Tropical Medicine

Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Vaccine Perspectives (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 2

Individual antigens identified and used as subunit vaccines Three major particularities characterize the difficulties found in the development of recombinant vaccines against toxoplasmosis; these are: (i) T. gondii is an unicellular protozoan parasite formed by thousands of different proteins, glycoproteins, lipoproteins, and other types of molecules that can become feasible candidate antigens for a vaccine, […]

Screening of the Prevalence of Antibodies to the Tick Hyalomma lusitanicum in a Province of Northern Spain (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 1

Introduction In the recent decades it has been found the occurrence of a large number of hitherto unknown or undervalued pathogens, and they present a risk to health and human welfare. Almost all incidents caused by emerging pathogens have been attached to zoonotic agents, which expanded its host range and are capable of breaching the […]

Screening of the Prevalence of Antibodies to the Tick Hyalomma lusitanicum in a Province of Northern Spain (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 2

Results Twenty three of the patients presented at the Burgos Health Services for tick bites were asymptomatic at the time of sampling. Of these patients, 12 were males and 11 were females (Table 1). Age-groups (years) 0-10 11-59 60-97 Males (%) 2 (8.69) 4 (17.39) 6 (26.08) Females (%) 2 (8.69) 8 (34.78) 1 (4.34) […]

Amoebiasis in the Tropics: Epidemiology and Pathogenesis (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 1

Introduction Entamoeba histolytica is a protozoan parasite that causes amebic dysentery and liver abscess. The disease is common in tropical regions of the world where hygiene and sanitation is often approximate. The epidemiology of E. histolytica has been studied around the world. However, there is a dearth of comprehensive literature on the epidemiology of this […]

Amoebiasis in the Tropics: Epidemiology and Pathogenesis (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 2

Pathogenicity of amoebiasis E. histolytica causes intestinal and extraintestinal amoebiasis based on the site of infection. Though most infections do not harm the host (asymptomatic infections), establishment in the colonic mucosa via the Galactose/N-acetyl Galactosamine inhibitable lectin (Gal-lectin) is a pre-requisite for the disease (Chadee et al., 1987). Pathogenic forms of the parasite are known […]

Retrospective Analysis of Leishmaniasis in Central Tunisia: An Update on Emerging Epidemiological Trends (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 1

Introduction This study aimed at describing the spatio-temporal distribution of leishmaniasis in patients who have sought diagnosis in the laboratory of Parasitology of Farhat Hached hospital, Sousse, Tunisia, across the 1986-2010 period in order to: i) highlight important features and trends of leishmaniasis and its epidemiology; ii) and to assess whether the activity of the […]

Retrospective Analysis of Leishmaniasis in Central Tunisia: An Update on Emerging Epidemiological Trends (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 2

The zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) ZCL is by far the most frequent and the most widely distributed form of CL in Tunisia where it constitutes a major public health problem. It is endemo-epidemic in extended areas of central and southern Tunisia (Figure 5). It is caused by L. major and transmitted by the zoo-anthropophilic Phlebotomus […]

Retrospective Analysis of Leishmaniasis in Central Tunisia: An Update on Emerging Epidemiological Trends (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 3

Diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis Parasitological diagnosis Diagnosis of VL is usually based on the demonstration of amastigotes in Giemsa stained bone-marrow aspirates. However, in our laboratory, bone-marrow smears are mainly carried out and read in doubtful cases, because they usually are performed and interpreted by the haematologists and sometimes the pediatricians themselves and the results […]

Retrospective Analysis of Leishmaniasis in Central Tunisia: An Update on Emerging Epidemiological Trends (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 4

Visceral leishmaniasis Up to 2010, 2784 serum samples were addressed to our laboratory for suspected VL cases. Anti-Leishmania antibodies were demonstrated in 944 sera. FAT and rK39 DST were positive in 944 (99.2%) and 822 (87.1%) cases respectively. In all positive patients, VL was confirmed by the demonstration of amastigotes in bone marrow and/ or […]

Current Advances in Computational Strategies for Drug Discovery in Leishmaniasis (Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths) Part 1

Introduction Leishmaniasis is a complex disease caused by several species of the Leishmania genus ranging in severity from cutaneous and mucocutaneous lesions to the chronic visceral form that if untreated adequately can cause death. It has a worldwide distribution in 98 countries and 85 out of 98 are developing or poor countries. One of the […]

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