[Chaetotaxic variations of the miracidia of Schistosoma mansoni according to the adaptation to Muridae. Experimental and epidemiological data in Guadeloupe (author's transl)].

The "miracidial chaetotaxic index" of a human strain of Schistosoma mansoni from West-Africa displays an abrupt decrease following three first transmissions Biomphalaria pfeifferi, white mouse. Then it increases gradually up to a new balance. The value of the index permits to estimate the human or murine characteristic of the natural infections in Guadeloupe. According to stations the index of miracidia issued from rats is widely different. Stations where both rat and man are infected show strong differences from a station where infection seems exclusively murine (Grand-Etang). Results agree with these concerning cercariae. Possibility of intervention of murine strains infecting man in Guadeloupe and apt to cause an especially severe bilharziasis is called up.