Bulletin of the World Health Organization
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Jan 2001
Risk of Lyme disease: perceptions of residents of a Lone Star tick-infested community.
Lone Star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) have been suggested as a vector of the agent of Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato) in the USA, based on associations with an infection manifesting mainly as erythema migrans. In laboratory experiments, however, they failed to transmit B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. ⋯ The residents of Gibson Island had an exaggerated perception of the risk of Lyme disease because they were intensely infested with an aggressively human-biting and irritating nonvector tick. In addition, a Lyme disease mimic of undescribed etiology (named Masters' disease) seems to be associated with Lone Star ticks, and may confound Lyme disease surveillance. The epidemiological and entomological approach used in this study might fruitfully be applied wherever newly emergent tickborne zoonoses have been discovered.
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Jan 2001
Etiology of urethral discharge in West Africa: the role of Mycoplasma genitalium and Trichomonas vaginalis.
To determine the etiological role of pathogens other than Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis in urethral discharge in West African men. ⋯ M. genitalium and T. vaginalis are important etiological agents of urethral discharge in West Africa. The frequent occurrence of multiple infections with any combination of four pathogens strongly supports the syndromic approach. The optimal use of metronidazole in flowcharts for the syndromic management of urethral discharge needs to be explored in therapeutic trials.