Single sex cercariae ofSchistosoma mansoni, a comparison of male and female infectivity

Abstract

Over 90% ofSchistosoma haematobiumandS. mansoniinfections show a dominance of male worms in experimental animals. Male: female ratios as high as 5: 1 are common inS. haematobium(Ghana) infections and 1·5: 1 is a typical ratio inS. mansoniinfections. The male parasite seems to be more successful than the female in reaching maturity. To test this theory experiments were set up to compare the infectivity of male and female cercariae.