Interaction of different load of schistosoma mansoni in mice

The present study proved that all mice could be infected when exposed to 50 cercariae or more per mouse. The number of worms recovered is directly proportional to the exposed cercariae, but the number decreases with the increase of age of infection. The recovery rate is considerably less in mice exposed to high number of cercariae than in those exposed to low number. More than 83% of the worms were found in porto-mesentric viens of mice two months after infection. In lightly infected mice, the worms showed more shift to the liver as the age of infection increased from two to three months. The length of worms increased significantly with the increase of the age of infection from two to three months in group of animal exposed to 25 cercariae / mouse. In groups of mice exposed to 100, 200, and 300 cercariae / mouse, the worms were more or less of the same length. The number of ova retained in the liver and intestine increased with the increase in the number of worm load and the time of patency