Editorial: Pre-Conference Research Topic: 16th International Symposium on Schistosomiasis

Traditionally, every two years, the International Symposium on Schistosomiasis, organized by Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, takes place in Brazil. The Symposium brings together scientists from all over the world working on different aspects of schistosomiasis. As this disease affects approximately 240 million people worldwide (1), it is crucial to appraise recent advances in schistosome biology, parasite interactions with hosts, and review progress in the development and evaluation of new tools for disease diagnosis, treatment, and control.

The 16th edition of the Symposium (http://www.vppcb.fiocruz.br/16symposium-schisto/_en) was scheduled to take place in August 2020 but was postponed to November 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The published papers in this Research Topic sustain our global engagement and aim to keep the research momentum on schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, thriving.

Our infographic highlights our international engagement across 23 countries with a total of 177 authors (Figure 1). Of note, whilst intestinal schistosomiasis (Schistosoma mansoni) occurs in South America and still poses a significant public health challenge in parts of Brazil, it also occurs in Africa, alongside urogenital schistosomiasis (Schistosoma haematobium). In Asia, however, intestinal schistosomiasis is caused by a different schistosome species (Schistosoma japonicum), and the appreciation of this is essential to ensure that global research and control efforts are appropriate and complementary.