Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

Schistosoma is a parasitic worm that circulates between human and snail hosts. Multiple biological and ecological factors contribute to its spread and persistence in host populations. The infection is widespread in many tropical countries, and WHO has made control of schistosomiasis a priority among neglected tropical diseases.Mathematical modeling is widely used for prediction and control analysis of infectious agents. But host-parasite systems with complex life-cycles like Schistosoma, pose many challenges. The talk will outline the basic biology of Schistosoma, and the principles employed in mathematical modeling of macro parasites. We shall review conventional approaches to Schistosomiasis starting with the classical work of MacDonald, and discuss their validity and implications. Then we shall outline more detailed “stratified worm burden approach”, and show how combining mathematical and computer tools one can explore real-world systems and make reliable predictions for long term control outcomes and the problem of elimination.