Wicked-Schisto: The wicked public health problem of Schistosomiasis and the interdisciplinary research helping to control it

Wicked-Schisto: The wicked public health problem of Schistosomiasis and the interdisciplinary research helping to control it Over 240 million people have schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease (NTD), caused by parasitic worms called Schistosoma. Over 90% of infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa. Most have long-term subtle morbidities such as abdominal pain, fatigue and diahorrea. Symptoms often overlap with other diseases found in the same areas, including malaria and intestinal worms. This results in complex, hard-to-monitor illnesses, making it difficult to know when a drug treatment or other intervention is successfully improving population health. The disease also reduces physical and cognitive development, school and work attendance and productivity, exacerbating the poverty cycle. Chronic infections cause severe organ damage, cancer and ~200,000 deaths a year. Despite 1 in 33 people in the world being infected and these devastating effects, control efforts lag behind diseases such as malaria, HIV and TB. Here Poppy Lamberton, Professor of Global Health at the University of Glasgow, explores how she is leading an interdisciplinary team aiming to identify cost-effective, sustainable interventions for schistosomiasis, a devastating neglected tropical disease.