Confirmation of the protective effect of Ascaris lumbricoides on Plasmodium falciparum infection: results of a randomized trial in Madagascar.

A controlled randomized trial of anti-helminthic treatment was undertaken in 1996-1997 in a rural area of Madagascar where populations were simultaneously infected with Ascaris lumbricoides, Plasmodium falciparum, and Schistosoma mansoni. Levamisole was administered bimonthly to 107 subjects, whereas 105 were controls. Levamisole was highly effective in reducing Ascaris egg loads in the treated group (P < 10(-3) at all visits), whereas it had no effect on schistosomiasis.

Parasitic co-infections: does Ascaris lumbricoides protect against Plasmodium falciparum infection?

A controlled randomized trial of antihelminthic treatment was undertaken in 1996-1997 in a rural area of Madagascar where populations were simultaneously infected with Ascaris lumbricoides and Plasmodium falciparum. Levamisole was administered bimonthly to 164 subjects, randomized on a family basis, whereas 186 were controls. While levamisole proved to be highly effective in reducing Ascaris egg loads in the treated group (P < 10(-3) at all bimonthly visits), subjects more than 5 years of age, treated with levamisole had a significant increase in their P.

[Epidemiologic study of the main human intestinal nematodes in the middle west of Madagascar].

An epidemiological study of human intestinal helminthiasis was conducted during July and August 1995, in the middle west of Madagascar, with 4571 adults and children ranging from six months to 90 years, in 61 communities between Betafo and Miandrivazo. Faecal examination utilising the MIF concentration method revealed that ascariasis was the dominant nematodosis in the middle west with high prevalences in the high-altitude communities. Ascaris lumbricoides prevalences increase among children and women.