INTESTINAL HELMINTH INFECTIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED INCIDENCE OF PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM MALARIA IN THAILAND
- 1 February 2002
- journal article
- Published by American Society of Parasitologists in Journal of Parasitology
- Vol. 88 (1) , 55-58
- https://doi.org/10.1645/0022-3395(2002)088[0055:ihiaaw]2.0.co;2
Abstract
In a prospective study of the total population of 5 hamlets on the western border of Thailand, all subjects were screened for helminth infections; during the following year, the incidence of malaria was recorded. Patients were not treated for helminth infections. Among 731 villagers, helminth-infected subjects were more likely to develop falciparum malaria during the following year (adjusted risk ratio 2.24, range 1.4-3.6; P = 0.001). The risk of developing falciparum malaria increased with the number of helminth species (P =0.036). Whereas in other studies helminths were associated with protection from severe complications of malaria, it seemed here that helminth-infected patients were more likely to develop malaria. It is suggested that a helminth-mediated Th2 shift may have complex consequences on malaria, decreasing antisporozoite immunity, but protecting against severe malaria.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- Contemporaneous and Successive Mixed Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax Infections Are Associated with Ascaris lumbricoides: An Immunomodulating Effect?Journal of Parasitology, 2001
- Socio-economic and environmental protective/risk factors for severe malaria in ThailandActa Tropica, 2001
- The immunology of malaria infectionCurrent Opinion in Immunology, 2000
- Ascaris lumbricoides infection is associated with protection from cerebral malariaParasite Immunology, 2000
- Decreased CD4 and increased CD8 counts with T cell activation is associated with chronic helminth infectionClinical and Experimental Immunology, 1998
- The epidemiology of malaria in a Karen population on the western border of ThailandTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1996
- Immune dysregulation to Ethiopian immigrants in Israel: relevance to helminth infections?Clinical and Experimental Immunology, 1996
- Nitric oxide mediates sexual behavior in female rats.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1994
- Modulation of the allergic reactivity of slum children by helminthic infectionParasite Immunology, 1993
- Common West African HLA antigens are associated with protection from severe malariaNature, 1991