Infection of baby mice with Schistosoma mansoni; some biological aspects in connection with experimental chemotherapy

Abstract
Groups of mice 2–6 days old were exposed by paddling to 35 or 50 cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni per animal. The mean worm burden from 115 baby mice exposed to 35 cercariae was 20·7 (59·2% of worm return). In 400 adult mice, weighing about 20 g. and exposed to 120 cercariae, worm return was only 18·6% (a mean worm burden of 22·3 schistosomes). 8–10 weeks after exposure of baby mice to S. mansoni cercariae, 70–85% of the schistosomes were found in the mesenteric veins, 5–10% in the liver, and 10–20% in the portal vein. The mortality rate among 662 baby mice exposed to 50 cercariae was found to increase sharply after the 6th week of infection. The percentages of the various schistosome elements (oögram) in the intestinal wall of infected baby mice, 53–60 days after exposure to S. mansoni cercariae, did not differ from the pattern already described for mice infected when adult.

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