Towards the eradication of hookworm in an isolated Australian community (original) (raw)
Related papers
2020
Background: Inappropriate diagnosis could intimidate the prevention and control of Hookworm infection. This study was aimed at evaluating the performance of Hookworm diagnosis methods. Methods: An institution based cross sectional study was conducted in Amhara region, Ethiopia. The study subjects were selected conveniently. Sensitivity, speci city, predictive values, test accuracy and agreements of the different hookworm diagnosis methods, namely; Test Tube Flotation (TFT), MacMaster (MM), Formol Ether Concentration (FEC), Kato katz (KK), and Direct wet mount microscopy (DWMM) were calculated. Composite reference standard (CRS) was used as a gold standard method. Kappa (κ) test was used to measure the level of agreement between diagnosis tests. Moreover, t-test was used to compare the diagnostic performance of the diagnosis methods. Result: a total of 389 stool samples were collected from patients in the study. The overall prevalence of hookworm was 63.24%. Test Tube Flotation (TFT) was found to be the highest both in terms of sensitivity and diagnosis accuracy (100%). MacMaster (MM) was the second most sensitive test (68.7%), followed by FEC (44.3%) and KK (38.2%). On the other hand, DWMM had the lowest sensitivity (37.4%) and its diagnosis accuracy was also the least (60%). Only TFT had a perfect (Agreement=100%, kappa=1) with the CRS. The sensitivity of DWMM, KK, and FEC showed an increase in sensitivity as a function of increasing intensity of infection, but TFT and MM methods were not affected by the infection intensity. Conclusion: Hookworm is still a public health problem in the study area. TFT is by far more sensitive than MM, FEC, KK and DWMM techniques.
Comparison Laboratory Methods for Detection of Hookworms Infection
Proceedings of the 1st Public Health International Conference (PHICo 2016)
Intestinal parasitic infections are globally endemic in the world. In Indonesia, intestinal parasitic infections particularly helminthes is one of the public health problems. It can cause malnutrition and anemia so can be disturbing growth and development children. Intestinal parasitic infections with soil-transmitted helminths (STH) such as Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworms (Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale) diagnosed by detection of helminth eggs in stool samples. Stool samples commonly examine by using microscopic with conventional techniques as direct wet smear stain like Lugol stain, sedimentation methods like formol ether concentration (FEC). Stool examination for hookworm with conventional techniques often miss opportunity in laboratory. Therefore we used modified Harada Mori culture to detect hookworms infection. The objective of this study was to compare modified Harada Mori culture method and others laboratory methods like direct wet smear Lugol stain and FEC to detect hookworm infections. This research done by cross-sectional method in Sub regency Tanjung Tiram, Regency Batubara Province of Sumatera Utara. A total of 40 stool samples participants was immediately examined by modified Harada Mori culture, direct wet smear Lugol stain and FEC. The results showed that 8 (20%) stool samples positive for hookworm from 40 samples were examined by modified Harada Mori culture and none hookworm for direct wet smear Lugol stain and FEC. Direct wet smear Lugol stain and FEC miss for hookworm if concentration is too low and also fragile of hookworm eggs. This research found that modified Harada Mori culture was most effective method for detection hookworms.
Prevalence of Hookworm Infection: A Retrospective Study
2014
Introduction-Epidemiological information such as trends of prevalence of hookworm infection is a prerequisite to developing and/or sustaining control strategies. Objective-This study specifically sought to establish the prevalence of hookworm infection among patients who reported at the Parasitology Laboratory of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) for intestinal parasitic investigation. Method-A retrospective study conducted covered available data from January 2001 to December 2011. Records of patients referred to the Parasitology Laboratory of the hospital were manually reviewed for hookworm infection. Data on age, sex and status of hookworm infection (either present or absent) were retrieved and analyzed using Microsoft excel 2007 statistical package. Results-A total of 47147 patients reported at the laboratory for intestinal parasitic investigations. Out of this number, 158 were hookworm positive, representing an overall prevalence of 0.3% (158/47147). Among the positive cases, the study revealed that the proportion of individuals in age groups <1, 1 to 9, 10 to 19, 20 to 29, and 30 to 39 years infected were 1.3%(2), 10.8%(17), 16.5%(26), 27.2%(43) and 23.4%(37) respectively. However, the proportion of patients in age groups 40 to 49, 50 to 59 and ≥60 years infected were 8.7%(14), 5.7%(9) and 7.0%(11) respectively. Among the infected patients 62.7% (99) were females while 37.3% (59) were males. The yearly prevalence rate dropped consistently from 0.8% in 2001 to 0.1% in 2005. It however increased marginally in 2006 (0.3%) and dropped to 0.0% in 2011. There were indications of seasonal variation regarding the monthly prevalence rates of hookworm infection. Conclusion-The overall prevalence of hookworm was relatively low among the study population. However, the study suggests that hookworm infestation is generally high between April and August.
BACKGROUND Hookworm infections are still endemic in low and middle income tropical countries with greater impact on the socioeconomic and public health of the bottom billion of the world's poorest people. In this study, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with high resolution melting-curve (HRM) analysis was evaluated for an accurate, rapid and sensitive tool for species identification focusing on the five human hookworm species. METHODS Real-time PCR coupled with HRM analysis targeting the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA as the genetic marker was used to identify and distinguish hookworm species in human samples. Unique and distinct characteristics of HRM patterns were produced for each of the five hookworm species. The melting curves were characterized by peaks of 79.24±0.05°C and 83.00±0.04°C for Necator americanus, 79.12±0.10°C for Ancylostoma duodenale, 79.40±0.10°C for Ancylostoma ceylanicum, 79.63±0.05°C for Ancylostoma caninum and 79.70±0.14°C for Ancylostoma braziliense. An evaluation of the method's sensitivity and specificity revealed that this assay was able to detect as low as 0.01 ng/µl hookworm DNA and amplification was only recorded for hookworm positive samples. CONCLUSION The HRM assay developed in this study is a rapid and straightforward method for the diagnosis, identification and discrimination of five human hookworms. This assay is simple compared to other probe-based genotyping methods as it does not require multiplexing, DNA sequencing or post-PCR processing. Therefore, this method offers a new alternative for rapid detection of human hookworm species.
Journal of Parasitology Research
Background. Inappropriate diagnosis could intimidate the prevention and control of hookworm infection. Thus, this study was aimed at evaluating the performance of hookworm diagnosis methods. Methods. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from patients in Debre Elias and Sanja districts of the Amhara region, Ethiopia, from November 2019 to January 2020. The study subjects were selected conveniently. After the data was entered into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, test accuracy, and agreement of the different hookworm diagnosis methods, namely, test tube flotation technique (TFT), McMaster (MM), formol-ether concentration (FEC), Kato-Katz (KK), and direct wet mount microscopy (DWMM), were calculated by using SPSS software. The composite reference standard (CRS) was used as the gold standard method. The kappa ( κ ) test was used to measure the level of agreement between diagnosis tests. Result. A total o...
FLOTAC: a new sensitive technique for the diagnosis of hookworm infections in humans
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2008
Hookworms infect more than 10% of the world's population, but current diagnostic tools have drawbacks. Our objective was to compare the diagnostic performance of three methods (Kato-Katz, ether concentration and FLOTAC techniques) for hookworm diagnosis. Stool samples were obtained from 102 schoolchildren in Côte d'Ivoire. First, a duplicate 41.7 mg Kato-Katz thick smear was prepared. Next, a small portion of stool (mean weight 1.8 g) was preserved in sodium acetate-acetic acid-formalin and forwarded to a European laboratory. These samples were split in three parts, one processed by an ether concentration technique and two by the FLOTAC technique. All samples were examined by experienced technicians for hookworm eggs using light microscopy. The observed hookworm prevalences as assessed by the FLOTAC, Kato-Katz and ether concentration techniques were 65.7%, 51.0% and 28.4%, respectively. Considering the combined results as the diagnostic 'gold' standard, the FLOTAC technique had a sensitivity of 88.2% compared with 68.4% for the Kato-Katz and 38.2% for the ether concentration techniques. The Kato-Katz method resulted in a significantly higher mean number of eggs per gram of stool (155.8 EPG) compared with the FLOTAC (37.7 EPG) and ether concentration (5.7 EPG) methods. The FLOTAC method shows promise as an important new tool for individual hookworm diagnosis and for rigorous monitoring of helminth control programmes. [Clinical Trial No. ISRCTN21782274].
DNA technological progress toward advanced diagnostic tools to support human hookworm control
Biotechnology Advances, 2008
Blood-feeding hookworms are parasitic nematodes of major human health importance. Currently, it is estimated that 740 million people are infected worldwide, and more than 80 million of them are severely affected clinically by hookworm disease. In spite of the health problems caused and the advances toward the development of vaccines against some hookworms, limited attention has been paid to the need for improved, practical methods of diagnosis. Accurate diagnosis and genetic characterization of hookworms is central to their effective control. While traditional diagnostic methods have considerable limitations, there has been some progress toward the development of molecular-diagnostic tools. The present article provides a brief background on hookworm disease of humans, reviews the main methods that have been used for diagnosis and describes progress in establishing polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods for the specific diagnosis of hookworm infection and the genetic characterisation of the causative agents. This progress provides a foundation for the rapid development of practical, highly sensitive and specific diagnostic and analytical tools to be used in improved hookworm prevention and control programmes.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2014
Background: Microscopy-based identification of eggs in stool offers simple, reliable and economical options for assessing the prevalence and intensity of hookworm infections, and for monitoring the success of helminth control programs. This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the diagnostic parameters of the Kato-Katz (KK) and simple sodium nitrate flotation technique (SNF) in terms of detection and quantification of hookworm eggs, with PCR as an additional reference test in stool, collected as part of a baseline cross-sectional study in Cambodia.