Immune Responses in Hookworm Infections

Immune responses in hookworm infections.

Hookworms infect perhaps one-fifth of the entire human population, yet little is known about their interaction with our immune system. The two major species are Necator americanus, which is adapted to tropical conditions, and Ancylostoma duodenale, which predominates in more temperate zones. While having many common features, they also differ in several key aspects of their biology. Host immune...

Necator americanus and Helminth Co-Infections: Further Down-Modulation of Hookworm-Specific Type 1 Immune Responses

BACKGROUND Helminth co-infection in humans is common in tropical regions of the world where transmission of soil-transmitted helminths such as Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and the hookworms Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale as well as other helminths such as Schistosoma mansoni often occur simultaneously. METHODOLOGY We investigated whether co-infection with another h...

Immune responses in Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections.

All children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection showed a significant response in IgG immunofluorescent (IMF) antibody titers, which were similar to that of complement-fixing (CF) antibody titers. However, there was a certain degree of variation in IgM IMF antibody response and its persistence. This variation also occurred in cases with pre-existing specific antibodies and good CF and IgG IMF ...

Immune responses in persistent virus infections.

Hookworm infections of schoolchildren in southern Thailand.

A study of hookworm infections of schoolchildren was conducted in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, southern Thailand. Of the 2,940 hookworms that were recovered from the children, almost all (99.9%), were Necator americanus, only three (0.1%) were identified as Ancylostoma duodenale, and all were female worms. An estimation of the worm burden of and the worm expulsion from the schoolchildren indic...