The prevalence of helminth infection in Ban Nanin, Laos: additional data.

During investigation into opisthorchiasis and other food-borne helminthiases carried out in Laos, inhabitants of the village of Ban Nanin in central Laos were coprologically examined. Results of this examination have already been published by some of us (Pholsena et aI, 1991). The authors designated all small fluke eggs found in stool samples as Opisthorchis viverrini. However, the subsequent evaluation of material and data obtained in the Ban Nanin village supported the assump­ tion about probable absence of O. viverrini at this locality. The examination of sera, using western blotting, enabled differentiation of antibodies against Opisthorchis and Haplorchis antigens. Antibodies in all sera of inhabitants of the village of Ban Nanin, reacting in high titers against O. viverrini and H. taichui antigens in ELISA, were identified as specific exclusively against Hap/orchis (Ditrich et ai, unpublished).