Pharmacologyonline 3: 292-303 (2009) Newsletter Dighe et al. 292 A REVIEW ON: SNAIL FEVER Nachiket S Dighe 1 ,Shashikant R Pattan 1 ,Sanjay B Bhawar 2 , Deepak Thakur 1 , Vinayak M Gaware 1 ,Mangesh B Hole 1 and Ravindra B Laware 3 1- Department Of Medicinal Chemistry,Pravara Rural College Of Pharmacy,Pravaranagar, M.S, India 2- Department Of Pharmacology, Pravara Rural College Of Pharmacy,Pravaranagar, M.S, India 3- Department Of Pharmaceutics , Pravara Rural College Of Pharmacy,Pravaranagar, M.S, India Summary Schistosomiasis is one of the deadly disease which ranks second only to malaria as the most common parasitic disease, killing an estimated 280,000 people each year. Parasites penetrate the skin during contact with freshwater containing contaminated snails. The larvae migrate to the blood vessels where they mate and produce eggs.Twenty million schistosomiasis sufferers develop severe and sometimes disfiguring disabilities from complications from the disease, including kidney disease, liver disease and bladder cancer. It is a parasitic disease carried by fresh water snails infected with one of the five varieties of the parasite Schistosoma. Schistosomiasis is transmitted by contact with contaminated fresh water (lakes and ponds, rivers, dams) inhabited by snails carrying the parasite. It only takes a few seconds for these worms to penetrate human skin. From the skin, the parasites get into the bloodstream and infect whole body. Urinary schistosomiasis causes scarring and tearing of the bladder and kidneys and can lead to bladder cancer. Microscopic identification of eggs in stool or urine is the most practical method for diagnosis. A single dose of praziquantel has been shown to reduce the severity of symptoms in those re-infected with the disease. As with other major parasitic diseases, there is ongoing and extensive research into developing a schistosomiasis vaccine that will prevent the parasite from completing its life cycle in humans. Key words: Bilharzia, Bilharziosis, Snail fever Address for correspondence Mr. Nachiket S Dighe Assistant Professor & HOD Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pravara Rural College of Pharmacy, Pravaranagar A/P- Loni Bk.Taluka -Rahata,Dist-Ahmednagar 413736, India (MS). E mail-nachiket1111@rediffmail.com