Journal of Parasitic Diseases最新文献

Toxocariasis is a common zoonotic parasitic disease, primarily caused by the larvae of Toxocara canis or T. cati. Humans become infected through accidental ingestion of infective eggs in soil contaminated with feces of infected animals, or by consuming undercooked meat from paratenic hosts harboring Toxocara larvae. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of Toxocara spp. in 250 mothers and their 250 neonates referred to selected teaching hospitals affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran in 2020. Data were recorded using a specialized questionnaire, and serum and peripheral blood smears (for eosinophil count) were collected. Serum samples were tested using the ELISA serological test for IgG antibodies against Toxocara spp. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software version 21.0. A chi-square test was performed, and a P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Among the 500 participants, 24 cases (4.8%) tested positive for anti-Toxocara canis IgG antibodies. Seropositive cases included 6 mothers only (25%), 6 neonates only (25%), and 12 cases both mother and their neonate (50%). Statistical analysis showed a significant relationship between the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies and hospital type and nationality (P value < 0.05). However, no significant relationship was found between the presence of antibodies and other demographic variables such as age, sex, eosinophilia, and history of contact with animals in mothers and their neonates (P value > 0.05). This study indicates a substantial rate Toxocara infection in mothers and neonates, necessitating appropriate preventive measures by the relevant authorities.

Fasciolosis, caused by Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica, is a globally prevalent vector-borne disease that affects livestock and humans, with significant economic and zoonotic implications. In Nepal where livestock contributes to 11.5% of the GDP, fasciolosis poses a significant threat to the agriculture sector. The country's diverse geographical and climatic conditions contribute to the widespread prevalence of the disease. Domestic ruminants, including buffalo, cattle, goats, and sheep are extensively affected, with a prevalence rate ranging from 10.25% in goats to 68% in buffalo. The disease also impacts high-altitude regions, affecting even yaks in the Himalayas. Human infections are also on the rise, highlighting the zoonotic nature of the disease. This review provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of fasciolosis in Nepal, emphasizing its pathogenesis, epidemiology, and diagnosis. The review also assesses the strategies for controlling fasciolosis in Nepal, including anthelmintic treatments, vector control, and farm management practices. The challenges and limitations of these methods are discussed, underscoring the need for alternative strategies to prevent drug resistance and enhance disease management. Additionally, this paper proposes future directions for the management of fasciolosis in Nepal to provide a comprehensive and effective approach for controlling and managing the disease in the country.

A checklist was generated by compiling a database of all available published accounts of the monogenean parasites of fish from northeast India. The checklist is presented as a host-parasite list, including 35 nominal species from 14 genera and 3 families of monogeneans. Ten of the monogenean species listed here have been described from native fishes in the region, while 25 had previously been described from other parts of India. Dactylogyridae was the dominant family with 33 species, followed by one species each from the family Sundanonchidae and Diplozoidae. Wallago attu was the most examined fish and was represented by five parasite species. This study is an important step for managing and controlling parasite diseases in regional aquaculture and also for future research on the ecology, evolutionary biology, and biogeography of monogenean parasites and their hosts. More significant efforts are needed to fully understand the diversity of monogenean parasites from the rich fish fauna of northeast India.

Malaria remains a major health issue worldwide that affects many people, particularly in developing nations. Since, the malarial parasite has developed resistance against nearly every antimalarial drug now in use, it is imperative to search for novel antimalarial medications. Toxins produced by skin glands of toads have been shown to possess antiparasitic properties against a variety of protozoan parasites because of the bufadienolides they contain. Even though several studies have been conducted to show that toad skin secretions have antimalarial properties, very little information is known about the precise mechanism by which they work against Plasmodium infection. Thus, the goal of this study was to evaluate the antiplasmodial activity of crude skin extracts from Common Asian Toads, Duttaphrynus melanostictus, of different sizes and illustrate how they work against Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 cells. The findings demonstrated a negative correlation between the toad size and percent yield of the extracts. HPTLC and UPLC-MS/MS analysis of the extracts exhibited varied composition of bufadienolides depending on the size of the animal. The extract obtained from small toads containing resibufagin and marinobufagin lactate demonstrated highest antiplasmodial activity and showed lowest cytotoxicity on peripheral blood mononuclear cells. It was discovered that the extract was effective against the trophozoite stage of the parasite. The extract was reported to inhibit Na⁺/H⁺ ATPase of Plasmodium by binding to sodium-enzyme complex at ATP binding site. The study offers baseline data that can be used to assess the antimalarial potential of individual components in the skin extract derived from small toads.

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Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12639-024-01716-9.

Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are the main public health problems in several developing countries, and under-five-aged children are the most vulnerable groups of the population. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of IPIs among under-five-aged children at Dabat primary hospital, northwest Ethiopia. A cross-sectional hospital-based study including 384 under-five-aged children was conducted from February to June 2022. A structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant information on risk factors, and stool samples were collected and examined using wet mount and sedimentation techniques to determine prevalence. Chi-square and logistic regression were used to evaluate the possible association and the strength of the association between dependent and independent variables. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 32.81%. Ten species of intestinal parasites were identified. Entamoeba histolytica / dispar was the predominant intestinal parasite species, with a prevalence of 7.55%. Giardia lamblia and hookworm had prevalence of 6.77% and 5.47% respectively. Those children whose Mother/guardian do not wash their hand before feeding their child are more than five time infected than those who do wash (AOR = 5.26, CI = 2.28-12.2, p < 0.001). Children who do not wear shoe are more infected than who did (AOR = 14.5, CI = 5.77-36.5, p < 0.001). Several risk factors were identified in this study among these washing hands after toilet before touching child, washing hands before feeding their child, Child meal and habit of shoes wearing were the main predictors of IPI. Since the prevalence of IPI observed in this study is that of under-five-aged children; raising awareness of mothers/guardians about how to keep hygiene; transmission ways and health impacts of IPIs; and proper way of feeding their children to avoid risk is crucial.

Malaria is a climate-sensitive and season-dependent disease that mainly affects the populations of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Climatic variables such as rainfall, temperature, and humidity are identified as the driving factors affecting the epidemiology of malaria. In Ethiopia, recently unexpectedly high malaria burden accompanied by substantial morbidity and mortality is observed. The incidence rate of vector-borne diseases such as malaria is largely influenced by fluctuation of seasonal variables due to the proceeding global warming. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the impact of seasonal and climate variability on the burden of malaria in one of drought-prone areas of north central Ethiopia. The study was conducted in the Oromia zone of the Amhara regional state in Ethiopia. Data from patients tested and diagnosed with malaria between 2014 and 2019 were extracted from the medical records of the patients registered in all health facilities found in the zone. Additionally, meteorological data such as rainfall and temperature (maximum and minimum) were collected from the regional meteorological agency. Data were analyzed using R software. The malaria positivity rate recorded in this study was 12.7% (64,522/508,057). Months from June to December were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with high malaria positivity. Rainfall had a significant negative effect on malaria positivity (p = 0.042). Also, three to four months of lagged rainfall is associated with high malaria positivity (p < 0.05). However, monthly minimum temperature positivity influenced the rate of malaria positivity (exp = 0.037, p = 0.0098). While monthly mean maximum temperature showed a negative association with malaria positivity, although it was insignificant. In addition, malaria positivity significantly decreased from 2014 to 2019 by 20.5% (exp = 0.205, p < 0.0001). The seasonal and climatic variables evaluated in this study substantially affected the malaria positivity rate. Monthly mean temperature was the leading and predictor variable for malaria infection. Despite vigorous efforts by health authorities in the country at this level, following the neglected implementation of interventional activities in the nation for a couple of years, malaria-associated burdens have increased. As seasonal and climate variables could play a key role in the rising burden, concerned national or local health authorities, and policymakers should prioritize urgent interventional activities to control malaria in one of the drought-prone areas of Ethiopia.

The Leucocytozoon parasites are one of the important protozoa species affecting domestic poultry and wild birds. Though there are frequent reports about the incidence of Leucocytozoon in wild birds, the information regarding the occurrence of commercial poultry is underestimated. From October 2015 to August 2022, ailing and dead birds from 39 commercial layer flocks were submitted to the Poultry Disease Diagnosis and Surveillance Laboratory, Namakkal, with a history of brief illness, followed by mortality with oozing of blood from oro-nasal orifice. The presence of Leucocytozoon caulleryi was confirmed in all the flocks by laboratory examination and PCR. All the Leucocytozoon-positive cases were reported after heavy rainfall and the affected farms were inhabited with Culicoides flies. The infected birds were dull and depressed, exhibited labored breathing, and blood-tinted ropy mucous from the oro-nasal cavity. Necropsy examination revealed pale-anaemic comb and wattles, massive haemorrhagic clot over the surface of the kidney, peritoneum, and trachea, and scattering of greyish-white/reddish military megaloschizonts throughout the serosa of viscera and skeletal muscles. Histopathological examination revealed many spherical cysts or megaloschizonts in the intestine, pancreas, gizzard, spleen, liver, kidney, heart, and breast muscles. The cysts were deeply seated within the above organ's parenchyma or embedded in the serosa. There was extensive connective tissue proliferation with mononuclear cell infiltration around the cyst. Leucocytozoon-specific DNA was detected in all the flocks by PCR. Phylogenetic analysis of the cytochrome b gene of L. caulleryi reported from various parts of the world revealed that L. caulleryi is grouped into two major clusters (Cluster I & II). Further, Indian L. caulleryi sequences fall under sub-cluster I and II along with L. caulleryi reported from Taiwan, Egypt, China, Myanmar, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.

Heterakis gallinarum is one of the most common round worms infecting wide range of terrestrial birds including domestic fowl. H. dispar and H. isolonche are the species of same genus which infect other hosts predominantly aquatic birds, but show morphological similarities mainly females of these species are difficult to identify. Here, we described the morphologically distinct features of H. gallinarum along with identification through molecular analysis using ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 ribosomal DNA. Four hundred gastrointestinal tracts of domestic fowl were analysed for a period of 2 years. Light microscopy and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), was used for determining the morphometric measurements and characteristic morphological features of H. gallinarum. A PCR based DNA sequencing of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 ribosomal DNA was used for molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis was carried out through MEGA 11. Ninety gastrointestinal tracts were found to be infected with Heterakis gallinarum. The male worm displayed well developed lateral and caudal alae, caudal end had an anal sucker, 12 pairs of caudal papillae and cloaca from which 2 unequal spicules emerged. Female had visible vaginal bends, vulva present approximately in the middle of the body, and caudal end had a long pointed tail. Sequence analysis revealed that the PCR products of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA were 600 bp in size and showed 96-98% similarity with the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequences of H. gallinarum on BLAST analysis. Our ITS sequence of H. gallinarum showed a nucleotide divergence of 4.9% with H. gallinarum of Lucknow India. The phylogenetic analysis clearly differentiated H. gallinarum from the other representatives of the genus and revealed the relationship among different Heterakis species. The study revealed the infection status of Heterakis gallinarum prevailing among domestic fowl, and need of strategic control measures. The results of the study suggest that ITS rDNA would serve as a potential molecular marker in identification, diagnosis and systematics of Heterakis species.

Malaria remains a global health challenge with significant mortality and morbidity annually, with resistant parasite strains complicating treatment efforts. There is an acute need for novel antimalarial drugs that can put a stop to the future public health crisis caused by the multi-drug resistance strains of the Plasmodium parasite. However, the discovery of these new components is very challenging in the context of the generation of multi-drug resistance properties of malaria. The novel drugs also need to have several properties involving enhanced therapeutic prospects, successful treatment capabilities, and novel mechanisms of action that will forestall the resistance. To successfully achieve this aim researchers are trying to focus on exploring promising malaria targets. Various approaches have been made for the development of drugs for malaria including the remodelling of existing drugs and the development of novel inhibitors which acts on new targets. Advancement in the study provides more information on the biology of parasites and the new targets which help in the development of novel drugs. The present review focuses on the study of novel targets of malaria parasites and subsequent inhibitors of those particular targets. Some of these targets include malarial protease, various transporter proteins, enzymes involved in the synthesis of DNA, and nucleic acids like dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, dihydrofolate reductase, apicoplast and dihydropteroate synthase. Other potential targets are also included in this review such as isoprenoid biosynthesis, farnesyl transferase of parasite, P. falciparum translational elongation factor 2, and phosphatidyl inositol 4 kinase. These promising targets have also been summed up along with their corresponding inhibitors for combating multi-drug resistance malaria.

Babesia bigemina is a major cause of bovine babesiosis, an economically devastating tick-borne disease that needs timely diagnosis for precise treatment. In present investigation, the detection efficacy of real-time PCR (qPCR) in comparison to conventional PCR and microscopy targeting 18 S ribosomal gene was evaluated on 95 bovines (70 cattle and 25 buffaloes) suspected for babesiosis. Real-time PCR was standardized with the 10-fold serial dilutions in duplication of the given positive control (2 × 10⁶ copy number) ranging from 10⁶ to 10⁰ copy number/µL and mean Ct value of each dilution was taken to extrapolate the curve. The samples with Ct value 36.92 of 10 copy number/µL were considered as positive. Out of 95 samples, 5 (5.26%), 21 (22.10%) and 49 (51.58%) positive by microscopy, conventional PCR and real-time PCR were in corresponding range of > 10⁶-10⁴, 10⁴-10³, and 10³-<10 copy number/µL, respectively. The concordance of real-time PCR with conventional PCR and microscopy was moderate (Kappa = 0.523) and slight (Kappa = 0.09), respectively. The cows were at four times risk than the buffaloes for B. bigemina infection (Odds ratio:3.85, CI:1.4255-10.4370). This pioneer report from Punjab state (India) of application of real-time PCR to detect B. bigemina in bovines was found to be more sensitive than conventional PCR and microscopy that needs further investigations on a greater number of random samples.