At this point, the only way to avoid ceracial dermatitis is to avoid
contact with contaminated water. Shortening the time of exposure to the
water and drying off after exposure may help reduce the risk of developing
the rash. In the past several lakes in the United States applied copper
sulfate, a moulluscide, to kill the intermediate snail hosts and thus
interrupt transmission. However, this method is becoming less desirable
since it is unknown what the long term consequences of using this chemical
may be on the ecology of the lake. Another methods currently being tried
is treating birds with anithelthminic medication, essentially trying to
interrupt transmission via birds. However, these projects are difficult
and costly to maintain, and the sheer volume of different types of
schistosomes that can cause cercarial dermatitis make it difficult to
control.
