Urogenital schistosomiasis, caused by the flatworm-Schistosoma haematobium, is a neglected tropical disease ranked second to malaria in terms of its socio-economic and public health importance in tropical and subtropical areas. Early identification and diagnosis are crucial for effective disease management and control. This study aimed to assess the immunodiagnostic potential of crude Fasciola gigantica-worm antigen (FWA) as a target for detecting anti-S. haematobium antibodies in sera and urine samples. An indirect ELISA was used to assess antibodies against these antigens in serum and urine samples from S. haematobium-infected and non-infected individuals (n=48) in schistosomiasis endemic (NE) and non-endemic (NNE) areas, with microscopy as diagnostic reference. The Area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), sensitivity (SS), and specificity (SP) of FWA for sera in diagnosing S. haematobium-infected individuals using ELISA were 0.957, 97.92%, and 70.82% for positive and NNE samples and 0.542, 70.83%, and 31.25% for infected and NE samples, respectively. Similarly, the diagnostic performances of FWA measured by AUC, SS, and SP were 0.9679, 97.92%, and 83.33% for positive and NNE samples and 0.9670, 97.92%, and 85.33% for positive and NE urine samples, respectively. S. haematobium-specific antibody production against FWA-sera and urine was significantly higher in infected individuals than in non-infected groups in endemic and non-endemic areas (P< 0.0001). This study demonstrated the feasibility of serological diagnosis of urogenital schistosomiasis with Fasciola gigantica worm antigens in resource-constraint where schistosomiasis is endemic. The urine samples exhibited better diagnostic metrics than the sera samples, which can be leveraged as a non-invasive biological sample for diagnostic advantage.
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Fasciola worm-based antigen and its potentials in the diagnosis of urogenital schistosomiasis in resource-limited endemic areas
Published:
05 February 2026
by MDPI
in The 1st International Online Conference on Biology
session Infection Biology
Abstract:
Keywords: Schistosoma haematobium; Non-invasive; Worm antigen; ELISA; Immuno-diagnosis
