Infant schistosomiasis in Ghana: a survey in an irrigation community.
We used a rapid, visually read, field applicable monoclonal antibody (MoAb)-dipstick assay for specific diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis together with microscopy to determine the prevalence of infant schistosomiasis in a community in the Awutu-Efutu Senya District in the Central Region of Ghana. The study group consisted of 97 infants (51 males and 46 females) aged 2 months to 5 years. A total of 75 of 97 (77.3%) subjects submitted stool samples; none had Schistosoma mansoni. Three individuals (3.1%) had hookworms but there were no other intestinal helminths. The urinary schistosomiasis prevalence by MoAb-dipstick (30%) was higher (P < 0.05) than that estimated by microscopy (11.2%). However, three of nine (33.3%) microscopically confirmed cases tested MoAb-dipstick positive after pre-treatment of the urine specimen with heat. The youngest infant to be found infected with S. haematobium microscopically was 4 months old. Fifteen of 71 S. haematobium egg negative individuals tested dipstick positive, giving a dipstick specificity of 78.9% as compared with microscopy as gold standard test. The relative sensitivity of the dipstick was 100%.
Parasitology Unit, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana.
K M
KM
Bosompem
Irene A
IA
Bentum
J
J
Otchere
W K
WK
Anyan
C A
CA
Brown
Y
Y
Osada
S
S
Takeo
S
S
Kojima
N
N
Ohta
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D015995:Prevalence; D011934:Reagent Strips; D012553:Schistosomiasis haematobia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014867:Water / Q000469:parasitology; D014881:Water Supply
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D011934:Reagent Strips; D014867:Water