Dr. Palmer et al., IGG4 RESPONSES TO ANTIGENS OF ADULT NECATOR-AMERICANUS - POTENTIAL FOR USE IN LARGE-SCALE EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 74(4), 1996, pp. 381-386
Described is an epidemiological investigation of hookworm infections i
n a rural community in Zimbabwe, where Necator americanus is the only
human helminth species present. Among a cohort of 120 individuals the
overall prevalence of infection was 78%. Intensity of infection was qu
antified both as egg counts (range: 0-2563 eggs per g of stool) and wo
rm burden (range: 0-100 worms). Although both these measures provide u
seful quantitative data, they are tedious to determine in large-scale
epidemiological studies and may present social and logistic difficulti
es. As an alternative screening method, we therefore investigated isot
ype-specific responses to adult worm antigens of N. americanus. The re
sults show that specific IgG4 responses correlate positively and signi
ficantly with both measures of intensify and may be a useful marker of
hookworm infection.