Among the three main schistosomes (Schistosoma japonicum, Schistosoma mansoni, and Schistosoma haematobium) known to infect humans, S. japonicum causes the most serious pathological lesions. In China, only
schistosomiasis japonica is transmitted. From the 1950s, massive epidemiological investigations and active control measures for
schistosomiasis japonica have been carried out. At the early stage of
schistosomiasis control program, there were about 12 million
schistosomiasis patients, and about 5% of
schistosomiasis patients belong to advanced patients, which was 600,000. After more than a half century of active
schistosomiasis control work, the
schistosomiasis situation has been reduced markedly. The nearest epidemiological investigation showed that, by the end of 2012, there were still 240,000
schistosomiasis patients with the descent rate of 98% and 30,000 advanced patients with the descent rate of 95%. This paper reviews the rich experiences of advanced
schistosomiasis research and control in China, including that the epidemiology researches confirm there is a family aggregation of advanced
schistosomiasis and advanced
schistosomiasis patients have no significance to the
schistosomiasis transmission in transmission-interrupted areas but still are an
infection source in endemic areas; pathogenic mechanism researches verify that genetic factors and immunoregulation play important roles in the disease developing process; ultrasound image examinations are used not only in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of advanced
schistosomiasis but also in the guidance of treatment and evaluation of
therapeutic effects and, furthermore, in the risk predictions of
portal hypertension and upper
gastrointestinal hemorrhage; clinical practices demonstrate that
praziquantel can be used in most of advanced
schistosomiasis patients, and the
therapy not only can interrupt the
schistosomiasis transmission somewhat but also is favorable for
liver fibrosis improvement; the ascetic fluid concentration afflux is used in the
therapy for obstinate
ascites, and endoscopic
varices ligation is used in the treatment of upper gastrointestinal
bleeding, and both have good effects; hundreds and thousands of severe
splenomegaly advanced
schistosomiasis patients received
splenectomy, and the long-term survival rate is more than 90%, most of them are basically cured from the disease and their labor force recovers, some dwarf patients begin growing and developing again, and some sterile women became fertile; the researches of
traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of
liver fibrosis have made progress, such as Cordyceps sinensis showing some anti-
fibrosis effect in the animal experiments and primary clinical trials; the animal experiments and epidemiological investigations indicate that schistosome
infection is one of the
carcinogenesis risk factors, especially for
liver cancer. In conclusion, these experiences and lessons are plentiful and worth sharing with the peers of other endemic countries for reference.