{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T23:58:24Z","timestamp":1787702304918,"version":"build-2784847793"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010131","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,28]],"date-time":"2022-01-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1643328000000}}],"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,18]],"date-time":"2022-01-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1642464000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004385","name":"universiteit gent","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["BOF16\/DOS\/034"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BOF16\/DOS\/034"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004385","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"research foundation - flanders","award":["1154821N"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1154821N"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000865","name":"bill and melinda gates foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["OPP1120972"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["OPP1120972"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000865","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We previously demonstrated that serology holds promise as an alternative diagnostic tool to copromicroscopy to monitor and evaluate deworming programs targeting soil-transmitted helminths (STHs). Here we explored the dynamics of anti-<jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic> antibodies (Ab) and evaluated the Ab-isotype of choice to assess the longitudinal exposure to <jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic> in Ethiopian school children.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methodology<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Between October 2018 and February 2020, stool and blood samples were collected every four months from school children (4 to 6 years of age). Stool samples were analyzed by duplicate Kato-Katz to assess the presence and intensity of any STH infection. Plasma Ab-responses against the total extract of <jats:italic>Ascaris suum<\/jats:italic> lung third stage larvae were measured through in-house Ab-ELISA\u2019s for seven different Ab-isotypes.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Principal findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>At baseline, 42.4% of the 66 children were excreting eggs of any STH, <jats:italic>Trichuris<\/jats:italic> (37.9%) being the most prevalent. The cumulative prevalence (proportion of children tested that positive at least once over the entire study period) was 56.1% for <jats:italic>Trichuris<\/jats:italic> and 31.8% for <jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic>. For <jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic>, re-infections were frequently observed, whereas for <jats:italic>Trichuris<\/jats:italic>, children often remained excreting eggs following drug administration. When measuring anti-<jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic> Ab-levels, the cumulative seroprevalence was generally higher (IgG4: 60.6%; IgG1: 50.0%; IgE: 36.4%). The individual anti-<jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic> IgG4 levels at baseline were positively associated with the fecal egg counts averaged over the study period, the rate of egg-appearance and the number of positive test results. There was no apparent cross-reactivity between the anti-<jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic> IgG4 Ab-ELISA and <jats:italic>Trichuris<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions\/Significance<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We demonstrate that the children are exposed to STH before the age of four and that the exposure to <jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic> is underestimated when measured with copromicroscopy. Compared to other Ab-isotypes, IgG4 is the Ab-isotype of choice to measure <jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic> exposure in STH endemic settings. Finally, the results also highlight that measuring anti-<jats:italic>Ascaris<\/jats:italic> IgG4 levels holds promise as a tool to identify individuals at higher risk for continued exposure to this STH.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010131","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,18]],"date-time":"2022-01-18T20:19:52Z","timestamp":1642537192000},"page":"e0010131","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Longitudinal assessment of the exposure to Ascaris lumbricoides through copromicroscopy and serology in school children from Jimma Town, Ethiopia"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Daniel","family":"Dana","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0072-9649","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sara","family":"Roose","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3601-9825","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Johnny","family":"Vlaminck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mio","family":"Ayana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3418-7291","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Zeleke","family":"Mekonnen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Geldhof","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8912-5595","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Bruno","family":"Levecke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,18]]},"reference":[{"issue":"12","key":"pntd.0010131.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"547","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pt.2003.10.002","article-title":"Soil-transmitted helminth infections: updating the global picture","volume":"19","author":"NR De Silva","year":"2003","journal-title":"Trends in Parasitology"},{"key":"pntd.0010131.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1204","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30925-9","article-title":"Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990\u20132019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.","volume":"396","author":"T Vos","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"issue":"10258","key":"pntd.0010131.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1204","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30925-9","article-title":"Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990\u20132019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019","volume":"396","author":"T Vos","year":"2020","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"key":"pntd.0010131.ref004","volume-title":"2030 targets for soil-transmitted helminthiases control programmes.","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2020"},{"issue":"3","key":"pntd.0010131.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0006213","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0006213","article-title":"Diagnostic tools for soil-transmitted helminths control and elimination programs: A pathway for diagnostic product development","volume":"12","author":"MD Lim","year":"2018","journal-title":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases"},{"key":"pntd.0010131.ref006","unstructured":"PATH. 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