NIH R01 · 2024
Genital Immune, Mucosal, and Viral Effects of Female Genital Schistosomiasis in Tanzania
Project Summary/Abstract Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS), caused by the parasitic worm Schistosoma haematobium, affects 40 million girls and women in Africa. Parasite eggs migrate through mucosal tissue, inducing a host immune reaction that leads to erosions and mucosal breaches of the female genital tract with symptoms including genital discharge, bleeding, pain, and infertility. Chronic genital tract damage and symptoms persist after praziquantel therapy in ~70% of women, even though praziquantel effectively kills parasite worms, reduces excretion of eggs in urine, and resolves most tissue pathology in the bladder. In contrast, parasite eggs remain trapped in genital tissue…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.