Patients infected with schistosomes, a parasitic worm, may be more likely to become infected with HIV than persons without worm infections, according to a new government study.

Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School found that the infectious dose of an HIV-like virus necessary to infect rhesus macaques was 17-times lower in animals with acute schistosomiasis than in control groups.

The research represents a novel in vivo demonstration that parasitic worms increase a patient’s susceptibility to becoming infected with an AIDS-causing virus.

The macaques co-infected with Schistosoma mansoni also demonstrated higher peak viral loads and higher memory cell concentrations of virus. This research is consistent with the thesis that patients living in areas highly endemic for parasitic worms may also have a higher risk of acquiring AIDS.

Previous research have demonstrated that presence of schistosome infections increases viral replication in animal or human hosts with established immunodeficiency virus infections.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

                                Conditions associated with AIDS infection. 

Posted: July 23rd, 2008 under Diseases, HIV, Parasites and Lice.
Comments: none

The infection rates of common foodborne illnesses in the U.S. have remained “about the same since 2004,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Last year, rates of infection with Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella, Shigella, E coli O157, and Yersinia “did not decline significantly” compared with the previous three years, data from the CDC’s 10-state FoodNet surveillance system shows.

The one exception was the parasite Cryptosporidium, for which the estimated incidence of infections were up 44% compared with the 2004-06 period, the CDC said. 

Although some foodborne illnesses have declined rapidly since surveillance began in 1996, the declines all occurred before 2004.

“The results show that prevention efforts have been partly successful, but there has been little further progress in the most recent years,” Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the CDC’s division of foodborne, bacterial and mycotic diseases, says. “That indicates that further measures are needed to keep prevention on a downward track. The incidence of Salmonella actually has changed very little since those early years.”

The FoodNet system compiles data on laboratory-confirmed foodborne illness cases from Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Tennessee, plus parts of California, Colorado, and New York. The system’s coverage area includes 45 million people, or about 15% of the U.S. population, according to the CDC.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Life cycle of the parasite Cryptosporidium, according to the CDC.

Posted: April 11th, 2008 under Diseases, Parasites and Lice.
Comments: none

A proliferation of parasitic worms is leading to a dramatic increase in chronic infections in Africa and Asia. Over a quarter of the world’s population is infected with parasites, leading to sub-clinical cases, clinical intervention, and, often, death. Globally, there are a quarter million deaths caused annually by parasites, according to World Health Organization official, Jackie Maison, based in the U.K.

This makes parasitic worms a leading common cause of chronic infections in human beings.

The most commonplace infection is geohelminthiases, which includes round worms, whipworms, hookworms, schistome, flukes and guinea worms. Poor diagnosis of helminthes in developing countries leads to malnutrition in children, and retardation of growth and destruction of tissues.

This leads to impairment and poor mental ability hence poor performance in children in school. China is reporting a massive helminthes infection, while Africa has seen increased clinical cases, according to the WHO.

Common presenting symptoms include abdominal pains, malnutrition, loss of appetite, destruction of tissues and organs, intestinal obstruction, anemia and ulcers are the arising clinical conditions in adults as well as in children.

According to Dr. John Nderu, a science lecturer in Nairobi University in Kenya, helminthes that suck blood also cause “anemia and mucosal damage.”

According to Dr. Daniel Elias, a medical practitioner at a Manchester U.K. clinic, chronic parasitic infections also reduce immunity against tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV/AIDS. He says that preexisting helminthes infections influence “sequestration and obstructive jaundice as well as acute tubular necrosis.”

Parasitic infections are transmitted through consumption of infected water, food or fruits, and through the skin.

Dr. Beatrice Mansfield, at Agha Khan Hospital in Nairobi, says some 44 million pregnancies are currently complicated by maternal hookworm infection, placing both mothers and children at higher risk of death during pregnancy and delivery.

Treatment methods often used by clinicians are prescription of ivermectin, albendazole or mebendazole for intestinal helminthes or tropical deltamethrin for ectoparatsites. This is a procedure prescribed by WHO

– By David James, East Africa Correspondent

Basic infection protection practices that can keep parasites away include the following:

* Cleaning fruits thoroughly before eating them.
* Cooking food properly.
* Meat inspection.
* Boiling water before use.

Source: The World Health Organization

                       

Posted: April 1st, 2008 under Diseases, Feature Stories, Parasites and Lice.
Comments: none

A new parasite that infects animals — called the Myxidium anatidum — has been discovered by microbiologists at Oregon State University, according to a report in the International Journal for Parasitology. The parasite infects warm blooded animals – like ducks – and is said to have evolved from its relatives that are common in cold-blooded fish and aquatic worms. The findings raise concerns that the parasite may become more widespread, cause more health problems or possibly even move into new species. “This is pretty unusual to see a parasite group in a completely new host,” said Jerri Bartholomew, an associate professor of microbiology at OSU.New hosts often have little resistance to new parasites, researchers say, and the new species “Myxidium anatidum,” which appears to target the liver in animals, has already caused mortality in ducks. It was first isolated from a duck that had died of an unknown cause in a Southern California zoo.Myxozoa are a group of microscopic, parasitic animals that live in marine and freshwater aquatic habitats, and one or more species are found in virtually all fish. These spore-forming, multicellular parasites had been previously believed by science to be exclusively confined to cold-blooded vertebrates and invertebrates. The deadly “whirling disease” in salmon and trout is a myxosporean parasite, and it has caused up to 90 percent mortality in some Western U.S. streams.“It’s pretty clear it has now moved into warm-blooded animals, which some other research has suggested may include moles, shrews, and even humans with compromised immune systems,” said Bartholomew.

– by the Editors

 

New parasite targets ducks, perhaps people too. Source: International Journal of Parasitology.

Posted: March 27th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Parasites and Lice, Pet Diseases.
Comments: none

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is moving forward with additional measures, as part of a “comprehensive plan” to address public safety concerns regarding a national biocontainment research laboratory now under construction at Boston University Medical Center.

Research in the laboratory will focus on the development of diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines for an array of infectious diseases.

“Our number one concern is the safety of the people working in the laboratory and those living in the surrounding communities,” Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., NIH director, says.

NIH has established an internal Coordinating Committee to guide the agency’s efforts to address safety concerns raised by community representatives and other members of the public.

NIH also has established a blue ribbon panel, chaired by Adel Mahmoud, M.D., Ph.D., of Princeton University, that will review current risk assessments and provide independent technical expertise and guidance. The panel includes experts in infectious diseases, public health and epidemiology, risk assessment, environmental justice, risk communications, biodefense, biosafety, and infectious disease modeling. “The biomedical research conducted in facilities such as the one under construction at Boston University Medical Center is essential for developing vaccines, therapies, and diagnostics to protect the American public against infectious diseases that may occur naturally or be deliberately introduced,” says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

“Through a transparent process, we will thoroughly examine any potential risks to the community associated with this project and continue to promote open communication and mutual understanding,” he adds.

In accord with NEPA, NIH completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement and issued a Record of Decision in February 2006 that affirmed the safety of the laboratory. Supplementary risk assessments were drafted in response to concerns raised in a federal court proceeding regarding a challenge to NIH’s previous review.

– by The Editors

A new biocontainment laboratory being built in Boston is generating national controversy.

Posted: March 7th, 2008 under Anti-Bacterial Resources, Antibiotic Resistant, Droplet Precautions, Hand Hygiene, Infection Protection, Masks Control Transmission, Parasites and Lice.
Comments: none

The impact of an emerging parasitic worm disease is decidedly more serious in affected areas than previously estimated and more resources are needed to fight it, according to news media reports.

The disease is schistosomiasis, and is one of the most prevalent parasitic infections globally, infecting 207 million people in 76 countries — primarily developing nations in Asia, Africa, South America, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

Focusing on a variant of the disease seen in China and the Philippines, the researchers believe that the true burden in terms of disability and other measures is up to 46 times higher than the current estimates.

“Attention must be paid,” Stephen McGarvey, director of the International Health Institute at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island who worked on the research.

According to the WHO, the rates the frequency, severity and duration of more than 130 major causes of this disease include illness, injury and death worldwide. Policymakers in turn may use this data to help determine funding for prevention and treatment programs, as well as research.

Researchers say he hopes the findings convince policymakers, large charitable foundations, governments and others that more resources should be devoted to combating schistosomiasis.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, director of scientific communications

Image of parasitic worm — courtesy of USAID.

Posted: March 5th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Feature Stories, Parasites and Lice.
Comments: none

A recall of tainted beef, recalled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is apparently not going to accomplish much, according to news reports. About 37 million pounds of the recalled meat went to school lunch programs and other federal nutrition programs since October 2006, said Ron Vogel of the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service.

The reasons:

* Most of the beef was sent to distribution centers in bulk packages.
* Distributors don’t know how much of the recalled meat remains in warehouse.

The largest U.S. meat recall before Sunday came in 1999, when about 35 million pounds of product possibly contaminated with listeria were ordered off shelves. USDA officials said that was Class I recall, involving a known risk to human health.

Yesterday’s action was a Class II recall, under which authorities say there is “a remote probability” the meat could cause illness. Not very comforting, to say the least.

The amount of recalled beef — 143 million pounds — is roughly enough for two hamburgers for each man, woman and child in the U.S.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/18/beef.recall/

Mm-mm. Not good. USDA recalls tainted beef.

Posted: February 18th, 2008 under Hand Hygiene, Parasites and Lice.
Comments: none

Researchers have now proven the hantavirus infection can spread among humans, as the presence of hantavirus in human saliva now demonstrates. A research team at Umea University in Sweden conducted the study.

In Sweden, a form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome called nephropathia epidemica occurs primarily in the northern parts of the country.

See,

http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=14931

The infectious disease is usually transmitted between animals and humans when a rat, for instance, releases Puumala hantavirus from its saliva, urine, and feces. Generally, humans become infected by breathing in dust polluted by the virus from rat secretions or by direct contact with the animal. Another recent study, this one in South America, demonstrated that the Andes hantavirus, which is closely related to the Puumala hantavirus, can in some cases be transmitted among humans.

– The Editors

The hantavirus. Image source: Centers for Disease Control and Protection, Atlanta.

Posted: January 21st, 2008 under News, Parasites and Lice.
Comments: none

A case of infection by the rodent-bourne Hanta virus has been confirmed in Chile, according to the country’s Public Health Research Institute. This is the first such case in 2008, and involves a resident of the Nuble province in central Chile.

The 39-year-old South American man, now hospitalized and in serious condition, was believed to be infected while cleaning a warehouse, according to a press report.

See,  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/18/content_7447932.htm

There were 43 cases of infection of the virus throughout Chile last year, resulting in 14 deaths, compared with five deaths from 10 cases in 2006. The Hanta virus is transmitted to the human body by rodents through air or through coming into contact with their feces. The virus was first detected in Chile in 1995.

– The Editors

 Route of Hanta virus infection. Source: National Science Foundation.

Posted: January 18th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, News, Parasites and Lice.
Comments: none

Travelers to tropical countries are “highly prone” to filarial infections, with river blindness being the most commonly acquired infection between 1997 and 2004, according to a new study. A review of data collected through the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network, a network of tropical medicine clinics on six continents that was established in 1995 for gauging illnesses following travel to the tropics and subtropics has given rise to this finding, according to an international press report.

See,

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/travellers-to-tropics-highly-prone-to-filarial-infections_10010206.html

We hear that patients infected with filarial diseases present with episodic fever associated with lymphangitis, lymphadenitis, funiculoepididymitis — i.e., inflammation of the spermatic cord and epididymis — transient edema, and small hydroceles. Patients with secondary infections also may present with fever and a purulent reaction. The hallmark of clinical disease is lymphedema. Reviewers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have determined that filarial infections responsible for such diseases as river blindness, elephantiasis, and African eyeworm illness made up 271, or 0.62%, of the 43,722 medical conditions reported during that time period.

According to Dr. Thomas Nutman, a member of the reviewing team, the data demonstrates that immigrants from filarial-endemic regions were most likely to come to tropical diseases clinics, and that long-term travel of more than one month was more likely to be associated with filarial infection than were shorter trips. He has also revealed that the most commonly acquired filarial infection  — 37% — was Onchocerca volvulus, the worm that causes river blindness.  – by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

                                                       Route of river blindness parasite infection. Source: Centers for Disease Control

Posted: December 26th, 2007 under Developing Diseases, Feature Stories, Infection Protection, Parasites and Lice.
Comments: none