USAID's NTD Program

Schistosomiasis

Diagnosis

The gold standard for schistosomiasis diagnostic is to demonstrate parasite eggs in the patient's stool for intestinal schistosomiasis or in urine for urinary schistosomiasis. The examination of stool and urine requires use of a microscope.¹

Urinary schistosomiasis also can be detected based on the presence of gross or micro hematuria. This diagnostic study has been validated for school age children. Therefore, diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis is easy and can be done in the field with a urine dipstick, a rapid diagnostic test.² Within one minute, the dipstick detects blood in the urine, the most common manifestation of urinary schistosomiasis.

Learn more about schistosomiasis:

• Epidemiology
• Life Cycle
• Symptoms
• Treatment, Prevention, and Control
• Back to Schistosomiasis Overview

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References

1. WHO. Bench Aids for the diagnosis of intestinal parasites (1994). World Health Organization, Geneva
2. WHO. Basic Laboratory Methods in Medical Parasitology (1991). World Health Organization, Geneva.