Search results for "Tropical medicine"
showing 10 items of 313 documents
Supplementation with micronutrients and schistosomiasis: systematic review and meta-analysis
2019
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by helminths of the genus Schistosoma with two presentations; one intestinal and another urinary; which depend on the specie of Schistosoma. One of the species that can produce intestinal schistosomiasis is Schistosoma mansoni, and the specie that produces urinary schistosomiasis is Schistosoma haematobium. Infection can be aggravated by a deficient nutritional status, which negatively impacts the immune system and increases susceptibility to infection. The main objective of this meta-analysis is to determine if a relationship exists between multimicronutrient supplementation and the reduction of infestation with Schistosoma mansoni and Schistos…
Human fascioliasis endemic areas in Argentina: multigene characterisation of the lymnaeid vectors and climatic-environmental assessment of the transm…
2016
Background: In South America, fascioliasis stands out due to the human endemic areas in many countries. In Argentina, human endemic areas have recently been detected. Lymnaeid vectors were studied in two human endemic localities of Catamarca province: Locality A beside Taton and Rio Grande villages; Locality B close to Recreo town. Methods: Lymnaeids were characterised by the complete sequences of rDNA ITS-2 and ITS-1 and fragments of the mtDNA 16S and cox1. Shell morphometry was studied with the aid of a computer image analysis system. Climate analyses were made by nearest neighbour interpolation from FAO data. Koeppen & Budyko climate classifications were used. De Martonne aridity index a…
Human case of Fasciola gigantica-like infection, review of human fascioliasis reports in Nepal, and epidemiological analysis within the South Central…
2018
Abstract The diagnosis of a 22 year-old male patient from Kerabari, Morang District, Nepal led to the review of human fascioliasis cases and analysis of the epidemiological situation in that country not included in the WHO fascioliasis map. Symptom onset one month before egg detection and normal levels of ALT and AST did not agree with the 3–4-month migratory period of fascioliasis. A shorter acute phase may happen when the main biliary duct is reached by the migratory juveniles directly from the intestinal lumen. The causal agent was ascribed to F. gigantica-like worms after considering adult fluke morphology, altitude of the patient’s infection area, fasciolid characteristics in the neigh…
High-elevational occurrence of two tick species, Ixodes ricinus and I. trianguliceps, at their northern distribution range
2021
Abstract Background During the last decades a northward and upward range shift has been observed among many organisms across different taxa. In the northern hemisphere, ticks have been observed to have increased their latitudinal and altitudinal range limit. However, the elevational expansion at its northern distribution range remains largely unstudied. In this study we investigated the altitudinal distribution of the exophilic Ixodes ricinus and endophilic I. trianguliceps on two mountain slopes in Norway by assessing larval infestation rates on bank voles (Myodes glareolus). Methods During 2017 and 2018, 1325 bank voles were captured during the spring, summer and autumn at ten trapping st…
Comparison of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and PCR for the diagnosis of infection with Trypanosoma brucei ssp. in equids in The Gamb…
2020
Introduction:\ud Infection of equids with Trypanosoma brucei (T. brucei) ssp. is of socioeconomic importance across sub-Saharan Africa as the disease often progresses to cause fatal meningoencephalitis. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has been developed as a cost-effective molecular diagnostic test and is potentially applicable for use in field-based laboratories.\ud \ud Part I:\ud Threshold levels for T. brucei ssp. detection by LAMP were determined using whole equine blood specimens spiked with known concentrations of parasites. Results were compared to OIE antemortem gold standard of T. brucei-PCR (TBR-PCR).\ud \ud Results I:\ud Threshold for detection of T. brucei ssp. on …
Friend or foe? The apparent benefits of gregarine (Apicomplexa: Sporozoa) infection in the European earwig
2020
International audience; Studying the costs and benefits of host-parasite interactions is of central importance to shed light on the evolutionary drivers of host life history traits. Although gregarines (Apicomplexa: Sporozoa) are one of the most frequent parasites in the gut of invertebrates, the diversity of its potential impacts on a host remains poorly explored. In this study, we addressed this gap in knowledge by investigating the prevalence of natural infections by the gregarine Gregarina ovata and testing how these infections shape a large set of morphological, behavioural and physiological traits in the European earwig Forficula auricularia. Our results first show that G. ovata was p…
Intestinal symptoms and Blastocystis load in schoolchildren of Paranaguá Bay, Paraná, Brazil
2017
ABSTRACT The symptomatology of Blastocystis cannot be attributed to any particular subtype, although can be related to a high Blastocystis infection load. One stool sample from each of 217 schoolchildren of Vale de Sol Paranaguá Bay (Paraná, Brazil) was collected. Three milliliters of each fixed stool sample were processed applying the formalin-ether concentration technique. After obtaining the overall prevalence of intestinal parasites, quantification was carried out in Blastocystis positive samples. A total of 75/217 (34.6%) children suffered from intestinal symptoms (abdominal pain and/or persistent diarrhea), of whom 41.3% (31/75) presented moderate/heavy Blastocystis load with a statis…
The importance of integrative approaches in nematode taxonomy: the validity of Parapharyngodon and Thelandros as distinct genera
2018
AbstractDespite the advances of molecular tools, new nematode species are still described mainly based on morphological characters. Parapharyngodon and Thelandros are two genera of oxyurids with unclear related taxonomic histories. Here we use morphological characters (linear measurements and categorical variables) and genetic information (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and COI partial gene sequences) to confirm the relationships between representatives of these two genera and to determine whether they can be discriminated morphologically. Genetic results confirm the existence of two main clades, mostly congruent with Parapharyngodon and Thelandros genera but with several discordances. Thelandros is po…
Treating schistosomiasis among South African high school pupils in an endemic area, a qualitative study
2017
Abstract Background Schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease caused by parasites that infest open water sources such as rivers and dams may increase susceptibility to HIV. Mass-treatment with praziquantel tablets, recommended by the World Health Organization reduces the prevalence of schistosomiasis. The goal in endemic areas is 75% treatment participation in every treatment round (e.g. yearly). However, in rural Ugu district, KwaZulu-Natal, South-Africa there was low participation among pupils in a Department of Health Mass-Treatment Campaign for schistosomiasis. Methods Nested in a large study on schistosomiasis the study was conducted in 2012 over 4 months using qualitative methods …
Two-level resolution of relative risk of dengue disease in a hyperendemic city of Colombia.
2018
Risk maps of dengue disease offer to the public health officers a tool to model disease risk in space and time. We analyzed the geographical distribution of relative incidence risk of dengue disease in a high incidence city from Colombia, and its evolution in time during the period January 2009—December 2015, identifying regional effects at different levels of spatial aggregations. Cases of dengue disease were geocoded and spatially allocated to census sectors, and temporally aggregated by epidemiological periods. The census sectors are nested in administrative divisions defined as communes, configuring two levels of spatial aggregation for the dengue cases. Spatio-temporal models including…