Evaluation of copromicroscopy and serology to measure the exposure to Ascaris infections across age groups and to assess the impact of 3 years of biannual mass drug administration in Jimma Town, Ethiopia

摘要

Worldwide, there has been an upscale in deworming programs to reduce the disease burden attributable to intestinal worms (giant roundworms, whipworms and hookworms). As a consequence of this, there is a focus-shift from morbidity control towards breaking transmission and ultimately disease elimination. Current standard diagnostic tools, which are based on the demonstration and quantification of worm eggs in stool (copromicroscopy), lack the diagnostic performance to make well-founded decisions when a program reaches its endgame. The scientific community has therefore defined minimal criteria that new potential diagnostic methods should meet. Diagnostic tools that are based on the detection of antibodies, which are indicative of the natural immune response of the host to worm-specific components in blood, potentially meet these criteria. We compared giant roundworm infection profiles by copromicroscopy and two antibody-based tests in both children and adults in an endemic setting. Three years into the national deworming program, another group of children from the same schools were sampled to evaluate the program progress. Our results provide a first step in the evaluation of antibodies as a diagnostic tool in the endgame of deworming programs, but they also highlight the need for further research on the interpretation of antibody-based diagnostics for STH.