大象传媒

Bilharzia or schistosomiasis is a disease caused by a water-borne parasitic worm. Half a billion people are affected by the parasite and it鈥檚 estimated to kill as many as 200,000 people every year in Africa, Asia and South Africa. 大象传媒 News Online Health Editor James Gallagher describes the damage the worms can do inside the body, if not killed with drug treatment. The parasites may be tiny but an individual worm can live inside you for many years.

(Picture:Scanning electron micrograph of the mouth and sucker of the bilharzia fluke. Credit: Science Photo library)