CIRCULATING ANODIC AND CATHODIC ANTIGEN IN SERUM AND URINE OF MIXED SCHISTOSOMA-HAEMATOBIUM AND SCHISTOSOMA-MANSONI INFECTIONS IN OFFICE DUNIGER, MALI

In Office du Niger, an area endemic for both Schistosoma haematobium a nd S. mansoni in Mali, circulating anodic (CAA) and cathodic (CCA) ant igen detection assays were performed on pretreatment serum and urine s amples from two villages, Rigande and Siguivouce, and compared with eg g counting methods. The highest prevalence was obtained with the urine -CCA assay which also had the highest sensitivity to S. haematobium, S . mansoni or mixed infection. A single urine-CCA assay was as sensitiv e as repeated egg counts (one stool + two urine examinations per indiv idual). When the different assays were tested in parallel, several com binations including assays on serum were found to be highly sensitive. As urine sampling is widely accepted, urine assays will be used for f urther monitoring these villages one and two years after chemotherapy.