2004/05/01 by Jean‐Yves Le Hesran, Jean-Yves Le Hesran, Jean Akiana +7 · 5 citations
Environmental Science · Immunology and Microbiology · Medicine · #Malaria Research and Control #Parasite Biology and Host Interactions #Parasites and Host Interactions
paper · doi:10.1016/j.trstmh.2003.10.009
openalex publication_date 2004/05/01 · crossref created 2004/05/01 · crossref issued 2004/07/01 · crossref published 2004/07/01 · crossref published-print 2004/07/01 · crossref deposited 2017/08/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/08/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
In human populations, the concomitance of various parasitic infections can induce modifications of the specific immune response to each pathogen and thus induce changes in their clinical expression. Several studies, however, have produced conflicting results. To study the hypothesis that there is an association between helminthiasis and the occurrence of severe malaria a prospective case-control study was carried out in a rural zone of Senegal where 105 presumptive severe malaria attacks were studied in 2001 and 2002. Following parasitological control the cases were divided into two groups: A (severe malaria) with severe symptoms and parasite density >5000 parasites/microl (n = 64) and B (other causes) with severe symptoms and negative or weak parasite density (n = 41). In group A the prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides infection was higher in cases of severe malaria than in controls, odds ratio (OR) = 9.95 (95% CI 3.03-32.69). Similar but not significantly different results were observed between patients in group B and their controls, OR = 2.47 (95% CI 0.95-6.38).