Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease that affects about 290 million patients worldwide. Children aged between 5 and 14 years represent 45.8% of the affected patients, in addition, schistosomiasis has been reported in Schistosoma-free areas, mostly because of tourism and immigration from endemic countries. Intestinal schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma mansoni is mainly diagnosed via direct stool examination for egg detection. Immunological methods are favoured for disease monitoring and preliminary checking for communities in areas with low infection rates, and for patients with light and chronic infections where parasitological tests are negative. PCR-based diagnostic techniques are more sensitive, but expensive. Tegument proteins and miRNAs are promising markers for diagnosis of schistosomiasis. Here we review the diagnostic methods for schistosomiasis mansoni aiming to reach a standardized technique for diagnosis of early infection to help better control of the disease.

Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) have been a great concern throughout the world among the poorest and the most deprived communities. Orang Asli (indigenous) community in Malaysia is highly prone to STHs infection due to their living environment where soil contamination can serve as the main reservoir. This study was aimed to investigate the presence of Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides eggs in the soil samples in and around the Orang Asli villages located in Sungai Lalang Baru, Ulu Semenyih, Selangor. The soil samples were collected from June to November 2017 over a period of six months. Approximately 200-250 gram of soil samples were collected in a plastic bag from a depth of about 4-6 inches. The sedimentation and microscopic techniques was used to recover and estimate the Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides eggs from the soil samples. A total of 40 samples soil samples were collected, in which 36 (90%) were positive for A. lumbricoides and 6 (15%) were positive T. trichiura. Various soil textures like sandy, loamy and clay harbored the helminth eggs. The contaminated soil could potentially lead to transmission of the helminth eggs by natural process like rain and water movement to their sounding environments, hence screening of soil sample in the environment serves as in indication for presence of STHs.

Objective: To evaluate the in vitro antischistosomal activity of two new synthetic benzimidazole-related compounds: NBTP-OH and NBTP-F. Methods: Schistosoma adult worms were recovered from mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni cercaria, washed and then incubated in the culture media with different concentrations of compounds NBTP-OH and NBTP-F up to 72 h. Scanning electron microscopy was conducted to report morphological changes. Results: Incubation of adult Schistosoma mansoni with 10 µg/mL of NBTP-OH for 48 h killed 81.25% of worms. The calculated LC50 and LC90 72 h post-incubation were 6.8 µg/mL and 9.8 µg/ mL, respectively. Exposure of worms to 10 µg/mL of NBTP-F killed 89.5% of worms after 48 h, mostly males (83.3%), the LC50 and LC90 after 72 h of incubation were 4.8 µg/mL and 6.9 µg/mL, respectively. Worms incubated for 72 h with these compounds revealed swelling and deformity of oral sucker, disorganization and erosion of the tegument when examined with scanning electron microscopy. Conclusions: NBTP-OH and NBTP-F possess in vitro antischistosomal activities; however, in vivo studies should be conducted to examine their antischistosomal effects.