Schistosoma Mansoni (5 of 9)

The Chronic Phase of Infection. This is the more important aspect of Schistosoma mansoni pathology, and may be divided into two areas Intestinal Schistosomiasis - This and the hepatic schistosomiasis detailed below, manifest a number of years after infection. The pathogenic reaction is a cellular, granulomatous inflammation around eggs trapped in the tissues, with subsequent fibrosis. All areas of both the small and large intestine may be involved, with the large intestine showing the most severe lesions, whereas severe pathology in the small intestine is only rarely observed, even though large numbers of eggs may be deposited here. Colonic polyps are also sometimes seen, especially in Egypt (Cheever et al 1978) The reasons for the high prevalence of this aspect of pathology in Egypt are not clear.