The Penetration-Time for the Cercariae of Schistosoma Japonicum

Abstract

Summary It has been demonstrated that near-maximum infections of Schistosoma japonicum can be achieved with three minute exposures terminated with immediate drying. For mice the recovery of cercariae as adults was 52.0 per cent, while for hamsters, 97.7 per cent. For all exposures under three minutes, only mimimal recovery of cercariae was achieved. Infections occurred in mice and hamsters after contact periods as short as 10 and 30 seconds, respectively, and such periods were highly effective when air-drying followed.