Red propolis can be used to treat schistosomiasis

O National Afternoon – Amazon this Monday (5) talked about the most recent experiments at the University of Guarulhos (UNG) with red propolis to help in the treatment against schistosomiasis. In an interview with the program, Juliana Maya talked to the professor and creator of the research, Josué de Moraes, who presented an overview of the main parasitic disease in the world.

According to him, “in the world there are approximately 250 million people with schistosomiasis. When I say this high number, we already imagine that it is superior to the Brazilian population. And it (the disease) represents a major problem in public health because the main sequel of it is its chronic form. So, people do not realize that they are infected and with that we have a strong obstacle in the economic development of many countries “, observes the interviewee, in view of the impact generated in more than 70 countries that are victims of the disease.

Propolis is well known for its bactericidal and antifungal powers in different regions around the world. Hence, the idea arose to take a Brazilian propolis, which is red, to see if it would also have an antiparasitic function. In the UNG laboratory, the culture tests also showed the effects of red propolis in making mating and the production of worm eggs unfeasible.

In the interview, Josué says that the scenario in Brazil has already improved a lot. But there are still an estimated 3 million people with schistosomiasis. Also called the disease of poverty, the treatment of the disease would have only one drug, according to the researcher who has a Nucleus for Research in Neglected Diseases at the university.

Listen to the full interview at player above.