A survey of parasitic infections in Britain.
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Parasitic helminths are an almost universal feature of vertebrate animals, but reptiles are among the hosts with the most depauperate parasite communities. Biological traits of reptiles are considered to be among the key reasons that explain low helminth diversity; therefore, insights from a wide range of reptile hosts are helpful to understanding the ecology of parasitic helminths. We analyzed helminth fauna in two lacertids, Psammodromus algirus and Psammodromus edwarsianus (Squamata: Lacertidae), and one skink, Chalcides bedriagai (Squamata: Scincidae), three common species of Mediterranean woodlands that differ in their ecological conditions and in lifestyles that are linked to habitat use. We examined a total of 102 P. algirus, 27 P. edwarsianus, and 23 C. bedriagai from mountain landscapes in eastern Iberia. We found three helminth species, the nematodes Parapharyngodon echinatus and Spauligodon sp., and the cestode Mesocestoides sp. We report new reptile hosts for two helminth species: the skink C. bedriagai for the nematode P. echinatus and the lizard Psammodromus algirus for the nematode Spauligodon sp. We also provide the second record of the larval forms of the cestode Mesocestoides sp. in the lizard P. edwarsianus from the Iberian Peninsula. Interestingly, prevalence of infection was much higher in the skink than it was in the two lacertid lizards. Therefore, a subterranean skink lifestyle may determine the incidence of helminth parasites when compared to the ground-dwelling lizard species. Similar to other reptile hosts, the helminth fauna of our focal lizard species was poor and mainly composed by Pharyngodonidae nematodes that are often detected in insectivorous reptiles.
Lacertidae
Skink
Teiidae
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Objective To evaluate the effects of prevention and control of filariasis in Chongqing city and to summarize the experience of elimination of filariasis.Methods The data was analyzed overall in investigation,prevention,control and monitoring of filariasis and investigation of chronic filariasis.Results The Bancroftian filariasis is prevalent in 13 counties(autonomous counties and cities),427 villages and towns in Chongqing.Culex quinquefasciatus is transmitting vector.In 1955-1985,14 491 032 persons were detected by blood smear.553 703 cases were found to have microfilaremia.932 013 persons were treated.284 380 persons took preventive medicines in endemic points,and 361 101 persons took mass treatment.5 133 065 persons were treated by DEC-medicated salt.The positive rate of microfilaremia was 5.34% before prevention and control,but it was 0.07% after prevention and control.By continual monitoring,there is no microfilaremia since 1 microfilaremia case was found in 1987.Filariasis had been eliminated in Sichuan Province in 1987.After 10-year monitoring,the criteria for elimination of filariasis was attained by evaluating of domestic experts in 1997.The amount of chronic filariasis was 56 008 before prevention and control.According to investigation of 13 counties in 2003,there are 23 426 chronic filariasis patients.The rate of chronic filariasis is 0.94% and falls 58.17%.Conclusion Transmission of filariasis had been interrupted in Chongqing City,and the elimination of filariasis will be obtained.
Bancroftian filariasis
Culex quinquefasciatus
Elephantiasis
Mass drug administration
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Fasciola
Trichinosis
Ascaris suum
Trichinella spiralis
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We evaluated the cellular immune competence of 101 subjects living in an area of South Kalimantan (Borneo) where Malayan filariasis is endemic. All patients with elephantiasis but none with other clinical stages of filariasis reacted with adult worm antigens. The majority of subjects without clinical or parasitological evidence of filariasis and approximately one-half of those with amicrofilaremic filariasis reacted with microfilarial antigens. In contrast, most patients with patent microfilaremia did not respond to microfilarial antigens. The in vitro reactivity of all patient categories to nonparasite antigens was similar to that of the distant control group. These results indicate that patent microfilaremia is associated with a state of specific cellular immune unresponsiveness and are consistent with the current hypothesis that the various clinical manifestations of filariasis result from different types of immune responses to distinct antigens associated with different developmental stages of filarial worms.
Brugia malayi
Elephantiasis
Cellular immunity
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Lymphatic Filariasis
Brugia malayi
Loa loa
Microfilaria
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Elephantiasis
Diethylcarbamazine
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Parasitological studies on helminths of amphibians in South America have increased in the past few years. Here, we present a list with summarized data published on helminths of South American amphibians from 1925 to 2012, including a list of helminth parasites, host species, and geographic records. We found 194 reports of helminths parasitizing 185 amphibian species from eleven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Equador, French Guyana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Helminth biodiversity includes 278 parasite species of the groups Acanthocephala, Nematoda, Cestoda, Monogenea and Trematoda. A list of helminth parasite species per host, and references are also presented. This contribution aims to document the biodiversity of helminth parasites in South American amphibians, as well as identify gaps in our knowledge, which in turn may guide subsequent studies.
Acanthocephala
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The development of highly sensitive diagnostic techniques for the accurate identification of individual eggs of parasite species of medical and veterinary importance is central to the control of the diseases they cause.Sequencing of ribosomal genes provides a powerful molecular tool for species-level diagnosis and phylogenetic studies (1-3), and is usually based on either of the two original techniques (4, 5).Direct PCR cycle sequencing (6, 7) is an attractive approach, because it is rapid, labour effective, and can be used to generate template from minute quantities of material (8,9).This is especially important since often only limited specimens are available.This method also enables DNA template to be sequenced at high temperatures, thus reducing artifacts due to local secondary structure.Sequencing techniques rely on pure template DNA.Unfortunately, it is often difficult to isolate sufficient and pure DNA template from some parasitic helminths, because of their tough cuticle (10) and a 'white flocculate' substance found to co-precipitate with DNA during isolation (11,12), which inhibits subsequent enzymatic reactions.In this paper, we describe a DNA isolation method which overcomes these problems and a PCR cycle sequencing technique which is sufficiently sensitive to sequence rDNA from single nematode eggs.
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Filaria-specific antibodies of immunoglobulin (Ig) G, IgE, and IgM isotypes have been correlated with acquired immunity in the literature, but the status of filaria-specific IgA and its role in human filariasis has not been addressed. The present study attempts to fill this lacuna.Both total and filaria-specific IgA to different developmental stages of filarial parasites were quantified by solid-phase immunoassays in 412 clinically and parasitologically defined cases occurring in an area endemic for human bancroftian filariasis in Orissa, India.Compared with other clinical categories, microfilariae carriers were deficient in total as well as filaria-specific IgA. More crucially, significantly high levels were observed in putatively immune control subjects from areas of endemicity. These associations were also related to sex; female subjects in each category displayed higher levels of filaria-specific IgA than did male subjects.The study demonstrates, for the first time, a positive correlation between protective immunity and increased levels of filaria-specific IgA in human bancroftian filariasis. Furthermore, filaria-specific IgA appears to be an immunological window for the sex-related differences in susceptibility to infection observed in human filariasis.
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