Human neonates are generally deficient in their ability to generate humoral immunity. This deficiency is thought to reflect physiologic immaturity of T and B cell function and lack of previous exposure to exogenous Ags. To determine whether neonatal humoral immunity can be modified by maternal helminth infection during pregnancy, we assessed Ig production by cord blood lymphocytes from healthy ...

Cysticercosis and Taeniosis are global health problems with impacts on human beings and the development of the livestock industry. This study tested the presence of Taenia eggs in the soil of two villages in Iringa rural district, Tanzania. No recognizable Taenia egg was found, though those found were difficult to identify due to absorption of the flotation fluid which made them dark with diffi...

INTRODUCTION The prevalence and intensity of geohelminth infections and schistosomiasis remain high in the rural areas of Zona da Mata, Pernambuco (ZMP), Brazil, where these parasites still represent a significant public health problem. The present study aimed to spatially assess the occurrences of schistosomiasis and geohelminthiasis in the ZMP. METHODS The ZMP has a population of 1,132,544 ...

BACKGROUND We wanted to quantify the impact that polyparasite infections, including multiple concurrent low-intensity infections, have on anemia. METHODS Three stool samples were collected and read in duplicate by the Kato-Katz method in a cross-sectional sample of 507 children from Leyte, The Philippines. The number of eggs per gram of stool was used to define 3 infection intensity categorie...

BACKGROUND Rural residence is protective against atopy and wheeze-rhinitis-eczema symptoms in developed countries, an effect attributed to farming and poor hygiene exposures. There are few data from developing countries addressing this question. We compared atopy and wheeze-rhinitis-eczema symptoms between urban and rural Ecuador, and explored the effects of farming and poor hygiene exposures. ...

Background Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) infections remain an important public health problem in the tropics. This study aimed to evaluate the soil contamination rate and prevalence of infestations of geohelminth among residents in Bazou. Methods Four hundred (400) soil samples and 182 stool specimens were collected respectively from four sites and from inhabitants aged 1 to 40 years and a...

Ascaris lumbricoides, the human roundworm, is a remarkably infectious and persistent parasite. It is a member of the soil-transmitted helminths or geohelminths and infects in the order of 1472 million people worldwide. Despite, its high prevalence and wide distribution it remains along with its geohelminth counterparts, a neglected disease. Ascariasis is associated with both chronic and acute m...

A 26-year-old soldier from Peru was shot in the right upper back of the abdomen while on routine patrol in a drug-traffic region in the Peruvian highlands. After temporizing exploratory laparotomy in a mobile army surgical hospital, he was flown to a referral center (Trauma-Shock Unit, Central Military Hospital, Lima, Peru) for open surgery. Surgical diagnosis was open abdominal trauma compromi...

Toxocara canis, the parasitic roundworm of dogs, can infect a number of paratenic hosts, such as mice and humans, due to the widespread dissemination of its ova in the environment. In these paratenic hosts, larvae have been shown to exhibit a predilection for the central nervous system, resulting in an increasing number of parasites migrating to the brain as infection progresses. In an initial ...