BACKGROUND Chemokines have been reported to play an important role in granulomatous inflammation during Schistosoma mansoni infection. However there is less information on their role in Schistosoma haematobium infection, or on the effect of concurrent HIV-1 infection, as a potential modifying influence. METHODS To determine levels of MIP-1alpha/CCL3 chemokine in plasma of S. haematobium and H...

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis in urban and peri-urban Kariba. DESIGN A cross sectional schistosomiasis survey involving screening people for infection and searching for intermediate host snails. SETTING Lake Kariba Research Station, Zimbabwe. SUBJECTS One thousand and seventy three people living in four residential areas of Kariba were screened for...

BACKGROUND In an effort to enhance accuracy of diagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium, this study explores day-to-day variability and diagnostic performance of real-time PCR for detection and quantification of Schistosoma DNA compared to other diagnostic tools in an endemic area before and after treatment. METHODOLOGY Previously collected urine samples (N = 390) from 114 preselected proven para...

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of a decade of biennial mass administration of praziquantel on schistosomiasis in school-age children in Burkina Faso. METHODS In 2013, in a national assessment based on 22 sentinel sites, 3514 school children aged 7-11 years were checked for Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma mansoni infection by the examination of urine and stool samples, respectively. We...

BACKGROUND Minimal information on the genome and proteome of Schistosoma haematobium is available, in marked contrast to the situation with the other major species of human schistosomes for which draft genome sequences have been reported. Accordingly, little is known about functional genomics in S. haematobium, including the utility or not of RNA interference techniques that, if available, prom...

The teguments of Schistosoma haematobium males from three localities in the Eastern Transvaal and one in the eastern Caprivi were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy. Eastern Transvaal S. haematobium, which occurs sympatrically with S. mattheei, a bovine schistosome also infecting man and which hybridizes with S. haematobium, exhibited certain S. mattheei characteristics. The occur...

We evaluated two novel, portable microscopes and locally acquired, single-ply, paper towels as filter paper for the diagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium infection. The mobile phone-mounted Foldscope and reversed-lens CellScope had sensitivities of 55.9% and 67.6%, and specificities of 93.3% and 100.0%, respectively, compared with conventional light microscopy for diagnosing S. haematobium infec...

Intermediate hosts of Schistosoma haematobium, the causative agent of urinary schistosomiasis, in Lake Malaŵi include: Bulinus globosus, a member of the B. africanus group and B. nyassanus, a diploid member of the B. truncatus/tropicus species complex. We compared genetic variability between isolates of S. haematobium from the southern part of the lake (Cape Maclear), where both B. globosus and...

BACKGROUND Both Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium cause schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa. We assessed the diagnostic value of selected Schistosoma antigens for the development of a multiplex serological immunoassay for sero-epidemiological surveillance. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Diagnostic ability of recombinant antigens from S. mansoni and S. haematobium was assessed ...

We evaluated two novel, portable microscopes and locally acquired, single-ply, paper towels as filter paper for the diagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium infection. The mobile phone-mounted Foldscope and reversed-lens CellScope had sensitivities of 55.9% and 67.6%, and specificities of 93.3% and 100.0%, respectively, compared with conventional light microscopy for diagnosing S. haematobium infec...