Schistosomiasis is a major health
problem in Egypt with high socioeconomical
impact. For effective
Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) control,
sensitive and specific methods of
diagnosis are required. The aim of the
present study was to detect the
prevalence of S. mansoni in one of the
endemic areas, Tookh villages, using
Kato-Katz technique and to evaluate
the diagnostic value of polymerase
chain reaction (PCR) as an alternative
tool for diagnosing schistosotniasis
in stool specimens from individuals
at high risk of infection by S.
mansoni. A total of 370 stool samples
were tested for S. mansoni infection
using 3 Kato-Katz smears. Of them 49
samples were tested using primers
targeted to a highly repeated 121-base
pair sequence of S. mansoni. The samples
were divided into 2 groups according
to parasitic status of the individual
as follows: 10 individuals with
active schistosomiasis and free from
other parasitic infections as proved by
Kato-Katz thick smear and 39 individuals
with negative parasitologica |
