Disease
Schistosoma japonicum is the only human blood fluke that occurs in China. It is the cause of schistosomiasis japonica, a disease that still remains a significant health problem especially in lake and marshland regions. Schistosomiasis is an infection caused mainly by three schistosome species; Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma japonicum and Schistosoma haematobium. S. japonicum being the most infectious of the three species. Infection by schistosomes is followed by an acute Katayama fever. Historical accounts of Katayama disease dates back to the discovery of S. Japonicum in Japan in 1904. The disease was named after an area it was endemic to, Katayama district, Hiroshima, Japan. If left untreated, it will develop into a chronic condition characterized by hepatosplenic disease and impaired physical and cognitive development. The severity of S. japonicum arises in 60% of all neurological diseases in schistosomes due to the migration of schistosome eggs to the brain.
Read more about this topic: Schistosoma Japonicum
Famous quotes containing the word disease:
“[Love] is the type of disease that spares neither the intelligent nor the idiotic.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“Narcissist: psychoanalytic term for the person who loves himself more than his analyst; considered to be the manifestation of a dire mental disease whose successful treatment depends on the patient learning to love the analyst more and himself less.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)
“War is in truth a disease in which the juices that serve health and maintenance are used for the sole purpose of nourishing something foreign, something at odds with nature.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)