Bilharzias or Schistosomiasis

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bilharziasis.jpgThe disease is also caused by parasitic worms that can enter a human body through contact with contaminated water. Schitosomes are parasitic organisms that live in snails and are common in developing countries where constant contact with untreated water may be used for bathing. People who come in contact with water that has been contaminated with raw sewage containing the feces and urine of infected humans are easily infected for the parasite can survive for 48 hours in water after leaving its host. The worms can go thought he skin and will grow in the blood vessels from which it releases eggs as it reaches maturity. The eggs then find their way into the bladder and intestines, which is expelled into the feces and urine to begin the cycle again. The infection is very hard to diagnose and may have similar symptoms such as diarrhea or dysentery. The reaction of the body is toward the eggs and not the worms themselves which makes diagnosis even harder. The parasites can be easily treated within one to two days as the worms and eggs are killed and flushed from the human body. The disease infects everybody but the effects can me devastating for small children due to their small and frail bodies.

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