Bilharziasis in the Sudan

Abstract

1. A resume has been written, in the light of our present and accumulated knowledge, and based on the works and the conclusions arrived at by the many original investigators, of the three different types of human Schistosomiasis found in the world. 2. Various aspects in regard to the history, the distribution and incidence of the disease, the mode of the infection of the different hosts, the life history of the incriminated parasites and their pathological effects on the human subject, have been considered. 3. The symptomatology, treatment, diagnosis and prognosis of the disease have also been discussed generally and as fully as possible. 4. Consideration has also been given the different known varieties of snail "carriers ", and points in connection with their distribution in the world, and the Sudan, their habitat, and the specific nature of the infection they carry, have been noted. 5. Special reference has been made to the incidence of Schistosomiasis in the Sudan. 6. For the purpose of illustration, a number of cases occurring among school -boys have been selected, in order to show the type of disease found in a non -irrigated area of that country, and the symptomatology, diagnosis, and treatment of these cases have been given in detail. 7. Particular attention has been paid to the great value of Antimony Tartrate treatment, and the beneficial effects which have accrued in the treatment prophylaxis, and eradication of the disease, since its introduction. Other forms of treatment and drugs have also been compared and described. 8. Prophylactic methods, such as may be, and are, applied in the Sudan and in the world in general, have been discussed at length, and the various difficulties encountered, racial, economic, and religious, in regard to their application, mentioned. 9. In conclusion it has been pointed out that although many problems remain yet to be solved, the future in regard to this serious disease, and its effects on the human race, is not unhopeful.