A study of the relationship between temperature and the infectivity of Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium cercariae.

It was shown that maintenance of cercariae of S. mansoni and S. haematobium at low (10degreesC) and high temperatures (40degreesC) markedly increased their mortality during penetration of mammalian host skin. These increased losses in the skin accounted for the known decrease in infectivity, as measured by adult worm recovery, of cercariae kept at low or high temperatures.