Subsequently, it is believed that schistosomiasis have spread to Egypt as a result of the importation of monkeys and slaves during reign of the fifth dynasty of pharaohs (~ 2494–2345 BC).Schistosomiasis is known as bilharzia or bilharziosis in many countries, after German physician Theodor Bilharz, who first described the cause of urinary schistosomiasis in 1851.The first physician who described the entire disease cycle was the Brazilian parasitologist Pirajá da Silva in 1908. The earliest known case of infection was discovered in 2014, belonging to a child who lived 6,200 years ago.It was a common cause of death for Egyptians in the Greco-Roman Period.In 2016 more than 200 million people needed treatment but only 88 million people were actually treated for schistosomiasis. Etymology
Schistosomiasis is named for the genus of parasitic flatworm Schistosoma, whose name means split body. The name Bilharzia comes from Theodor Bilharz, a German pathologist working in Egypt in 1851 who first discovered these worms. Society and culture
Schistosomiasis is endemic in Egypt, exacerbated by the countrys dam and irrigation projects along the Nile. From the late 1950s through the early 1980s, infected villagers were treated with repeated injections of tartar emetic. Epidemiological evidence suggests that this campaign unintentionally contributed to the spread of hepatitis C via unclean needles. Egypt has the worlds highest hepatitis C infection rate, and the infection rates in various regions of the country closely track the timing and intensity of the anti-schistosomiasis campaign.
Pathogenesis
The infectious stage starts when the free-swimming larval form of the schistosome, cercariae, penetrates the human skin using their suckers, proteolytic enzymes, and tail movements; the cercariae transformed into schistosomulae by losing its tail and subsequently travels to the heart and lungs through venous system until it eventually reach the liver where it will mature into the adult form. The diseases caused by the schistomes are characterized into acute schistosomiasis and chronic schistosomiasis, and they can vary dependent on the species of schistosome.Acute Infection

Minutes to days after initial infection:
Cercerial dermatitis (Swimmers itch) - swimmers itch is caused by a localized allergic reaction at the sites of skin penetration by the cercariae causing an inflammatory reaction that is characterized by itchy red pimples and blisters. Few weeks to months after initial infection:
Acute Schistosomiasis (Katayamas Fever) - the exact pathophysiology of this disease remains unknown. It has been hypothesized to be caused by a systemic immune response due to immune complex formation (Type III hypersensivity) with the foreign antigens on the migratory schistosomula and the eggs, and the subsequent deposition of these complexes on various tissues leading to activation of an autoimmune response. Acute schistosomiasis caused by S. mansoni and S. haematobium generally affect people who have been infected for the first time such as tourists visiting endemic regions. In contrast, cases of acute schistosomiasis caused by S. japonicum can occur in reinfection to population who reside in endemic regions, and they occur in higher incidences and can have worse prognosis.