Journal
PARASITOLOGY
Volume 120, Issue -, Pages 37-44Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0031182099005156
Keywords
antibody; cercaria; epidemiology; schistosomiasis; water contact; Zimbabwe
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Behavioural, parasitological and immunological data were obtained from 48 children up to 6 years old, resident in a Schistosoma haematobium endemic area in Zimbabwe. The children averaged more than 1 contact with infective water bodies every 3 days and all showed immunological evidence of exposure (an anti-cercarial and/or anti-egg antibody response). IgM was the dominant isotype and appeared in the youngest children, followed by IgA, IgE and IgG3. However, only 38 children showed evidence of infection (an anti-egg response or eggs in urine) and only 14 were excreting eggs. The best estimates from these data are that less than 1 in 100 contacts result in infection and less than 1 in 1000 result in egg output. This suggests that there may be substantial attrition of invading cercaria even in naive individuals.
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