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Schistosomiasis

• Message 1. 

  Posted by Sixties Relic SAVE ML (U13777237) on Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

  One of my frends is in hospital and has being diagnosed as having this very nasty parasite. Now the've identified the problem she's had the right medicine and is getting better.
  
  Has anyone else out there had this? It appears to be something you can pick up in parts of Africa and other hot countries.
  
  I've been on various websites to look at this but wonder if this is something you can actually get rid of completely or if it comes back or creates lasting damage. It appears it can kill you if left untreated.
  
  
  

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Adaptery (with brackets) (U13803003) on Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

  Had never heard of this until I googled it and discovered it was the same as Bilharzia, which I had heard of at school. I had assumed such diseases were largely under control these days.
  
  Sorry about your friend, Sixties. It does seem very unpleasant indeed.

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• Message 3

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  Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

  Another sorry to hear of this. I lived in West Africa for 4 years and had several friends who got it. One traced it to playing rugby (yes rugby in that heat!) on a very muddy field.
  
  We were all advised to avoid potential sources, flowing water etc, but were given far less advice on treatment.
  
  If she is somewhere where they regularly treat tropical diseases I hope she will continue to progress.
  
  F-P

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• Message 4

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  Posted by Bearhug (U2258283) on Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

  I've certainly heard of it, but then I used to work in a medical library, so shelved obscure journals on all this sort of stuff on a daily basis.
  
  It is a parastic infection of the tropics, and if untreated, can kill.
  
  I think treatment does kill it, but it won't stop you being reinfected, if you come into contact with the parasite again - which isn't likely to happen in temperate climes. And if you're going to the tropics, there are loads of other things which could get you. Either you don't go, or you take sensible precautions and hope for the best, and be on the lookout for potential symptoms when you get back.
  
  
  
  
  (Hmm, I swam in Lake Malawi... mind you, I was more worried about crocs than helminths.)
  
  
  
  

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• Message 5

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  Posted by poppy (U2220656) on Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

  I've had it (along with several other tropical diseases) - I lived in Nigeria for many years. Like many of these diseases, good prognosis provided you get treated.

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• Message 6

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  Posted by Elnora Cornstalk (U5646495) on Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

  Same here, as had many of my childhood friends (we were in the tropics). No ill effects or symptoms at all, during, or since. The only nasty bit was the few days of the (then) injections for the cure. They might have improved that part by now. I've hardly thought about it for decades, and didn't know it had been renamed. It came from swimming in still water (not rivers), and it seemed just luck of the draw whether you contracted it or not. I probably lived with it for years, as there seemed no point being tested and cured until we moved to the UK. I hope your friend finds the same, Sixties!

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• Message 7

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  Posted by Flightless Anachronistic Bird (U6437464) on Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

  A friend of my mother's who must have been about 70 at the time contracted this on a trip to Egypt. She became quite well (lost an awful lot of weight) before the medics managed to diagnose the problem. However, once it was diagnosed she got the right treatment and (as far as I know) made a complete recovery.

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• Message 8

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  Posted by cookiepuss (U1485231) on Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

  It's horrible, and can kill if untreated. Sadly it did kill my grandfather, two months before my mother was born. He'd been in the forces in Egypt (I think) in World War I and picked this horrid parasite up. Fortunately we have medication nowadays that can deal with it
  
  =^..^=

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• Message 9

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  Posted by Elnora Cornstalk (U5646495) on Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

  So sorry to hear about your grandfather, cookiepuss. I realise my community was very lucky: it was a known hazard, so we were all checked. I don't know whether travel agents warn people today, as a matter of course, but I hope that no family now would suffer such a loss. x

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• Message 10

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  Posted by Sixties Relic SAVE ML (U13777237) on Wednesday, 23rd May 2012

  My friend is 78 but she does seem to be recovering now they have identified the problem and given her the right medicine.
  
  It has taken them 4 weeks to identify the cause - but they were discussing trips to hot counties with her right from the begining.
  
  Now that we know what it is, it explains a lot of things...she's had what she thought was chronic cistytis for several years, and also a funny cough which has been investigated but for which nobody could find a cause. I have now read that a cough can be one of the symptoms. And bladder problems are also a common feature.
  
  She'd been to Surinam several years ago and to Morocco about 5 years ago, so I assume she picked this up in one of those places.
  
  Thanks for all your comments - very useful.
  
  
  
  

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• Message 11

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  Posted by LoopyLobes (U14384399) on Wednesday, 23rd May 2012

  Glad they've pinpointed the cause and your friend is now receiving the right treatment.
  
  A young relative of mine is currently being tested for Leishmaniasis (sp?), which is another nasty picked up from his travels. My sister had malaria too, which is obviously more common.

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• Message 12

  , in reply to message 11.

  Posted by whitejude (U14519118) on Wednesday, 23rd May 2012

  I have a friend who picked up schistosomiasis, swimming in a lake in Zambia I think. One of his symptoms was haematospermia - blood in his... you know.

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• Message 13

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  Posted by Sixties Relic SAVE ML (U13777237) on Tuesday, 12th June 2012

  After all that it turns out my friend does NOT have Schistosomiasis.
  
  She's got vasculitis. One of those obscure auto-immune diseases that has been attacking her kidneys.
  
  She's being treated with steroids now and will have to have low-dose chemotherapy drugs. She's a lot better and improving.
  
  It took them 5 weeks to get to the bottom of the problem - it's rare and difficult to diagnose, apparently.
  
  

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• Message 14

  , in reply to message 13.

  Posted by Elnora Cornstalk (U5646495) on Tuesday, 12th June 2012

  Your friend's been going through the mill, S_R; but it sounds as if, at last, she has the correct diagnosis, and is already beginning to recover her health.
  
  I hope, as well, that what the hospital's learned through her case will help someone else be diagnosed more promptly next time.
  
  All the best to her!

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• Message 15

  , in reply to message 14.

  Posted by Sixties Relic SAVE ML (U13777237) on Thursday, 14th June 2012

  Thanks El.
  
  Yes, she's at home now and looking a lot better - just very weak from all that time in bed. She's struggling to walk very far but I know she'll get there.
  
  

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