Infection by Schistosoma mansoni Sambon 1907 in the First Four Months of Life of Biomphalaria straminea (Dunker, 1848) in Brazil

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 96; no. suppl; pp. 185 - 192
• Main Authors: Fernandez, Monica Ammon, Pieri, Otávio Sarmento
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz 01.01.2001; Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde; Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ)
• Subjects: age; Animals; Biomphalaria - parasitology; Biomphalaria - physiology; Biomphalaria straminea; Brazil; compatibility; Disease Vectors; PARASITOLOGY; Schistosoma mansoni; Schistosoma mansoni - isolation & purification; Schistosoma mansoni - pathogenicity; Schistosoma mansoni, Biomphalaria straminea, compatibility, age, Brazil; Schistosomiasis mansoni - transmission; Time Factors; TROPICAL MEDICINE; Brazil; Brazil; Schistosoma mansoni; Biomphalaria straminea; compatibility; age
• ISSN: 1678-8060; 0074-0276; 0074-0276; 1678-8060
• DOI: 10.1590/s0074-02762001000900029

Compatibility between Schistosoma mansoni and Biomphalaria straminea when exposed to the parasite on the first four months of age was assessed for five parasitological aspects: indices of infection and mortality, duration of precercarial and cercarial periods, and rate of cercarial emission. Infections were made on molluscs from laboratory colonies, at the following ages: 8, 13, 18, 21, 53, 83 and 114 days. Two B. straminea colonies were used (Camorim, PE and Picos, PI), and one B. glabrata colony (Ressaca, MG) was used as control. The main results are as follows: (I) infection was significantly associated with mollusc age, being proportionally higher in sexually immature than in mature molluscs for the three colonies; (II) for B. straminea from Camorim, mortality did not differ significantly between infected and non-infected snails; for B. straminea from Picos significantly more deaths occurred among infected than among non-infected snails, while the opposite was observed for B. glabrata from Ressaca; (III) for the three colonies, the precercarial period was significantly shorter for immature molluscs than for mature ones; (IV) the duration of the cercarial period was extremely variable for the three colonies; (V) sexual maturity did not influence cercarial emission for the three colonies.