ABSTRACT
The immunopathological characteristics of schistosomiasis in humans have also been the subject of considerable investigation. Infected adults appear to modulate hepatic enlargement and granulomatous inflammation as a mechanism to limit the long-term pathological consequences of chronic parasitism. Approximately 200 million people worldwide are infected with the three major species of Schistosoma: S. mansoni, S. haematobium, and S. japonicum. Schistosoma japonicum is unique among the human schistosomes in that large nonhuman reservoirs exist. The immunopathological characteristics of schistosomiasis in humans have also been the subject of considerable investigation. Rapid reinfection of the human population clearly continues despite current control strategies. To this point, experimental vaccines to prevent infection appear to be at best only partially effective in experimental animals. The presence of an immune network during the course of the human disease has only recently been established in human S. japonicum infection.
