Pathways to improved, sustainable morbidity control and prevention of schistosomiasis in the People's Republic of China.

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600 million Chinese are infected with parasites. One of the most important of these is the Asia or Oriental human bloodfluke, Schistosoma japonicum. It causes schistosomiasis (Bilharzia), a very serious and debilitating disease and a major health problem for more than 40 million Chinese living in Southern China. Infection occurs when people make contact with water contaminated by microscopically small cercariae larvae that are released from freshwater snails. As well as humans, Schistosoma japonicum infects a number of other mammals, such as water buffaloes, which complicates control efforts. Current control is based on treatment with the drug parziquantel. Vaccines in combination with other control methods, including the use of new drugs, are needed to make elimination of the disease possible. This new program of research has a very strong emphasis on mutual research training and scientific interaction that will: determine whether another drug, artemether, can be used as an aid in control; increase our understanding of the immunological and genetic processes involved in the development of the disease of schistosomiasis; determine the importance of buffalo infections in maintaining human schistosomiasis transmission; undertake genomics and post-genomics research on existing and new discovered S. japonicum molecules that are candidates as new vaccines and diagnostics; and develop a mathematical model that can predict the optimum methods for the sustained control of schistosomiasis in China.