The dynamics of a soluble egg antigen of Schistosoma haematobium in relation to egg counts, circulating anodic and cathodic antigens and pathology markers before and after chemotherapy
✍ Scribed by A.I. Kahama; P.G. Kremsner; G.J. van Dam; A.M. Deelder
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 692 KB
- Volume
- 92
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0035-9203
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A cohort of Schistosoma haematobium infected schoolchildren from Cameroon (n=146) was studied for urine circulating soluble egg antigen (SEA), in comparison to other urine infection parameters: the circulating adult worm-derived antigens, circulating anodic and cathodic antigens (CAA and CCA), egg counts and the reagent strip index (RSI). Before treatment, SEA prevalence was 90%, while 89% and 65% of the children were positive for CCA and CAA respectively.The children were treated with 2 doses of praziquantel (2x40 mg/kg bodyweight) at an interval of 10 days and followed-up at 1, 2, 3, 5 and 12 months after treatment. Urine SEA correlated significantly with egg counts and RSI; levels of CAA and CCA were also significantly correlated with those of SEA. The levels of SEA showed a better correlation to both egg counts and RSI than did the levels of CAA and CCA. SEA levels dropped sharply 1 month after treatment, with few children excreting any SEA whereas egg counts decreased less rapidly.The prevalence and levels of SEA remained low during the whole post-treatment period whereas egg counts, RSI and CCA in urine rose progressively in the post-treatment period with a final egg count prevalence of 78%. The results of the present study indicate that for S. haematobium infections, measurement of SEA in urine is a valuable additional diagnostic parameter.