PATHOGENETIC FACTORS OF ACUTE SCHISTOSOMIASIS-MANSONI - CORRELATION OF WORM BURDEN, IGE, BLOOD EOSINOPHILIA AND INTENSITY OF CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS

A clinical study of 34 previously healthy young patients simultaneousl y infected in an endemic area of schistosomiasis mansoni is presented, emphasizing the initial phase of the infection. Its intensity was est ablished according to the occurrence, intensity, and duration of the s igns and symptoms in order to investigate the possible correlations be tween the worm burden (estimated by the number of eggs in faeces), the blood eosinophilia and specific levels of IgE (estimated by the area of immediate intradermal reaction), with the clinical manifestations. A significant but low-level association was found between the worm bur den and morbidity, suggesting that multiple factors, besides worm burd en itself, may contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease.