ABO Blood Groups Do Not Predict Schistosoma mansoni Infection Profiles in Highly Endemic Villages of Uganda

Schistosoma mansoni is a parasite which causes significant public-health issues, with over 240 mil-lion people infected globally. In Uganda alone, approximately 11.6 million people are affected. Despite over a decade of mass drug administration in this country, hyper-endemic hotspots persist, and individuals who are repeatedly heavily and rapidly reinfected are observed. Human blood-type antigens are known to play a role in the risk of infection for a variety of diseases, due to cross-reactivity between host antibodies and pathogenic antigens. There have been conflicting results on the effect of blood type on schistosomiasis infection and pathology. Moreover, the ef-fect of blood type as a potential intrinsic host factor on S. mansoni prevalence, intensity, clearance, and reinfection dynamics and on co-infection risk remains unknown. Therefore, the epidemio-logical link between host blood type and S. mansoni infection dynamics was assessed in three hyper-endemic communities in Uganda. Longitudinal data incorporating repeated pretreatment S. mansoni infection intensities and clearance rates were used to analyse associations between blood groups in school-aged children. Soil-transmitted helminth coinfection status and biometric parameters were incorporated in a generalised linear mixed regression model including age, gender, and body mass index (BMI), which have previously been established as significant factors influencing the prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis. The analysis revealed no associations between blood type and S. mansoni prevalence, infection intensity, clearance, reinfection, or coinfection. Variations in infection profiles were significantly different between the villages, and egg burden significantly decreased with age. While blood type has proven to be a predictor of several diseases, the data collected in this study indicate that it does not play a significant role in S. mansoni infection burdens in these high-endemicity communities

ABO Blood Groups Do Not Predict Schistosoma mansoni Infection Profiles in Highly Endemic Villages of Uganda

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-11-23, pub-electronic 2021-11-27Publication status: PublishedFunder: European Research Council; Grant(s): 680088 SCHISTO_PERSISTFunder: Wellcome Trust; Grant(s): 204820/Z/16/ZFunder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Grant(s): EP/T003618/1, EP/R01437X/Funder: Medical Research Council; Grant(s): MR/P025447/1Schistosoma mansoni is a parasite which causes significant public-health issues, with over 240 million people infected globally. In Uganda alone, approximately 11.6 million people are affected. Despite over a decade of mass drug administration in this country, hyper-endemic hotspots persist, and individuals who are repeatedly heavily and rapidly reinfected are observed. Human blood-type antigens are known to play a role in the risk of infection for a variety of diseases, due to cross-reactivity between host antibodies and pathogenic antigens. There have been conflicting results on the effect of blood type on schistosomiasis infection and pathology. Moreover, the effect of blood type as a potential intrinsic host factor on S. mansoni prevalence, intensity, clearance, and reinfection dynamics and on co-infection risk remains unknown. Therefore, the epidemiological link between host blood type and S. mansoni infection dynamics was assessed in three hyper-endemic communities in Uganda. Longitudinal data incorporating repeated pretreatment S. mansoni infection intensities and clearance rates were used to analyse associations between blood groups in school-aged children. Soil-transmitted helminth coinfection status and biometric parameters were incorporated in a generalised linear mixed regression model including age, gender, and body mass index (BMI), which have previously been established as significant factors influencing the prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis. The analysis revealed no associations between blood type and S. mansoni prevalence, infection intensity, clearance, reinfection, or coinfection. Variations in infection profiles were significantly different between the villages, and egg burden significantly decreased with age. While blood type has proven to be a predictor of several diseases, the data collected in this study indicate that it does not play a significant role in S. mansoni infection burdens in these high-endemicity communities

Anonymised raw Schistosoma mansoni and host ABO blood group data for: Francoeur et al. ABO blood group do not predict Schistosoma mansoni infection profiles in highly endemic villages of Uganda

Raw anonymised Schistosoma mansoni and human host ABO blood group dataset from school-aged children, aged 6-14, from three high endemicity villages in Mayuge District Uganda. Data include age, sex, height, weight, village, date, timepoint pre and post treatment with praziquantel and albendazole, up to three days per timepoint of duplicate Kato-Katz slides with infection intensity data for S. mansoni and soil-transmitted helminth infections, including hookworm, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Hymenolepis nana, and Enterobius vermicularis, recorded, and ABO and Rhesus positive or negative blood group type

ABO Blood Groups Do Not Predict <i>Schistosoma mansoni</i> Infection Profiles in Highly Endemic Villages of Uganda.

From Europe PMC via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: ppub 2021-11-01, epub 2021-11-27Publication status: PublishedFunder: Medical Research Council; Grant(s): MR/P025447/1Funder: European Research Council; Grant(s): 680088 SCHISTO_PERSISTFunder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Grant(s): EP/R01437X/, EP/T003618/1Funder: Wellcome Trust; Grant(s): 204820/Z/16/ZSchistosoma mansoni is a parasite which causes significant public-health issues, with over 240 million people infected globally. In Uganda alone, approximately 11.6 million people are affected. Despite over a decade of mass drug administration in this country, hyper-endemic hotspots persist, and individuals who are repeatedly heavily and rapidly reinfected are observed. Human blood-type antigens are known to play a role in the risk of infection for a variety of diseases, due to cross-reactivity between host antibodies and pathogenic antigens. There have been conflicting results on the effect of blood type on schistosomiasis infection and pathology. Moreover, the effect of blood type as a potential intrinsic host factor on S. mansoni prevalence, intensity, clearance, and reinfection dynamics and on co-infection risk remains unknown. Therefore, the epidemiological link between host blood type and S. mansoni infection dynamics was assessed in three hyper-endemic communities in Uganda. Longitudinal data incorporating repeated pretreatment S. mansoni infection intensities and clearance rates were used to analyse associations between blood groups in school-aged children. Soil-transmitted helminth coinfection status and biometric parameters were incorporated in a generalised linear mixed regression model including age, gender, and body mass index (BMI), which have previously been established as significant factors influencing the prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis. The analysis revealed no associations between blood type and S. mansoni prevalence, infection intensity, clearance, reinfection, or coinfection. Variations in infection profiles were significantly different between the villages, and egg burden significantly decreased with age. While blood type has proven to be a predictor of several diseases, the data collected in this study indicate that it does not play a significant role in S. mansoni infection burdens in these high-endemicity communities

Reconciling egg- and antigen-based estimates of Schistosoma mansoni clearance and reinfection: a modelling study.

From PubMed via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-03-03Publication status: aheadofprint240-million people have schistosomiasis despite decades of interventions. Infections cannot be directly observed, and egg-based Kato-Katz thick smears lack sensitivity, impacting treatment efficacy and reinfection rate estimates. The Point-of-Care Circulating Cathodic Antigen test (POC-CCA) is advocated as an improvement upon the Kato-Katz, however improved estimates are limited by ambiguities in the interpretation of Trace results. We collected repeated Kato-Katz counts from 210 school-aged children and scored POC-CCAs according to manufacturer's guidelines (POC-CCA+) and the externally developed G-Score. We used Hidden Markov Models parameterised with Kato-Katz; Kato-Katz and POC-CCA+; and Kato-Katz and G-Scores, inferring latent clearance and reinfection probabilities at four timepoints over six-months through a more formal statistical reconciliation of these diagnostics than previously conducted. Our approach required minimal but robust assumptions regarding Trace interpretations. Antigen-based models estimated higher infection prevalence across all timepoints compared with the Kato-Katz model, corresponding to lower clearance and higher reinfection estimates. Specifically, pre-treatment prevalence estimates were 85% (Kato-Katz; 95% CI: 79-92%), 99% (POC-CCA+; 97-100%) and 98% (G-Score; 95-100%). Post-treatment, 93% (Kato-Katz; 88-96%), 72% (POC-CCA+; 64-79%) and 65% (G-Score; 57-73%) of those infected were estimated to clear infection. Of those who cleared infection, 35% (Kato-Katz; 27-42%), 51% (POC-CCA+; 41-62%) and 44% (G-Score; 33-55%) were estimated to have been reinfected by nine-weeks. Treatment impact was shorter-lived than only Kato-Katz-based estimates suggested, with lower clearance and rapid reinfection. Three-weeks-post-treatment captured longer-term clearance dynamics. Nine-weeks-post-treatment captured reinfection, but alone could not discern between failed clearance and rapid reinfection. Therefore, frequent sampling is required to understand these important epidemiological dynamics. [Abstract copyright: © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.