Detection of Anti-Schistosoma mansni Antibodies By Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay And Indirect Haemoagglutination In New Halfa

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is considered to be one of the major public health problems in Sudan and it was recorded as an ancient disease in the country by the ancient Egyptians. The present study was conducted in individuals resident in New Halfa, an area where some agricultural schemes are existed. A commercial indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test using erythrocytes coated with Schistosoma mansoni adult worm antigens (WA) and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with S. bovis antigen were assessed for their use in serodiagnosis of schistosomiasis and the sensitivity of the tests was evaluated with sera from 100 parasitologically-comfirmed positive patients with proven S. mansoni infection. The results of this study revealed that the sensitivity for indirect hemoagglutination test was 63% and the specificity was 87.5%, while the sensitivity for ELISA was 19% and the specificity was 100%. Individuals below 20 years showed highest prevalence of infection compared with those of other ages which demonstrate the susceptibility of children to re-infection more than adults. In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that IHA and S.bovis antigen/ELISA are each sensitive and specific serological tests that are easy to use for the diagnosis of S.mansoni. The combined use of these two tests enables the serological diagnosis of schistosomiasis to be achieved with reasonable degrees of both sensitivity and specificity