Depeartment of Veterinary Public Health & Preventive Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Jun 4;14(6):e0008069. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008069. eCollection 2020 Jun.
Africa is the second most populous continent and has perennial health challenges. Of the estimated 181 million school aged children in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), nearly half suffer from ascariasis, trichuriasis, or a combination of these infections. Coupled with these is the problem of tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection, which is a leading cause of death in the region. Compared to the effect of the human immunodeficiency virus on the development of TB, the effect of chronic helminth infections is a neglected area of research, yet helminth infections are as ubiquitous as they are varied and may potentially have profound effects upon host immunity, particularly as it relates to TB infection, diagnosis, and vaccination. Protection against active TB is known to require a clearly delineated T-helper type 1 (Th1) response, while helminths induce a strong opposing Th2 and immune-regulatory host response. This Review highlights the potential challenges of helminth-TB co-infection in Africa and the need for further research.
非洲是人口第二多的大陆，面临着常年的健康挑战。在撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）地区，估计有 1.81 亿学龄儿童，其中近一半患有蛔虫病、鞭虫病或这两种感染的混合感染。除此之外，还有由结核分枝杆菌（Mtb）感染引起的结核病（TB）问题，这是该地区的主要死亡原因。与人类免疫缺陷病毒对 TB 发展的影响相比，慢性寄生虫感染的影响是一个被忽视的研究领域，然而寄生虫感染与它们的普遍性一样普遍，可能对宿主免疫产生深远影响，特别是与 TB 感染、诊断和疫苗接种有关。众所周知，预防活动性结核病需要明确界定的辅助性 T 细胞 1（Th1）反应，而寄生虫则会引起强烈的相反的 Th2 和免疫调节宿主反应。这篇综述强调了非洲寄生虫-TB 合并感染的潜在挑战，需要进一步研究。
