Acute schistosomiasis: Which molecular diagnostic test is best and why

Each year, thousands of returning travellers and tourists typically report to clinics throughout Europe and the UK with various signs and symptoms of acute schistosomiasis following form exposure to schistosome cercariae in freshwater. Unlike chronic schistosomiasis, which may have taken several months, or longer, to appear but has a proven set of diagnostic methods and tools available, reliable diagnosis of acute schistosomiasis within the first few months after last exposure to schistosome cercariae is problematic; as is precise incrimination of which species of infecting schistosome is, or are, responsible. It is against this unmet diagnostic challenge in acute schistosomiasis that the Cnop et al. study is most insightful. Here they highlight both the detection and discrimination of infecting schistosomes within a cohort of returned Belgian travellers that were examined to an unusual degree of advanced diagnostic scrutiny.