Prevention and control of schistosomiasis: a current perspective.

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease that ranks second only to malaria in terms of human suffering in the tropics and subtropics. Five species are known to infect man and there are currently over 240 million people infected worldwide. The cornerstone of control to date has been mass drug administration with 40 mg/kg of praziquantel but there are problems with this approach.