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Genetic relatedness as a determinant of predisposition to Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura infection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

L. Chan
Affiliation:
Parasite Epidemiology Research Group, Department of Biology, Imperial College, London SW7 2BB, U.K.
D. A. P. Bundy
Affiliation:
Parasite Epidemiology Research Group, Department of Biology, Imperial College, London SW7 2BB, U.K.
S. P. Kan
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Summary

The present study examines the role of host genetics in predisposition to Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura infection, by comparing the associations between age-standardized infection intensities of parents and their children (genetically related), with age-standardized infection intensities of parents alone (not related), within families previously demonstrated to exhibit familial predisposition. The lack of a consistent trend in infection intensity associations within families, in particular the lack of a stronger association between parents and their children than between unrelated parents, suggests that host genetic factors are not a major determinant of infection status. If there is a genetic basis for predisposition, then the data suggest that the effects of this genetic basis are overwhelmed by other, environmental or behavioural features of the family household.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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