Schistosomiasis Mansoni Acquired in Adulthood: Behavior of Egg Counts and the Intradermal Test

Kurt KloetzelServiço de Clinica de Doenças Tropicais e Infectuosas, Faculdade Nacional de Medicina, Universidade do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro

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J. Rodrigues Da SilvaServiço de Clinica de Doenças Tropicais e Infectuosas, Faculdade Nacional de Medicina, Universidade do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro

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Summary

This paper reports findings on schistosomiasis mansoni which was investigated in Jacarepaguá, Brazil, in a group of immigrants exposed for the first time to fluke infections in adulthood. It has been found that the decrease in egg output in those 15 to 20 years of age, reported in areas where infection starts in childhood, is comparable to the similar findings in adults, when duration of exposure is substituted for age. The reliability of the intradermal test is likewise very low in adults exposed for less than 15 years, so that one might presume that this test owes its sensitivity in an adult population to the duration of infection.

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