CIRCULATING ANODIC AND CATHODIC ANTIGEN IN SERUM AND URINE FROM SCHISTOSOMA-HAEMATOBIUM - INFECTED CAMEROONIAN CHILDREN RECEIVING PRAZIQUANTEL - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

A cohort of 148 Cameroonian children infected with Schistosoma haemato bium was followed before praziquantel therapy and 1, 2, 3, 5, and 12 m onths thereafter. Egg output, the reagent strip index (RSI, a patholog ical marker), and circulating anodic antigen (CAA) and circulating cat hodic antigen (CCA) in serum and urine were quantified. At enrollment, the median level of egg output was 365/10 mL of urine; 97% of childre n had a positive RSI; CAA was detected in serum from 76% of children a nd in urine from 64%; and CCA was detected in serum from 55% of childr en and in urine from 87%. Two months after chemotherapy, egg output an d RSI had decreased significantly; reinfection later developed in para llel with increases in the serum and urine concentrations of CAA and t he urine concentrations of CCA. The measurement of CAA and CCA is usef ul for diagnosis, evaluation of disease severity, and follow-up of che motherapy in individuals infected with S. haematobium.