Individual predisposition, household clustering and risk factors for human infection with Ascaris lumbricoides: new epidemiological insights.
Much of our current understanding of the epidemiology of Ascaris lumbricoides infections in humans has been acquired by analyzing worm count data. These data are collected by treating infected individuals with anthelmintics so that worms are expelled intact from the gastrointestinal tract. Analysis...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9e78c0b221f4400eae49b873685e3a5f 2023-05-15T15:12:27+02:00 Individual predisposition, household clustering and risk factors for human infection with Ascaris lumbricoides: new epidemiological insights. Martin Walker Andrew Hall María-Gloria Basáñez 2011-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001047 https://doaj.org/article/9e78c0b221f4400eae49b873685e3a5f EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3082514?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001047 https://doaj.org/article/9e78c0b221f4400eae49b873685e3a5f PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 5, Iss 4, p e1047 (2011) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001047 2022-12-31T03:38:22Z Much of our current understanding of the epidemiology of Ascaris lumbricoides infections in humans has been acquired by analyzing worm count data. These data are collected by treating infected individuals with anthelmintics so that worms are expelled intact from the gastrointestinal tract. Analysis of such data established that individuals are predisposed to infection with few or many worms and members of the same household tend to harbor similar numbers of worms. These effects, known respectively as individual predisposition and household clustering, are considered characteristic of the epidemiology of ascariasis. The mechanisms behind these phenomena, however, remain unclear. In particular, the impact of heterogeneous individual exposures to infectious stages has not been thoroughly explored.Bayesian methods were used to fit a three-level hierarchical statistical model to A. lumbricoides worm counts derived from a three-round chemo-expulsion study carried out in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The effects of individual predisposition, household clustering and household covariates of the numbers of worms per host (worm burden) were considered simultaneously. Individual predisposition was found to be of limited epidemiological significance once household clustering had been accounted for. The degree of intra-household variability among worm burdens was found to be reduced by approximately 58% when household covariates were included in the model. Covariates relating to decreased affluence and quality of housing construction were associated with a statistically significant increase in worm burden.Heterogeneities in the exposure of individuals to infectious eggs have an important role in the epidemiology of A. lumbricoides infection. The household covariates identified as being associated with worm burden provide valuable insights into the source of these heterogeneities although above all emphasize and reiterate that infection with A. lumbricoides is inextricably associated with acute poverty. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 5 4 e1047 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
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English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Martin Walker Andrew Hall María-Gloria Basáñez Individual predisposition, household clustering and risk factors for human infection with Ascaris lumbricoides: new epidemiological insights. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Much of our current understanding of the epidemiology of Ascaris lumbricoides infections in humans has been acquired by analyzing worm count data. These data are collected by treating infected individuals with anthelmintics so that worms are expelled intact from the gastrointestinal tract. Analysis of such data established that individuals are predisposed to infection with few or many worms and members of the same household tend to harbor similar numbers of worms. These effects, known respectively as individual predisposition and household clustering, are considered characteristic of the epidemiology of ascariasis. The mechanisms behind these phenomena, however, remain unclear. In particular, the impact of heterogeneous individual exposures to infectious stages has not been thoroughly explored.Bayesian methods were used to fit a three-level hierarchical statistical model to A. lumbricoides worm counts derived from a three-round chemo-expulsion study carried out in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The effects of individual predisposition, household clustering and household covariates of the numbers of worms per host (worm burden) were considered simultaneously. Individual predisposition was found to be of limited epidemiological significance once household clustering had been accounted for. The degree of intra-household variability among worm burdens was found to be reduced by approximately 58% when household covariates were included in the model. Covariates relating to decreased affluence and quality of housing construction were associated with a statistically significant increase in worm burden.Heterogeneities in the exposure of individuals to infectious eggs have an important role in the epidemiology of A. lumbricoides infection. The household covariates identified as being associated with worm burden provide valuable insights into the source of these heterogeneities although above all emphasize and reiterate that infection with A. lumbricoides is inextricably associated with acute poverty. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Martin Walker Andrew Hall María-Gloria Basáñez |
author_facet |
Martin Walker Andrew Hall María-Gloria Basáñez |
author_sort |
Martin Walker |
title |
Individual predisposition, household clustering and risk factors for human infection with Ascaris lumbricoides: new epidemiological insights. |
title_short |
Individual predisposition, household clustering and risk factors for human infection with Ascaris lumbricoides: new epidemiological insights. |
title_full |
Individual predisposition, household clustering and risk factors for human infection with Ascaris lumbricoides: new epidemiological insights. |
title_fullStr |
Individual predisposition, household clustering and risk factors for human infection with Ascaris lumbricoides: new epidemiological insights. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Individual predisposition, household clustering and risk factors for human infection with Ascaris lumbricoides: new epidemiological insights. |
title_sort |
individual predisposition, household clustering and risk factors for human infection with ascaris lumbricoides: new epidemiological insights. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001047 https://doaj.org/article/9e78c0b221f4400eae49b873685e3a5f |
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Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
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Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 5, Iss 4, p e1047 (2011) |
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http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3082514?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001047 https://doaj.org/article/9e78c0b221f4400eae49b873685e3a5f |
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001047 |
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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