Abstract
Worldwide schistosomiasis remains a serious public health problem with approximately 67 million people infected and 200 million at risk of infection from inhabiting or transiting endemically active regions. Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East are the main transmission regions of Schistosoma mansoni. The fight against transmission through the use of molluscicides is not recent and has been advocated as the only activity with the possibility of interruption of transmission in small, epidemiologically active outbreaks. Euphorbia milii var. hislopii (syn. splendens) (Des Moulins, 1826) is the most promising for use in official schistosomiasis control programs according to the WHO. In this review, we show that an understanding of some how E. milii latex affects the snail vector and their parasites from a molecular level to field conditions is lacking. On the other hand, this type of treatment could also provide a rationale for the control of schistosomiasis and other parasitosis. Several publications contribute to enforcing the use of E. milii latex in endemic countries as a cheap alternative or complement to mass drug treatment with praziquantel, the only available drug to cure the patients (without preventing re-infection).
Highlights
Worldwide schistosomiasis caused by S. mansoni remains a serious public health problem with approximately 67 million people infected and 200 million at risk of infection from inhabiting or transiting endemically active regions [1]
According to Berquist et al [4], the analysis of the degree of impact of a certain disease that produces a chronic state must be performed in addition to the prevalence and mortality data, so the World Health Organization adopted the Lost Years of Life Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) to measure the degree of impact of endemics that produce chronic status
Based on the DALY, it is estimated that the impact of schistosomiasis can reach 5.8 million years of lost life, with helminth diseases having the greatest impact in the world [4,5]
Summary
Worldwide schistosomiasis caused by S. mansoni remains a serious public health problem with approximately 67 million people infected and 200 million at risk of infection from inhabiting or transiting endemically active regions [1]. The only compound used in humans for control and treatment of schistosomiasis is PZQ Other schistosomicides such as niridazol, hicantone, and oxaminiquine were used in the last century but were abandoned due to their low curative efficiency, host side effects, and/or the appearance of parasitic resistance [7]. Aspects such as oral treatment, low cost, short side effects, and high curative rate are stimulating factors in the use of PZQ as the drug of choice. In view of the difficulty of control only with the use of chemotherapeutic agents, WHO encourages other actions such as research and development of vaccine compounds, control of vector snails, health education, and integrated surveillance system
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
