Pathogens and global health
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Epidemics of febrile illnesses are often associated with rainy seasons in the tropics. During 2007-2008 an epidemic of dengue was identified in Jamaica based on serological testing of sera. ⋯ While serological diagnosis definitively established that dengue was the main cause of the epidemic febrile illness, the data suggested that there may be other causes of fever, which may occur simultaneously. Consequently, leptospirosis and malaria should be considered as causes of fever during epidemics of dengue in endemic areas.
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Review
A current analysis of chemotherapy strategies for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis.
Despite the recent advances in drug research, finding a safe, effective, and easy to use chemotherapy for human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) remains a challenging task. The four current anti-trypanosomiasis drugs have major disadvantages that limit more widespread use of these drugs in the endemic regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Pentamidine and suramin are limited by their effectiveness against the only first stage of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, respectively. ⋯ The drug is useful in the context of combination chemotherapy and potential orally administered analogues. Due to the limits of monotherapies, greater emphasis should be placed on the research and development of combination chemotherapies, based on the successful clinical tests with NECT and its current use as a frontline anti-trypanosomiasis treatment. This review discussed the current and future chemotherapy strategies for the treatment of HAT.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy of different albendazole and mebendazole regimens against heavy-intensity Trichuris trichiura infections in school children, Jimma Town, Ethiopia.
Recent studies have shown that the efficacy of benzimidazole drugs is influenced by the intensity of trichuriasis. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of albendazole (ALB) and mebendazole (MBZ) administered randomly for 1 (ALB×1 and MBZ×1) or 2 days (ALB×2 and MBZ×2) to 385 school children with heavy-intensity trichuriasis (mean faecal egg counts (FEC) >1000 eggs per gram of stool (epg)) in Jimma Town, Ethiopia. The efficacies (95% confidence intervals) by means of reduction in faecal egg counts (FECs) were 29·3% (-9·9-56·2), 60·0% (48·5-70·9), 73·5% (64·2-81·3), and 87·1% (81·4-91·2) for ALB×1, MBZ×1, ALB×2, and MBZ×2, respectively. These observations highlight that assessment of the anthelmintic efficacy of existing or new compounds against Trichuris trichiura should be assessed under varying levels of infection intensity.
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During 4 months (November 2010-March 2011) of an outbreak of hepatitis E virus (HEV), 39 pregnant women presented at Port Sudan Hospital, Sudan, with various symptoms of viral hepatitis. The diagnosis of viral hepatitis was confirmed by serology using ELISA anti-HEV IgG and IgM. The mean (SD) maternal age and gestational age were 24·0 (4·2) years and 33·6 (3·7) weeks, respectively. ⋯ Fulminant hepatitis with hepatic encephalopathy was the most common cause of death among these patients. Nine of these women died before delivery and the other two died immediately following the delivery due to severe haemorrhage. There were no significant differences in clinical and biochemical data between the women who died (11) and those who survived.
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Infection caused by the lung fluke is endemic in north eastern parts of India. Paragonimus westermani and Paragonimus heterotremus are known to be endemic in eastern Indian states of Manipur and Nagaland. The infection is related to eating habits of the locals and is acquired by ingestion of raw, inadequately cooked crabs or crayfish containing encysted metacercariae which act as second intermediate hosts during the life cycle of the lung fluke. ⋯ He gave history of consumption of raw crabs while on leave at his native village in Nagaland. Ova morphologically resembling Paragonimus heterotremus were detected in sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage specimen. Symptoms resolved with praziquantel treatment.