CYTOKINE INTERACTION AND IMMUNE-RESPONSES DURING SCHISTOSOMA-MANSONI INFECTION

Of the estimated 200 million people infected with Schistosoma, a subse t develop severe life-threatening disease. Adult Schistosoma mansoni a re refractory to the immune response and are long-lived, causing chron ic exposure to parasite antigen. Although the adult worms themselves a re not antigenically inert, it is the parasite eggs that, by accumulat ing in the liver and traversing the intestinal wall, place a complex s eries of often-conflicting demands on the host's immune system. In thi s article, Laura Rosa Brunet, David Dunne and Edward Pearce discuss da ta from experimental studies in the mouse and field studies in endemic areas that combine to suggest that it is a failure to juggle this imm unological conflict that results in severe disease.