Immunodiagnostic tests for bilharziasis. III. Serodiagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium. Infection and influence of chemotherapy on immunodiagnostic tests
Umaly, R.C.; Oelerich, S.; Haas, J.
Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie 25(4): 422-432
1974
ISSN/ISBN: 0303-4208 PMID: 4216997 Document Number: 71242
The sera of Schistosoma haematobium egg positive and egg negative (but with history of possible exposure) patients from a hospital in Liberia were tested with various schistosome antigens and serological reactions for confirmation of diagnosis and evaluation of chemotherapy. The decreasing order of sensitivity of reactions among parasitologically confirmed vesical schistosomiasis cases was as follows: Cercarienhullenreaktion (CHR), Indirect Immunofluorescence (IIF), Indirect Haemagglutination (IHA), Complement Fixation test (CFT) and double GellDiffusion test (DGD). The majority of the patients had concomitant helminthic infections such as hookworm, Ascaris, Trichuris and Onchocerca. In such cases, only the IHA with cercarial antigen can clearly show the presence of schistosome infection. It was only in cases where presence of other helminthic infections can be eliminated that CHR, IIF and IHA with adult schistosome antigens are equally efficient in detecting schistosome infections. The use of the heterologous Fasciola antigens in IHA and CFT for the diagnosis of vesical schistosomiasis in this population was not recommended because of the high percentage of positive reactions even among the S. haematobium egg negative cases. There was a tendancy for the number of positive reactions in the various serological tests among treated cases to increase within 30 days after therapy and then gradually decline. The persistence of positive reactions within the period of investigation limited the use of these tests for evaluating the efficacy of therapy. With the exception of results in CHR, IIF and IHA among cases with haematuria, no definite relation between other clinical symptoms such as liver and spleen enlargement or degree of anaemia and results of serological tests could be established. [AS].