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The Challenge of Parasite Control
Published in Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin, Parasitology, 2023
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin
The question then becomes, if basic measures like good hygiene and, in the case of hookworms, simply providing children with shoes, can eliminate such infections in humans, why are so many parasites transmitted by either fecal–oral or penetration routes still such major and sometimes seemingly intractable problems?
Do I Have IBS?
Published in Melissa G. Hunt, Aaron T. Beck, Reclaim Your Life From IBS, 2022
Melissa G. Hunt, Aaron T. Beck
One of the most common parasitic worms is the hookworm (which is actually one of two different kinds of roundworms). Hookworms are transmitted through skin contact with contaminated feces. Dogs and cats can and do contract hookworm, and simply emptying the litter box or cleaning up the dog poop in the yard can present opportunities for transmission. Hookworms have a complicated life cycle, but they end up in the intestines of the host, where they cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, and excessive gas. Long-term infection may result in anemia as the worms themselves are feeding on the blood of the host. Hookworm can be diagnosed through a stool sample.
Candida and parasitic infection: Helminths, trichomoniasis, lice, scabies, and malaria
Published in Hung N. Winn, Frank A. Chervenak, Roberto Romero, Clinical Maternal-Fetal Medicine Online, 2021
Hookworm infection is common throughout Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific. Adult worms are small (7–11mm in length), with females being larger than males. Hookworm eggs are thin shelled and colorless (32). Adult hookworms may live in the human intestine for 5 to 15 years, with the eggs being passed in feces. The eggs enter soil, hatch, and mature to third-stage (infective) larvae (Fig. 9). Infective larvae directly penetrate human skin and migrate, via the lungs, to the small intestine, where they mature to adulthood (41). Hookworm infection is diagnosed by finding eggs in feces (32).
High burden of soil-transmitted helminth infections, schistosomiasis, undernutrition, and poor sanitation in two Typhoon Haiyan-stricken provinces in Eastern Philippines
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2021
Vicente Belizario, John Paul Caesar Robles Delos Trinos, Olivia Sison, Esther Miranda, Victorio Molina, Agnes Cuayzon, Maria Epifania Isiderio, Rodel Delgado
Ascariasis and trichuriasis prevalence was not significantly different in PSAC (p-value = 0.19). Among SAC, however, trichuriasis prevalence was significantly higher than ascariasis prevalence (p-value = <0.001). This may be due to the lower efficacy against trichuriasis of albendazole, which is the drug used in school-based targeted PC[1]. The low hookworm infection prevalence may reflect the limitation of Kato–Katz technique, wherein hookworm ova disintegrate hours after smear preparation [26], as well as the difference in transmission. Hookworm infection is transmitted through larval skin penetration and may be more common in adults in certain occupations such as farming, compared with ascariasis and trichuriasis, which are transmitted through ingestion of ova and are more common in children [13,32].
Challenges to drug discovery for celiac disease and approaches to overcome them
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, 2019
Luis Vaquero, David Bernardo, Francisco León, Laura Rodríguez-Martín, Begoña Alvarez-Cuenllas, Santiago Vivas
Given that CD is triggered by the lack of immune tolerance to dietary antigens, corroborating the precepts of the hygiene hypothesis [107], several approaches have been used to modulate the immune system and desensitize its response to gluten. One of the strategies used to control the immunoregulatory activity is helminth therapy, predominantly with the pig roundworm Trichuris suis and the human hookworm Necator americanus, with variable success [108,109]. Chronic infection with helminths, such as hookworms, has been proposed to alter the Th1 immune response, allowing the control of different inflammatory pathologies, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and CD. However, the use of hookworms in Crohn’s disease did not control the symptoms, limiting therefore its therapeutic usefulness [110]; notwithstanding, this strategy may be useful for the treatment of CD. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted for 21 weeks, patients with CD on a GFD were infected with Necator americanus and subsequently received a gluten-containing diet. Although there were no significant differences in clinical manifestations between both groups, patients with hookworm infections had less intestinal mucosal inflammation, decreased levels of IFN-γ, IL-17, IL-23, and higher levels of IL-10 and TGF-β [109]. Another study conducted for 52 weeks in 12 patients infected with Necator americanus after the controlled and gradual introduction of gluten in the diet reported the absence of histological lesions in the intestine and lower anti-transglutaminase antibody titers over time [111]. These findings suggested that long-term helminth infection in the intestine suppresses the immune response to gluten and does not cause severe side effects. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to confirm these findings and the safety of the treatment.
A holistic approach is needed to control the perpetual burden of soil-transmitted helminth infections among indigenous schoolchildren in Malaysia
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2020
Nabil A. Nasr, Hesham M. Al-Mekhlafi, Yvonne A. L. Lim, Fatin Nur Elyana, Hany Sady, Wahib M. Atroosh, Salwa Dawaki, Ahmed K. Al-Delaimy, Mona A. Al-Areeqi, Abkar A. Wehaish, Tengku Shahrul Anuar, Rohela Mahmud
As for hookworm infection, age of > 10 years (AOR = 1.95; 95% CI = 1.31, 2.89), belonging to the Senoi tribe (AOR = 1.90; 95% CI = 1.10, 2.57), attending a school with 150–250 pupils (AOR = 3.07; 95% CI = 1.72, 5.46), using unimproved sources of drinking water (AOR = 2.06; 95% CI = 1.02, 4.15), the presence of domestic animals in the household (AOR = 1.98; 95% CI = 1.22, 3.22), and wearing shoes when outside the house (AOR = 1.71; 95% CI = 1.16, 2.51) were the significant risk factors for this infection.