The authors would like to thank Dr Chris Morley, BVSc BSc (Hons) MVPHMgt Ministry of Agriculture, New Zealand, for tracing the source of the Trichostrongylus from the sheep manure that was being used as an organic fertilizer in the salad garden. The authors state that they have no conflicts of interest to declare. “
“A Belgian traveler returning from Laos developed acute schistosomiasis. Feces microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by sequence analysis revealed Schistosoma mekongi. Schistosome antibody test results and real-time PCR in serum were initially negative or not interpretable. A HRP-2 antigen test for Plasmodium falciparum and an
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antibody test for Trichinella yielded false-positive results. Schistosoma mekongi infection is exceptional in travelers. Even when diagnosis is suspected, MK0683 manufacturer confirming early stage infection may be complicated by insufficient sensitivity
of schistosome antibody assays and by (false) positive antigen and antibody assays against other pathogens. A 27-year-old male Belgian traveler developed low grade fever, night sweats, and cough soon after returning from a 4 months’ adventurous travel to Laos, Cambodia, and Yunnan province in south China. He had lost some weight but had neither diarrhea nor anorexia. He was a practicing vegetarian. He had, together with his girlfriend, visited the “Four Thousand Islands” (Si Pan Don) region, a conglomerate of islets situated in the Mekong River straddling the Laos–Cambodian border, 5 weeks prior. He reportedly took a daily swim in the Mekong River for Bioactive Compound Library supplier 1 week (D0 = first day of exposure), as well as in a sandy old river bend with stagnant water at the southernmost part of Khong Island, called Don Det, on one occasion. He did not report swimming in rivers or ponds elsewhere during his travel. Symptoms started about 6 weeks after exposure (D45). The patient consulted his family physician 10 days later (D55) and was referred at the outpatient clinic of the Institute of Tropical Medicine,
Antwerp, Belgium (ITMA) 5 days thereafter (D60), when symptoms had already subsided. Clinical signs were unremarkable. 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase Ultrasound revealed a modest spleen enlargement, and the routine laboratory workup showed a marked hypereosinophilia (Table 1). Chest X-ray was normal. Two serum antischistosome antibody tests were performed at the initial and the subsequent visits: an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a Schistosoma mansoni antigen (mixture of egg and adult worm extract), and an indirect hemagglutination inhibition assay (IHA), using a S mansoni adult worm extract (ELI.H.A Schistosoma, ELITech Group, Puteaux, France), with titration and cut-off at 1/80 (positive at ≥1/160). Up to 15 weeks after exposure (D105), the IHA could not be interpreted because of the presence of antibodies reacting with sheep RBC in the patient’s serum.