ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MELIOIDOSIS AND OPISTHORCHIASIS IN THE NORTHEAST THAILAND

Authors

  • May Soe Thwe Graduate School, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
  • Pattapong Kessomboon Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
  • Thewarach Laha Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
  • Banchob Sripa Tropical Disease Research Center, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
  • Sutas Suttiprapa Tropical Disease Research Center, Tropical Medicine Graduate Program, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.

Keywords:

Burkholderia pseudomallei, Opisthorchis viverrini, association, indirect hemagglutination, seroprevalence, Northeast Thailand

Abstract

A carcinogenic liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini (Ov), infection is endemic in the Greater Mekong Subregion, particularly in the Northeast Thailand where melioidosis is also endemic as an emerging infectious disease. Here, we report the association between melioidosis and opisthorchiasis. For this purpose, we collected serum samples of 145 Ov infected and 145 Ov non-infected individuals from the Northeast Thailand, and anti- Burkholderia pseudomallei antibody level was measured using an indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test. Of 290 sera, overall serologically diagnosed (IHA≥1:160) melioidosis cases was 10.3% (30/290 cases). The number of participants with any detectable antibody titer (IHA≥1:20) against B. pseudomallei was significantly higher in Ov-infected group than in Ov-uninfected group (p = 0.001). There were also borderline evidence that seroprevalence of melioidosis was two-fold higher in Ov-infected than in Ov-uninfected group (p = 0.054). When anti-B. pseudomallei IHA titer of Ov-infected individuals were followed up one year after anti-helminthic praziquental (PZQ) treatment to Ov infections, antibody titers of most participants have risen after treatment (p=0.0001). To investigate whether Ov can be a reservoir for B. pseudomallei, we tried to detect B. pseudomallei in adult Ov worms and bile of Ov-infected hamsters and Ov metacercariae from fish using PCR. So far, we were unable to detect B. pseudomallei in the materials examined. The underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon are discussed.

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Published

2026-08-28

How to Cite

Soe Thwe, M., Kessomboon, P., Laha, T., Sripa, B., & Suttiprapa, S. (2026). ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MELIOIDOSIS AND OPISTHORCHIASIS IN THE NORTHEAST THAILAND. Suranaree Journal of Science and Technology, 29(1), 070030(1–7). retrieved from https://ph04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/SUJST/article/view/15059

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 1 (2022): January - February

Section

Research Article