Immuno-epidemiological patterns in schistosomiasis infections. Image Age infection curveHuman populations in areas with endemic schistosomiasis show a characteristic relation between age and infection level. Infection typically rises rapidly during childhood, peaking at around 8 - 15 years of age and then declining with increasing age. The infection intensity is measured as egg output in faeces or urine. Image Peak shiftA further phenomen has been observed in human schistosomiasis infections, which is called "peak shift". "Peak shift" describes the fact that the peak level of intensity is higher and occurs at a younger age in populations with a higher overall infection intensity when compared with areas of lower infection intensity.The peaks also become more convex at higher levels of overall population infection intensityRecommended LiteratureMutapi F. (1998) Chemotherapy accelerates the development of acquired immune responses to Schistosoma haematobium infection. J Infec Dis 178 (1): 289-93. Woolhouse ME. (1998). Patterns in parasite epidemiology: the peak shift. Parsitol Today. 14 (10): 428-34. Woolhouse ME. (1992). A theoretical framework for the immunoepidemiology of helminth infection. Parsite Immunol. 14 (6): 563-78. Further InformationPublicationsPublications of the Parasite Immuno-epidemiology GroupResearch NetworksWHO - SchistosomiasisWHO - TDR programme This article was published on 2024-06-17
