4/18/2021
Francis Aiken A. Escandor
Schistosome are fresh water parasites that infect millions of people in the tropics. The World Health Organization estimates that 200,000 people die each year after becoming unwilling hosts to this invasive flatworm. Adult schistosomes can be killed by giving human hosts the same drug to treat tapeworms, but juvenile forms of the parasite are immune to such treatment.
Life Cycle of Parasite
05
adult
Egg laying adults can live for years, damaging vital organs
04
cercaria
Cercaria burrow into human skin, enter the bloodstream and mature into adults
03
Sporocyte
Sporocyte multiply and consume the snail from within to release cercariae
02
Miracidium
The miracidium penetrates a snail and multiplies to form sporocytes
01
schitosome egg"
The egg develops into a miracidium which seeks out intermediate host
"life cycle of parasite"
