in certain African communities and east Asia, the process of overcoming schistosomiasis is an important rite of passage. Although it has a low mortality rate, schistosomiasis can be very debilitating. Schistosomiasis is known as Bilharzia or bilharziosis in many countries, after Theodor Bilharz, who first described the cause of urinary schistosomiasis in 1851, although the first doctor who described entirely the disease cycle was Pirajá da Silva in 1908.
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Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharziasis or snail fever, is a primarily tropical parasitic disease caused by the [more]Schistosomiasis - Community and Resources

Noun
1. an infestation with or a resulting infection caused by a parasite of the genus Schistosoma; common in the tropics and Far East; symptoms depend on the part of the body infected
(synonym) bilharzia, bilharziasis
(hypernym) infestation

Disease of liver, gastrointestinal tract and bladder caused by trematode worms that parasitize people. The infection is acquired from infested water. Three main species of these trematode worms (flukes)--Schistosoma haematobium, S. japonicum, and S. mansoni—cause disease in humans. Larval forms of the parasite live in freshwater snails. The cercaria (form of the parasite) is liberated from the snail burrow into skin, transforms to the schistosomulum stage, and migrates to the urinary tract (S. haematobium), liver or intestine (S. japonicum, S.mansoni) where the adult worms develop. Eggs are shed into the urinary tract or the intestine and hatch to form miracidia (yet another form of the parasite) which then infect snails, completing the life cycle of the parasite. Adult schistosome worms can seriously damage tissue. Schistosome species which cannot live in man cause swimmer’s itch. Schistosomiasis is also called bilharzia after the shortlived German physician Theodor Bilharz (1825-1862)