Nat Med: The new human schistosomiasis infection model paves the way for rapid drug development to treat and prevent schistosomiasis.

The treatment of schistosomiasis relies on the use of a single drug, ketones, but this is not sufficient to control the spread of highly endemic areas.
urgent need for new drugs and vaccines.
models of schistosomiasis can accelerate the development of these products.
researchers conducted an incremental clinical safety trial on 17 volunteers at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, in which male schistosomiasis cercaria did not lay eggs.
end points are adverse events and infections.
results showed dose-related increases in adverse events associated with acute schistosomiasis syndrome, which occurred in 9 out of 17 volunteers.
specifically, five volunteers (three volunteers in the high-dose group and two of the 11 volunteers in the medium-dose group) reported serious adverse events.
-positive antigens were biomarkers at the main end of infection, with 82 percent of volunteers peaking 3-10 weeks after exposure.
all the volunteers showed IgM and IgG1 serum conversion, and CD4-T cells produced worm-specific cytokines.
all the volunteers recovered 12 weeks after ketone treatment.
20 schistosomiasis meningitis caused serious adverse events in 18 percent of the volunteers, with a high infection rate.
, this infection model paves the way for rapid drug development to treat and prevent schistosomiasis.
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