Schistosoma

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Schistosoma
Schistosoma mansoni egg
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Platyhelminthes
Class:	Trematoda
Order:	Diplostomida
Family:	Schistosomatidae
Subfamily:	Schistosomatinae
Genus:	Schistosoma Weinland, 1858
Species
Schistosoma bomfordi Schistosoma bovis Schistosoma curassoni Schistosoma datta Schistosoma edwardiense Schistosoma guineensis Schistosoma haematobium Schistosoma harinasutai Schistosoma hippopotami Schistosoma incognitum Schistosoma indicum Schistosoma intercalatum Schistosoma japonicum Schistosoma kisumuensis Schistosoma leiperi Schistosoma malayensis Schistosoma mansoni Schistosoma margrebowiei Schistosoma mattheei Schistosoma mekongi Schistosoma ovuncatum Schistosoma nasale Schistosoma rodhaini Schistosoma sinensium Schistosoma spindale Schistosoma turkestanicum

Schistosoma is a genus of trematodes, commonly known as blood flukes. They are parasitic flatworms responsible for a highly significant group of infections in humans termed schistosomiasis, which is considered by the World Health Organization as the second-most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease (after malaria), with hundreds of millions infected worldwide.^[1][2]

Adult flatworms parasitize blood capillaries of either the mesenteries or plexus of the bladder, depending on the infecting species. They are unique among trematodes and any other flatworms in that they are dioecious with distinct sexual dimorphism between male and female. Thousands of eggs are released and reach either the bladder or the intestine (according to the infecting species), and these are then excreted in urine or feces to fresh water. Larvae must then pass through an intermediate snail host, before the next larval stage of the parasite emerges that can infect a new mammalian host by directly penetrating the skin.