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New drugs for an ancient parasite

Nature Medicine volume 14, pages 365–367 (2008)Cite this article

Only one drug is widely used to treat schistosomiasis, a chronic, neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic blood flukes. Fears of potential drug resistance have accelerated the search for new classes of antischistosome drugs. A promising candidate has now emerged (pages 407–412).

Recent assessments of the public health impact of schistosomiasis include not only gross organ pathology, but also the anemia, pain, diarrhea, exercise intolerance and undernutrition that results from chronic infection, raising the estimate of disability previously assigned to the disease by the World Health Organization (WHO)1,2. Schistosomiasis can be treated with anthelmintic agents, but the current reliance on a single drug, praziquantel, has prompted fears of the emergence of drug-resistant parasites.

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Figure 1

Venkatraman R. Vydianathapuram

Figure 2: An integrated approach is needed to eliminate schistosomiasis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alex Loukas is in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia.,

    Alex Loukas

  2. Jeffrey M. Bethony is in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University, 2300 Eye Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20037, USA. Alex.Loukas@qimr.edu.au,

    Jeffrey M Bethony

Authors
  1. Alex Loukas
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  2. Jeffrey M Bethony
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Loukas, A., Bethony, J. New drugs for an ancient parasite. Nat Med 14, 365–367 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0408-365

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