Treatment of schistosomiasis. Factors affecting chemotherapy and reflections on ideal drug treatment.

The blood concentration of certain known schistosomicides or their active metabolites never reaches levels high enough to prove lethal to the parasite. The chemotherapeutic response is a function of the relations of the triad-drug, parasite and host. This article reviews the multiple factors which influence the chemotherapeutic response in schistosomiasis with references to researchers in this wide field. An understanding of these complex interactions is a basis for the design of drug trials in the search for the ideal schistosomicide.