Is ultrasonography useful for population studies on schistosomiasis mansoni? An evaluation based on a survey on a population from Kome Island, Tanzania.

Background: Observation of characteristic alterations at liver ultrasonography in clinical schistosomiasis mansoni cases has initiated utilization of this examination method in population surveys in areas where this disease is endemic.

Purpose: To present results of liver ultrasonography and their relation to epidemiological data of a population in an area endemic for , to estimate the precision of classification of periportal anatomy changes known as periportal fibrosis (PPF), and to evaluate the relevance of ultrasonography in epidemiological studies on .

Material And Methods: A total of 459 inhabitants on Kome Island, Lake Victoria, Tanzania were examined by ultrasound with image documentation by locally trained personnel.

Human IgA-secreting cells induced by intestinal, but not systemic, immunization respond to CCL25 (TECK) and CCL28 (MEC).

Organ-specific homing of lymphoid cells depends on the expression of tissue-specific adhesion molecules and production of specific chemokines. CCL25 (TECK) and CCL28 (MEC) have been reported to direct circulating memory/effector B cells to mucosal tissues. Here, we examined if differential responsiveness to mucosal and systemic chemokines could explain the differential migration pattern of circulating human antibody-secreting cells (ASC), induced by mucosal and systemic immunization.