Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology最新文献

{"title":"Chloroquine for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in Guyana","authors":"J. Baird, T. Tiwari, G. J. Martin, C. Tamminga, T. Prout, J. Tjaden, P. Bravet, S. Rawlins, M. Ferrel, D. Carucci, S. Hoffman","doi":"10.1179/000349802125001023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125001023","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract At a public hospital in Georgetown, Guyana, 44 patients seeking treatment for symptomatic, slide-confirmed malaria were given standard chloroquine (CQ) therapy and followed for 28 days. The patients apparently had pure infections with Plasmodium falciparum (14), P. vivax (13) or P. malariae (one), or mixed infections either of P. falciparum and P. vivax (17) or of P. falciparum, P. malariae and P. vivax (two). Each received supervised treatment with 10 mg CQ base/kg on each of days 0 and 1, and 5 mg/kg on day 2. On the day of enrollment (day 0), the patients complained of fever (100%), headache (100%), malaise (94%), myalgia (79%), nausea (67%), vertigo (49%) and vomiting (33%). Many (39%) were ill enough to confine themselves to bed. On day 4, fewer of the subjects complained of fever (15%), headache (15%), malaise (6%), myalgia (21%), nausea (6%), vertigo (24%) or vomiting (0%) despite the relatively high (>48%) risk of therapeutic failure. The cumulative incidence of parasitological failure against P. falciparum was 15% at day 4, 33% at day 7 and 48% at day 14. All of the P. vivax and P. malariae infections cleared before day 4 and none recurred by day 7. Two infections with P. vivax recurred later (on day 14 or 28) but in the presence of less than adequate, whole-blood concentrations of CQ plus desethyl-chloroquine (i.e. <100 ng/ml). Taken together, the results indicate a high risk of therapeutic failure of CQ against P. falciparum but also indicate that resistance to CQ in P. vivax occurs infrequently in Guyana.","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76722625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Single-tube, nested PCR for the diagnosis of human brucellosis in Kuwait","authors":"A. F. Al Nakkas, S. Wright, A. Mustafa, S. Wilson","doi":"10.1179/000349802125001203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125001203","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) offers a sensitive and specific way of detecting microbial DNA in clinical samples. The aims of the present study were to develop an assay, based on a single-tube, nested PCR, for identifying Brucella in samples of human blood and then to explore the use of this test in diagnosis. The primers chosen were derived from IS711, the insertion sequence gene found in all species of Brucella. The assay amplified a 52-bp final product which was detected colorimetrically. The PCR was sensitive and specific, giving positive reactions with 14 strains of Brucella from five species. The lower limit of detection in vitro was 30 organisms. There were no false-positive reactions either with a range of bacteria known to evoke serological cross-reactions with Brucella (Vibrio cholerae, Yersinia enterocolitica, Serratia marcescens, Haemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli K12) or with organisms producing similar clinical syndromes (Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Salmonella typhi). The results of a preliminary field trial of the assay in Kuwait indicate that the assay may be a valuable technique in the diagnosis of human brucellosis, meriting further study with larger numbers of cases. All 28 subjects with brucellosis (diagnosed on the basis of typical clinical features and confirmed by positive serology and, in three cases, by positive blood cultures) were PCR-positive whereas 28 healthy controls and 28 patients with febrile illness attributable to infections other than brucellosis were PCR-negative.","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74051936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Searching for antibodies against Trichinella spiralis in the sera of patients with fever of unknown cause","authors":"I. Tinoco-Velázquez, A. Gómez-Priego, R. Mendoza, J. de-la-Rosa","doi":"10.1179/000349802125001131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125001131","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Human cases of trichinellosis are often difficult to identify because the signs and symptoms of the disease, if the infection produces any at all, are non-specific, being similar to those observed in several other infectious diseases. In an investigation of Mexican patients with fever of unknown aetiology, attempts were made to develop a serodiagnostic test for the detection of antibodies specific for Trichinella spiralis. The excretory and secretory products of T. spiralis larvae (from the muscle tissue of experimentally infected rats) were used as the antigens in an enzyme-linked immuno-electrotransfer blot assay. The sera tested came from patients with fever of unknown cause (N=250), patients confirmed to have infectious or parasitic diseases other than trichinellosis (N=134) and 168 apparently healthy subjects. Overall, 4% of the samples from the febrile group, 1.8% of those from the healthy subjects but none of the sera from those with 'other diseases' reacted with the antigens of interest (of 45, 49 and 55kDa). The results not only confirm that human infection with T. spiralis may be asymptomatic but also indicate that such infection may be mis-diagnosed.","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75322753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Excretory/secretory antigens (ES) from in-vitro cultures of Taenia crassiceps cysticerci, and use of an anti-ES monoclonal antibody for antigen detection in samples of cerebrospinal fluid from patients with neurocysticercosis","authors":"N. M. Espíndola, A. Vaz, A. Pardini, I. Fernandes","doi":"10.1179/000349802125001140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125001140","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Antigens were obtained from cysticerci of the ORF strain of Taenia crassiceps, by culture of cysts in protein-free hybridoma medium (PFHM). Budding of new vesicles was observed after 24-48h. Excretory/secretory (ES) antigens (peptides of <20kDa) were recovered in the medium after culture for 48h. SDS-PAGE analysis of vesicular-fluid (VF) antigens (obtained by rupturing T. crassiceps cysticerci in PFHM) and the ES antigens indicated partial homology between the two preparations. ES peptides of 18- and 14-kDa were recognized by polyclonal antibodies produced in rabbits immunized either with the VF antigens or with a total-antigen preparation of T. solium cysticerci. Antibodies present in samples of serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with neurocysticercosis also reacted with ES peptides. An anti-ES monoclonal antibody detected antigens in the CSF from 10 patients with neurocysticercosis, showing the antigenic homology of the ES antigens with those of T. solium cysticerci in human infections.","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74795437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Epidemiology and strain characteristics of Echinococcus granulosus in the Benghazi area of eastern Libya","authors":"Osama A. Tashani, L. Zhang, B. Boufana, A. Jegi, Donald P. McManus","doi":"10.1179/000349802125000952","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125000952","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The incidence of surgically confirmed cystic echinococcosis in eastern Libya was estimated to be at least 4.2 cases/100,000, with significantly more female cases than male. The prevalences of infection with Echinococcus granulosus among 1087 sheep, 881 goats, 428 camels and 614 cattle from the same region, determined postmortem in abattoirs, were 20%, 3.4%, 13.6% and 11%, respectively. Infection in the livestock was age-dependent and, generally, the female animals were more often infected than the male. The measurements of rostellar hooks on protoscoleces collected from sheep and cattle were similar but significantly different from the corresponding measurements of parasites of human or camel origin. However, when a portion of the cytochrome c-oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene from each of 30 protoscolex samples from Libya (12 from cattle, three from humans, five from camels and 10 from sheep) was sequenced, the sequences were all found to be identical to that published for the common sheep strain of E. granulosus.","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79283175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Toxicology of a potential molluscicide derived from the plant Solanum xanthocarpum: a preliminary study","authors":"F. Wei, X.-J. Xu, J-B Liu, Y-h Dai, G. Dussart, J. Trigwell","doi":"10.1179/000349802125000727","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125000727","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A potential molluscicidal extract, obtained from the indigenous Chinese plant Solanum xanthocarpum (Schrad. and Wendl), was tested for toxicity against snails and fish in static, acute-toxicity tests. The extract had a significant effect on mature and young snails of the amphibious Asian freshwater prosobranch Oncomelania hupensis (Gredler) and also on mature specimens of the freshwater pulmonate snails Biomphalaria glabrata (Say) and Lymnaea stagnalis (Linnaeus). The minimum dose that produced 100% mortality of snails exposed for 48h, 4.321mg/litre, is much less than the threshold, of 100mg/litre, set for a potential molluscicide by the World Health Organization. In contrast, the minimum concentration producing 100% mortality in the fish Gobiocypris rarus (Ye and Fu) was 17.28mg/litre. The extract also limited the extent of water-leaving by snails exposed to it, an important feature for the control of amphibious snails. This extract thus represents a promising plant-derived molluscicide which is worthy of further investigation.","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81867649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of 5 years of annual treatment with ivermectin (Mectizan®) on the prevalence and morbidity of onchocerciasis in the village of Gami in the Central African Republic","authors":"M. Kennedy, I. Bertocchi, A. Hopkins, S. Meredith","doi":"10.1179/000349802125000736","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125000736","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract To assess the impact of 5 years of annual community treatment with ivermectin (Mectizan®) on the prevalence of onchocerciasis and onchocerciasis-associated morbidity, data collected, before and after such treatment, in the village of Gami, in a hyper-endemic area of the Central African Republic, were analysed. Skin snips from all the villagers treated in 1990 and/or 1995 were used to assess the prevalence and intensity of infection with Onchocerca volvulus. Ocular and dermatological morbidity was assessed by ophthalmological and clinical examinations of the same subjects. Following the five annual treatments, there was a reduction in the prevalence of infection and a dramatic decrease in the microfilarial load of the community. The prevalences of pruritus, onchocercal nodules and impaired vision were all significantly reduced. The results emphasise the long-term benefits of the mass-treatment programmes, particularly for children aged <10 years.","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76413852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Field evaluation of the ICT Malaria P.f./P.v. immunochromatographic test in India","authors":"N. Valecha, A. Eapen, C. Usha Devi, J. Ravindran, A. Aggarwal, S. Subbarao","doi":"10.1179/000349802125000817","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125000817","url":null,"abstract":"In India the only antigen-capture assays available for routine malaria diagnosis are designed to detect P. falciparum (Singh et al. 1997; Valecha et al. 1998) although most cases of malaria (60%) are caused by P. vivax (Sharma 1999). The aim of the present Indian study was to evaluate a commercial dipstick-based assay that is designed to detect P. vivax as well as P. falciparum and probably P. malariae and P. ovale. The assay investigated is known as the ICT Malaria P.f./P.v.(TM) immunochromatographic test (ICT; AMRAD- ICT Bookvale Australia). This test is based on the detection of histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) from P. falciparum and a genus-specific pan-malarial antigen that appears to be present in all four of the Plasmodium species that can cause human malaria (Tjitra et al. 1999; Mason et al. 2001). The present investigation which was approved by the ethical committee of the Malaria Research Centre in Delhi formed part of a multicentre study of an epidemic tribal area of Madhya Pradesh in central Indian (Singh et al. 2000). The present data were generated during surveys in the urban areas of Delhi in northern India and Chennai in the south in September-October 1999. Delhi is an area with relatively low levels of malaria transmission sporadic transmission occurring from the end of April into May and again from the onset of the monsoon in July to October (Adak et al. 1998). The incidence of malaria in Chennai is much greater cases of malaria in the city representing 50%-70% of all those occurring in the state of Tamil Nadu (Dua et al. 1997). Chennai has fairly stable perennial transmission although there are peaks in July-August and October-November. In both Delhi and Chennai those who presented at malaria clinics with the typical signs and symptoms of malaria and those who were found to be febrile during active case-detection surveys in suburban area were enrolled. (excerpt)","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82593237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A randomized comparison of chloroquine, amodiaquine and their combination with pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine in the treatment of acute, uncomplicated, Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children","authors":"A. Sowunmi","doi":"10.1179/000349802125000763","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125000763","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The increasing resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to antimalarial monotherapy (MT) has created an urgent need for the evaluation of alternative effective, safe, cheap, readily available and affordable, combination treatments (CT) with antimalarial drugs. In the present study, the efficacies of chloroquine (CQ) or amodiaquine (AQ) in the oral treatment of acute, symptomatic, uncomplicated, Plasmodium falciparum malaria were compared with those of oral treatments with the combination of CQ or AQ with pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (PS). The CQ and AQ were each given at a dose of 10 mg/kg.day for 3 days (days 0, 1 and 2), with or without PS given as a single dose (25 mg sulfadoxine/kg) at presentation (day 0). Overall, 303 children aged 0.5-10 years (74 given CQ, 82 AQ, 72 CQPS and 75 AQPS) were evaluated. The fever-clearance time (FCT) was significantly shorter in those treated with AQPS than in those treated with CQ or CQPS. The proportions of patients with complete clearance of their parasitaemias on days 1 and 2 were significantly larger and the parasite-clearance times (PCT) were all significantly shorter with the drug combinations than with their corresponding MT. For example, the mean (S.D.) PCT were 2.6 (0.8) days for CQ v. 2.1 (0.8) days for CQPS (P=0.0002), and 2.6 (0.7) days for AQ v. 2.1 (0.7) days for AQPS (P=0.00001). The cure 'rates' on days 14, 21 and 28 were also significantly higher with AQ, CQPS and AQPS than with CQ; those on day 28, for example, were 47.2%, 98.7%, 100% and 100% for CQ, AQ, CQPS and AQPS, respectively (P=0.000001). Gametocyte carriages on day 3 or on days 3, 7 and/or 14 combined were significantly lower in those treated with CQPS than in those given CQ; there was no gametocyte carriage in the CT groups on day 28. In the CQ group, eight of 13 children with gametocytaemia on day 3 had a response indicative of resistance. However, the five CQ-resistant infections that were re-treated with AQPS responded promptly, with a PCT significantly shorter than that during the initial treatment with CQ and with a cure 'rate' of 100% on day 28. Adverse reactions to treatment were similar on the first and subsequent days of treatment and were tolerable except for pruritus, which was significantly more common in children treated with CQ alone than in the other treatment groups. Haematological and biochemical parameters were not adversely affected by any treatment. The CQPS and AQPS combinations appear to be well tolerated and may be useful as alternatives to monotherapy with CQ or AQ as resistance to the single drugs develops.","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73258476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identification and characterization of a 26- to 28-kDa circulating antigen of Fasciola gigantica","authors":"A. Attallah, E. A. Karawia, H. Ismail, A. Tabll, A. Nawar, W. Ragab, M. A. Abdel Aziz, I. El‐Dosoky","doi":"10.1179/000349802125000754","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/000349802125000754","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract As a disease of domestic ruminants, fascioliasis is of considerable economic importance. Although serological tests are available for the diagnosis of the disease, they are of generally low specificity because of cross-reactivity with antigens from other parasites. There is a need to identify other Fasciola antigens on which more specific tests could be based. In the present study, a specific rabbit anti-serum and western-blot analyses were used to demonstrate the presence of a highly reactive antigen of 26-28 kDa not only in an extract of adult F. gigantica but also in the excretory/secretory products of the worms and in the bile secretions and sera of cattle that were naturally infected with this parasite. The 26- to 28-kDa antigen was isolated from preparative polyacrylamide gels, by electro-elution. The purified antigen showed a single peak at 5.8 min when analysed by capillary zone electrophoresis. It was characterized as protein containing 47.5% hydrophilic and 29.3% hydrophobic amino acids. Immunostaining demonstrated that the target epitope was located in the gut and tegument of adult F. gigantica and within the bile ducts, the portal tracts of the livers and the mucosa and muscularis of the gallbladders of infected cattle. A simple and rapid dot-ELISA technique based on the specific rabbit anti-serum was 100% specific when tested on the sera from nine cattle infected with F. gigantea and 27 uninfected cattle. In conclusion, the 26- to 28-kDa Fasciola antigen may be a promising candidate for the immunodiagnosis of fascioliasis.","PeriodicalId":8038,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75542716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}