WITH the La Niña season in full swing, flooding will be expected in drainage-challenged areas in our city and in other cities in the country; particularly, the large metropolitan cities. Consequently with flooding, schistosomiasis is also expected to rise.

As of today, schistosomiasis is still classified as a neglected tropical disease because pharmaceutical companies continue to be slow in developing drugs to treat it. It is caused by several soil-dwelling and water-borne parasites of the genus Schistosoma. So far, the most renowned pathogenic species in the genus are S. mansoni and S. haematobium.

Schistosomiasis is also an established cause of some cancers in the bladder, colon (initial part of the large intestine), rectum (the final segment of the large intestine) and kidneys. It is because of the action of the Schistosoma eggs, which, when residing in human tissues in long infections causes sustained tissue inflammation—that eventually causes mutation in the inflamed cells. This phenomenon is observed in endemic localities.

However, a recent study published last December 2018 in Analytical Cellular Pathology, indicated that schistosomiasis might also cause prostate cancer. The study was reported by six medical researchers at the University of Ghana: Isaac Tuffour, Irene Ayi, Theresa Manful Gwira, Edward Dumashie, Yvonne Ashong and Regina Appiah-Opong. It is so in the case of Galilea, a community located along the Densu Lake in the Ga South District of Ghana in the Greater Accra Region.

The study found that a minimum of 12.5 microgram per milliliter of soluble Schistosoma egg antigen can stimulate a strong increase in the number of prostate cells, while reducing the ability of the body to cause apoptosis against these prostate cells. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies S. haematobium as a “Group 1 biocarcinogen.”

Since apoptosis is the primary defense mechanism of the body to destroy cancer cells, the implication of the finding points to the possibility that once prostate cancer cells develop, the body will have difficulty in defending itself against the proliferation of these cancer cells.

Research literature had established that 99 percent of prostate cancer cases occur among men at the age of 50. Prominent symptoms include blood in urine, frequent and painful urination and sexual dysfunction, particularly erection difficulty and painful ejaculation.

In areas with high prevalence of schistosomiasis, schistosomiasis eggs had been found in 50 percent of the examined prostates and seminal vesicles, and 20 percent of those died from schistosomiasis infection.

Thus, Cebuano and Filipino males, keep away from floodwaters.