[Urinary schistosomiasis in ancient Egypt]

Abstract

First described by Theodor Bilharz in 1851, Schistosoma haematobium, the worm responsible for urinary schistosomiasis, was a major health problem along the Nile Valley until the present days. Haematuria, the main symptom of this parasitic disease, was known and treated in Egyptian medical papyri since 1550 B.C. A relationship between haematuria and the god Seth was envisaged. Sir Marc Armand Ruffer, pioneer of paleopathology, found (1910) calcified Schistosoma eggs in Egyptian mummies of the xxth dynasty, establishing that bilharzia plagued ancient Egypt people. The ELISA method demonstrated the Schistosoma circulating anodic antigen in 45% of mummies studied.