ANTI-SCHISTOSOME IGG4 AND IGE AT 2 YEARS AFTER CHEMOTHERAPY - INFECTED VERSUS UNINFECTED INDIVIDUALS

Specific IgG4 and IgE responses to adult worm antigen (AWA) and solubl e egg antigen (SEA) were examined in 37 subjects from an area in which schistosomiasis is endemic, who were previously infected with Schisto soma haematobium and who became reinfected or remained free of infecti on 2 years after chemotherapy, The reinfected group was significantly younger (median age, 11 years) than the uninfected group (median age, 24 years). Posttreatment levels of IgG4 to egg antigens (IgG4-SEA) wer e significantly correlated with reinfection intensity (r = .74, P < .0 001), and 13-fold lower levels of IgG4-SEA were observed in uninfected subjects compared with reinfected subjects. Although no correlation w as observed between posttreatment IgE to AWA or to SEA, pretreatment I gE-AWA was inversely correlated with the level of reinfection (r = -.3 9, P = .02).