Australia, Thailand, Switzerland, Cambodia: Multiplex qPCR for Hookworms

Development and evaluation of a multiplex quantitative Real-Time PCR for Hookworm species in Human stool

Sze Fui Hii, Dammika Senevirathna, Stacey Llewellyn, Tawin Inpankaew, Peter Odermatt, Virak Khieu, Sinoun Muth, James McCarthy and Rebecca J. Traub | Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Clinical Tropical Medicine Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, Australia; Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland, and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. | 2018 | American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene | 99(5):1186-1193

The intestinal parasite, Hookworm, affects approx. 576-740 million people worldwide. They occur mainly in developing nations due to poor sanitation practices. A multiplex Real-Time PCR conducted on the MIC using stool samples was developed and evaluated for three Hookworm species. Previously published primers and probes for N. americanus and newly designed primers and probes for A. ceylanicum and A. duodenale were used. The newly developed assay using MIC demonstrated to be more sensitive and highly specific compared to conventional methods in detecting mixed hookworm species. The quantitative aspect of qPCR allows the new assay to used for monitoring and efficacy programs.