ABSTRACT
A cohort study was conducted in Hubei Province, China, following serious flooding of the Yangtze River in the autumn of 1998 to investigate the possibility of congenital transmission of Schistosoma japonicum in humans. The cohort investigated was comprised of 205 women and their 208 infants born between 1 September and 30 December 1998. Blood and fecal samples from all the women and their infants were collected and examined for S. japonicum infection. Positive specific antibody titers were found in 14 (6.8%) of the mothers, but no fecal egg excretion was observed. All infants had negative specific antibody titers and no S. japonicum eggs were found in their feces. Hence, the present study coud not confirm congenital S. japonicum transmission in humans. Further studies are highly wanted to study the impact of prenatal exposure of S. japonicum on the offspring.
Subject(s)
Animals , China/epidemiology , Cohort Studies , Disasters , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Epidemiologic Studies , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Male , Schistosoma japonicum/isolation & purification , Schistosomiasis/epidemiology , Water MicrobiologyABSTRACT
An improved laboratory method was developed for counting Schistosoma japonicum eggs in pig feces, which involves filtration, sedimentation and centrifugation, but avoids toxic chemicals. It is sensitive, allows easy differentiation from similar-sized and shaped protozoan cysts, and permits evaluation of egg viability both by direct viewing of eggs and miracidial hatching. It was found to be significantly better at recovering eggs than the modified Bell filtration technic. The sensitivity, specificity and practicality of this technic make it our method of choice for studies on porcine schistosomiasis japonica.