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Volume 25, Number 6—June 2019
Research Letter

Schistosome Interactions within the Schistosoma haematobium Group, Malawi

Bonnie L. Webster, Mohammad H. Alharbi, Sekeleghe Kayuni, Peter Makaula, Fenella Halstead, Rosie Christiansen, Lazarus Juziwelo, Michelle C. Stanton, E. James LaCourse, David Rollinson, Khumbo Kalua, and J. Russell StothardComments to Author 
Author affiliations: Natural History Museum, London, UK (B.L. Webster, D. Rollinson); Ministry of Health, Qassim, Saudi Arabia (M.H. Alharbi); Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK (M.H. Alharbi, S. Kayuni, F. Halstead, R. Christiansen, E.J. LaCourse, J.R. Stothard); Medical Aid Society of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi (S. Kayuni); Research for Health Environment and Development, Mangochi, Malawi (P. Makaula); Ministry of Health, Lilongwe, Malawi (L. Juziwelo); Lancaster University Medical School, Lancaster, UK (M.C. Stanton); Lions Sight First Eye Hospital, Blantyre (K. Kalua)

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Figure

Investigation of atypical schistosome eggs retrieved from children in Malawi. A) Locations where urine samples containing Schistosoma haematobium eggs were collected from children in Mangochi (Samama village, 14°41′74.65′′S, 35°21′75.80′′E), Chikhwawa (Mpangani village, 16°03′62.99′′S, 34°84′10.63′′E), and Nsanje (Kastiano village, 16°90′63.98′′S, 35°26′65.78′′E) districts. Of the children sampled, ≈10% had atypical eggs in their urine, in an approximate atypical:typical ratio of 1:25. Note that

Figure. Investigation of atypical schistosome eggs retrieved from children in Malawi. A) Locations where urine samples containing Schistosoma haematobium eggs were collected from children in Mangochi (Samama village, 14°41′74.65′′S, 35°21′75.80′′E), Chikhwawa (Mpangani village, 16°03′62.99′′S, 34°84′10.63′′E), and Nsanje (Kastiano village, 16°90′63.98′′S, 35°26′65.78′′E) districts. Of the children sampled, ≈10% had atypical eggs in their urine, in an approximate atypical:typical ratio of 1:25. Note that the Shire River flows southward from Lake Malawi, linking the 3 sampled locations within the same drainage basin. B) Photomicrographs of a representative atypical egg from each location. Corresponding genotypes assigned for the mitochondrial cox1 and nuclear rITS loci: Mangochi, cox1 S. mattheei and rITS S. haematobium-mattheei; Chikhwawa, cox1 and rITS S. haematobium; Nsanje, cox1 S. bovis and rITS S. haematobium. A typical S. haematobium egg is shown for comparison. Sizes are not too scale. C) Histogram of length measurements for 83 typical S. haematobium eggs collected from Nsanje. Solid line indicates the associated density distribution. The mean length of this sample of typical eggs was 135 ± 28 µm (1 SD), with minimum 86 µm and maximum 180 µm. Arrows with dashed lines at right indicate the length of the 3 atypical eggs, which fall well outside the range of length variation of the 83 typical eggs as measured.

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Page created: May 20, 2019
Page updated: May 20, 2019
Page reviewed: May 20, 2019
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