Evidence for predisposition in humans to infection with Ascaris, hookworm, Enterobius and Trichuris in a South Indian fishing community

Abstract

Studies of patterns of reinfection with four species of intestinal nematodes (Ascaris, hookworm, Trichuris and Enterobius) in 174 individual patients following chemotherapeutic treatment revealed statistical evidence for predisposition to heavy or light infection (relative to the average level in the overall population). Analyses of associations between the abundances of the four species of nematodes within a combined sample of 525 worm burdens showed significant correlations between 5 out of the 6 possible pair-wise comparisons between species. The relevance of these results to the design of control programmes based on chemotherapeutic application is discussed.

Factores de riesgo de la infección por Giardia lamblia en niños de guarderías infantiles de Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba

“…La predisposición de los seres humanos a las infecciones helmínticas intestinales ha sido bien descrita (Anderson, 1986;Haswell-Elkins et al, 1987;Morales et al, 1999;Núñez et al, 1996). Estos autores señalan que en las comunidades humanas existen unos pocos individuos que albergan las cargas helmínticas más elevadas, por lo que constituyen un grupo de suma importancia debido a su papel como contaminadores del ambiente.…”

Co-infection withOnchocerca volvulusandLoa loamicrofilariae in central Cameroon: are these two species interacting?

“…Increasing empirical evidence supports the notion that host infection with one helminth species can influence the outcome of infection with other helminths (Haswell-Elkins, Elkins and Anderson, 1987 ;Booth et al 1998 ;Behnke et al 2001 ;Cox, 2001 ;Howard, Donnelly and Chan, 2001 ;Lello et al 2004 ;Faulkner et al 2005), with recent theoretical studies investigating the possible nature of such interactions (Bottomley, Isham and Basáñ ez, 2005). Though human co-infection by L. loa and O. volvulus raises important public health concern, to our knowledge, the association at individual host level between these two species has not been adequately assessed.…”

Geographic distribution and epidemiology of Oesophagostomum bifurcum and hookworm infections in humans in Togo.

“…This pattern of prevalence is typical for intestinal nematode helminth parasites in communities with stable endemic infection, 6 and resembles those reported elsewhere for hookworm infections. [7][8][9] Differences in prevalence and intensity of infection could be due to agedependent transmission, acquired resistance, or a combination of the two processes. 6 Unlike other helminth infections, there does not seem to be a correlation between worm load and pathology with O. bifurcum, but intensity of infection is a more precise parameter to quantify infection and transmission than prevalence of infection alone.…”