Introduction Schistosomes (blood flukes) are digenetic trematodes of the super family Schistosomatoidea. They cause the disease schistosomiasis, which is commonly called bilharziasis. The parasites undergo part of their developmental phase into infective forms in water borne planorbid snails. Hence, schistosomiasis is a helminthic water-borne disease. Five species of Schistosoma have been found to be pathogenic parasites of man (Ross et al., 2007; Gryseels et al., 2006). These are; Schistosoma haemato-bium, causing urinary schistosomiasis, S. mansoni, S. japonicum, S. mekongi and S. intercalatum, all causing intestinal schistosomiasis. Human schistosomiasis remains one of the most important parasitic diseases in the tropics for which there are yet to be vaccines. About 200 million people are estimated to be infected and 500-600 million more exposed to infection (Webbe, 1981) and about 131 million infected in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. The disease is endemic in Ghana and its public health importance was reported by McCullough (1954), who noted then that approximately 20% of the total population of
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