Schistosomiasis

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Antibodies

Swimmer's itch

Bilharzia; Katayama fever; Swimmer's itch; Blood fluke

• Symptoms vary with the species of worm and the phase of infection.
• Initial invasion of the skin may cause itching and a rash (swimmer's itch).
• Heavy infestation (a large number of parasites) may cause fever, chills, lymph node enlargement, and liver and spleen enlargement.
• Urinary symptoms may include frequent urination, painful urination (dysuria), and blood in the urine (hematuria).
• Intestinal symptoms include abdominal pain and diarrhea (which may be bloody).

• Test for schistosome eggs in urine
• Test for schistosome eggs in stool
• Biopsy of tissue suspected of being infected
• Anemia (low number of red blood cells)
• High eosinophil (a type of white blood cell) count in blood
• Low platelets
• Urinalysis
• Antibody test

Review Date: 09/05/2006
Reviewed By: D. Scott Smith, M.D., MSc, DTM&H, Chief of Infectious Disease & Geographic Medicine, Kaiser Redwood City, CA & Adjunct Assistant Professor, Stanford University. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.