ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Schistosomiasis, caused by trematode blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma, is a major helminth infection that, at the beginning of the 21st Century, still represents an important public health problem in many developing countries. As the second major parasitic disease in the world after malaria, schistosomiasis affects 200 million people, with 800 million at risk of infection. It is estimated that 20 million individuals suffer from severe consequences of this chronic and debilitating disease responsible directly or indirectly for at least 500,000 deaths per year (1).
