Case report: the first parasitologically confirmed autochthonous case of acute Chagas disease in Suriname.

We present a case report from 2001 of the first parasitologically confirmed case of acute Chagas disease in Suriname. The patient had never left Suriname, and was probably infected by an adventitious species of Panstrongylus in his house in the capital city, Paramaribo. The patient was treated with nifurtimox, and appears to have recovered.

The occurrence of polycystic echinococcosis in Suriname.

The occurrence of polycystic echinococcosis (PE) caused by Echinococcus vogeli in Suriname is reviewed. Six of the eight known cases, including the first (which was incorrectly diagnosed as cystic hydatid disease caused by E. granulosus) in 1982, are described.

Validation of a chart to estimate true Schistosoma mansoni prevalences from simple egg counts.

Schistosoma mansoni egg counts by faecal examination vary considerably and are not very sensitive, so prevalences are underestimated. The distribution of egg counts can adequately be described by a stochastic model which distinguishes variation in counts between persons and variation in repeated counts within a person. Based on this model a pocket chart has been developed which predicts the proportion of individuals harbouring at least 1 S.

Immunodiagnosis of schistosomiasis mansoni in a low endemic area in Surinam by determination of the circulating antigens CAA and CCA.

We evaluated the applicability of circulating antigen detection in serum and urine for the diagnosis of Schistosoma infections in a low endemic area. In total 389 individuals from Saramacca (Surinam) participated in the survey. Stool samples were examined using the Kato method, while circulating anodic antigen (CAA) and circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) were determined by highly specific monoclonal antibody-based ELISA's.