Acute schistosomiasis diagnosis: a new tool for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis in a group of travelers recently infected in a new focus of Schistosoma mansoni

• Main Authors: Rafaella Fortini Queiroz Grenfell, Watson Martins, Sandra Costa Drummond, Carlos Maurício de Figueiredo Antunes, Izabela Voieta, Alba Otoni, Áureo Almeida de Oliveira, Vanessa Silva-Moraes, Eduardo Ribeiro de Oliveira, Edward Oliveira, José Roberto Lambertucci, Cristina Toscano Fonseca, Paulo Marcos Zech Coelho
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2013
• Subjects: Schistosomiasis mansoni; Immunological diagnosis; Schistosomula antigens; Acute outbreak; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/81b528c866d64ef3a13a2af2e31d4cef

Introduction The diagnosis of schistosomiasis mansoni on early stages of infection is important to prevent late morbidity. A simple, cheap, sensitive and specific assay for routine diagnosis of schistosome infection based on the detection of specific IgG for schistosomula tegument antigens (ELISA-SmTeg) was developed by our group. Methods We describe here an acute outbreak involving a travel group of 80 individuals from a non-endemic area of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. These individuals were in contact with a freshwater pool where Biomphalaria glabrata was found. Results obtained from our new methodology were compared to IgG antibody titers against soluble worm antigenic preparation (SWAP) by ELISA and, also to parasitological examination, nuclear magnetic resonance and clinical findings. Results ELISA-SmTeg was capable of detecting 64 positive cases among the 80 individuals participating at the survey with a positivity ratio of 80% and a higher sensitivity than ELISA-SWAP that was only sensitive for 56% of positive cases. Besides, a significant correlation was found for the severity of the infection and the specific IgG titers against SmTeg. Conclusions Our data showed that ELISA-SmTeg might serve as the initial diagnostic tool for acute stages of the infection in community-based helminth control programs or for the surveillance of individuals from non-endemic areas.