Biomarkers of chronic schistosome infection and related pathologies: a scoping review

Over 250 million people worldwide are affected by schistosome infections with the majority of cases occurring in Africa. The severe morbidity associated to the disease is mainly attributed to the manifestations of chronic infections, but their diagnosis is complicated. With the shifting priorities of the World Health Organization from control to disease elimination, the burden management of chronic consequences of schistosome infections are becoming central and require paradigm shifts to prevent neglected health and social disparities associated to the infection. Thus, there is a critical need for improved diagnostic (or prognostic) methods for chronic schistosome infections and their related pathologies to ameliorate the life of affected individuals. Previous reviews have predominantly focused on literature assessing active schistosome infections; the few touching upon chronic schistosome infections have either focused on specific manifestations (for example, hepatosplenic schistosomiasis) or specific methodologies (for example, metabolomics). This scoping review, thus, aims to give a broad overview of potential biomarkers for chronic manifestations of schistosomiasis to inform and guide future research for the establishment of more appropriate care for the disease.