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Associations among multiple geohelminth species infections in schoolchildren from Pemba Island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1998

M. BOOTH ,
D. A. P. BUNDY ,
M. ALBONICO ,
H. M. CHWAYA ,
K. S. ALAWI  and
L. SAVIOLI
M. BOOTH
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BB, UK Present address: Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Swiss Tropical Institute, CH 4002, Basel, Switzerland.
D. A. P. BUNDY
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BB, UK Present address: Centre for the Epidemiology of Infectious Disease, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
M. ALBONICO
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BB, UK Present address: World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
H. M. CHWAYA
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BB, UK Present address: Ministry of Health, P.O. Box 236, Zanzibar Town, Zanzibar.
K. S. ALAWI
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BB, UK Present address: Helminth Control Programme, P.O. Box 122, Chake-Chake, Pemba.
L. SAVIOLI
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BB, UK Present address: World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
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Abstract

In order to estimate the potential benefits of interventions against multiple geohelminth species in endemic areas, an improved understanding of the population biology of multiple infections is required. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the associations among Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworm infections in 1539 schoolchildren on Pemba Island, Tanzania, where 58% of the sampled children carried infections of all 3 parasites at the time of the study. Infection intensities of different species were positively correlated, and individuals with single-species infections had generally lower species-specific egg counts than individuals with multiple-species infections. There was no age- or sex-related clustering of infections. A weak clustering of intense infections among individuals with multiple-species infections was observed, which became more pronounced as the threshold defining an intense infection increased for each species. The results suggest that individuals with multiple species infections are likely to be at highest risk of geohelminth-related morbidity, not only because of the number of infections they harbour, but also because they generally carry heavier infections of each species.

Keywords

Ascaris lumbricoidesTrichuris trichiurahookwormsmultiple-species infectionsinfection clustering
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 116 , Issue 1 , January 1998 , pp. 85 - 93
Copyright
1998 Cambridge University Press

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