Longitudinal assessment of the exposure to Ascaris lumbricoides through copromicroscopy and serology in school children from Jimma Town, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: We previously demonstrated that serology holds promise as an alternative diagnostic tool to copromicroscopy to monitor and evaluate deworming programs targeting soil-transmitted helminths (STHs). Here we explored the dynamics of anti-Ascaris antibodies (Ab) and evaluated the Ab-isotype of choice to assess the longitudinal exposure to Ascaris in Ethiopian school children. METHODOLOGY: Between October 2018 and February 2020, stool and blood samples were collected every four months from school children (4 to 6 years of age). Stool samples were analyzed by duplicate Kato-Katz to assess the presence and intensity of any STH infection. Plasma Ab-responses against the total extract of Ascaris suum lung third stage larvae were measured through in-house Ab-ELISA’s for seven different Ab-isotypes. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: At baseline, 42.4% of the 66 children were excreting eggs of any STH, Trichuris (37.9%) being the most prevalent. The cumulative prevalence (proportion of children tested that positive at least once over the entire study period) was 56.1% for Trichuris and 31.8% for Ascaris. For Ascaris, re-infections were frequently observed, whereas for Trichuris, children often remained excreting eggs following drug administration. When measuring anti-Ascaris Ab-levels, the cumulative seroprevalence was generally higher (IgG4: 60.6%; IgG1: 50.0%; IgE: 36.4%). The individual anti-Ascaris IgG4 levels at baseline were positively associated with the fecal egg counts averaged over the study period, the rate of egg-appearance and the number of positive test results. There was no apparent cross-reactivity between the anti-Ascaris IgG4 Ab-ELISA and Trichuris. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We demonstrate that the children are exposed to STH before the age of four and that the exposure to Ascaris is underestimated when measured with copromicroscopy. Compared to other Ab-isotypes, IgG4 is the Ab-isotype of choice to measure Ascaris exposure in STH endemic settings. Finally, the results also highlight that measuring anti-Ascaris IgG4 levels holds promise as a tool to identify individuals at higher risk for continued exposure to this STH.