Ouma J H, Fulford A J, Kariuki H C, Kimani G, Sturrock R F, Muchemi G, Butterworth A E, Dunne D W
Division of Vector Borne Diseases, Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya.
Parasitology. 1998 Aug;117 ( Pt 2):123-32. doi: 10.1017/s0031182098002935.
The relocation of several thousand members of the Kamba tribe from the Kyulu Hills to the Thange valley near Masongaleni in Kenya provides an excellent opportunity to study the development of the immune response to schistosomiasis mansoni in a population with little or no previous experience of the infection. An adjacent, well-established Kamba community with similar patterns of water contact provides a suitable endemic control population. The immigrants were, uniquely, examined shortly after their arrival in the endemic area, while the prevalence of infection was still low. At this time faecal egg counts peaked atypically around 30 years of age. Over the next 12-18 months infection increased rapidly, especially among teenagers, producing a pattern of infection more typical of endemic communities. This substantially narrows estimates of the time required to develop the important determinants of the age-intensity profile, supporting the notion that changes related to age per se, rather than duration of infection, dominate. Age-dependent factors might include behaviour or physiology, including immune response. This paper provides the background for continuing longitudinal studies on the development of immunological responses to this parasite.
将数千名坎巴部落成员从基卢山迁移至肯尼亚马松盖莱尼附近的坦盖山谷，为研究在几乎没有或完全没有曼氏血吸虫感染既往经历的人群中，对该寄生虫免疫反应的发展情况提供了绝佳机会。一个相邻的、已长期存在且有相似水接触模式的坎巴社区，提供了一个合适的地方性感染对照人群。这些移民在抵达流行区后不久便接受了检查，当时感染率仍然很低，这一点很独特。此时，粪便虫卵计数在30岁左右出现非典型峰值。在接下来的12至18个月里，感染迅速增加，尤其是在青少年中，形成了一种更典型的地方性社区感染模式。这大大缩小了对形成年龄-感染强度曲线重要决定因素所需时间的估计范围，支持了这样一种观点，即与年龄本身相关的变化而非感染持续时间起主导作用。与年龄相关的因素可能包括行为或生理，包括免疫反应。本文为继续开展关于对这种寄生虫免疫反应发展的纵向研究提供了背景。
