OBJECTIVE To investigate the aetiology of multiple ecchymoses associated with eosinophilia. SETTING Professorial Paediatric Unit (PPU) at Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) for children, Colombo. DESIGN Prospective study from July 1998 to April 2000. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients admitted to the PPU with multiple ecchymoses associated with an absolute eosinophilia (> 1 x 10(9)/1) were investig...

Repurposing refers to the reuse of conventional drugs with distinct indications for new applications in order to speed up drug development by capitalizing on previous knowledge and safety data. A prominent example is the proposal to implement anthelminthics, such as mebendazole, niclosamide and pyrvinium pamoate, as novel anticancer drugs. Numerous studies have demonstrated activity of these ag...

Intestinal parasites cause significant morbidity and mortality. Diseases caused by Enterobius vermicularis, Giardia lamblia, Ar^cylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus, and Entamoeba histolytica occur in the United States. E. vermicularis, or pinworm, causes irritation and sleep disturbances. Diagnosis can be made using the "cellophane tape test." Treatment includes mebendazole and household sa...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of periodic selective treatment with 500 mg mebendazole on soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections in Cuban schoolchildren. METHODS We followed up a cohort of 268 STH-positive schoolchildren, aged 5-14 years at baseline, at six-month intervals for two years and a final follow-up after three years. Kato-Katz stool examination was used to detect infections wi...

This work aims to evaluate the impact of drug treatment on infection by Ascaris lumbricoides (Al), Trichuris trichiura (Tt) and hookworms (Hook) in a rural community from the sugar-cane zone of Pernambuco, Brazil. Four parasitological surveys were carried out from March 2001 to March 2002. Individual diagnosis was based on eight slides (four by the Kato-Katz method and four by the Hoffman metho...

INTRODUCTION Gemcitabine is a pyrimidine nucleoside analog that becomes triphosphorylated and competitively inhibits cytidine incorporation into DNA strands. Diphosphorylated gemcitabine irreversibly inhibits ribonucleotide reductase thereby preventing deoxyribonucleotide synthesis. Functioning as a potent chemotherapeutic, gemcitabine decreases neoplastic cell proliferation and induces apoptos...