Sickle cell haemoglobinopathy and Schistosoma mansoni infection

ABSTRACT

Since the blood fluke, Schistosoma mansoni apparently utilizes host haemoglobin as a major nutrient, the question was raised as to whether the parasite will develop and function normally in hosts with abnormal haemoglobins. When a 13 year old negro girl with heavy schistosome infection was found to have sickle cell anaemia, her parents and four siblings were exammined. Quantitative faecal egg counts were also peformed on five additional patients with sickle cell anaemia. Furthermore, the prevalence of schistosomiasis in a group of 147 urban children and the faecal egg output of 103 rural children with and without sickle cell trait was studied. The data indicate that sickle cell haemoglobinopathy has no influence on either the prevalence of shchistosomiasis or the degree of infection as estimated by stool egg count (AU)