Glutathione metabolism represents a potential target for anti-parasite drug design. The central role of glutathione reductase (GR) in maintenance of the thiol redox state and in anti-oxidative defence has to be evaluated in more detail in order to establish the essential function of this enzyme for the survival of the filarial parasite Onchocerca volvulus. The O. volvulus GR (OvGR) gene was clo...

Onchocerciasis, also known as "river blindness", is a neglected tropical disease infecting millions of people mainly in Africa and the Middle East but also in South America and Central America. Disease infectivity initiates from the filarial parasitic nematode Onchocerca volvulus, which is transmitted by the blackfly vector Simulium sp. carrying infectious third-stage larvae. Ivermectin has con...

BACKGROUND Onchocerca volvulus is the causative agent of onchocerciasis, or "river blindness". Ivermectin has been used for mass treatment of onchocerciasis for up to 18 years, and recently there have been reports of poor parasitological responses to the drug. Should ivermectin resistance be developing, it would have a genetic basis. We monitored genetic changes in parasites obtained from the s...

In an attempt to describe the changing population dynamics of Onchocerca volvulus during a period of vector control, nodulectomies were undertaken in 256 patients from ten villages in the Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP) and in 74 patients from two villages in an area with ongoing transmission. A total of 1198 nodules were excised and 4350 adult worms were isolated and examined for viabil...

This paper is an introductory guide to many-particle hydrodynamic interactions. Basic concepts of the fluid mechanics are assumed to be known. Experience in the Stokes equations is useful but not necessary. The study is estimated to fit five sessions about three hours each. Auguste Rodin: “Nothing else that I have done satisfies me as much, because nothing else cost me so much effort...”[**]

To assess adverse effects of ivermectin treatment in a Simulium neavei−transmitted focus of onchocerciasis, a study was conducted with 1,246 patients infected with Onchocerca volvulus in eight villages in western Uganda. Study participants were treated the first time with a single dose of 150 g/kg of ivermectin. Adverse reactions to ivermectin were determined through questioning and clinical ex...

BACKGROUND Mass treatment with ivermectin controls onchocerciasis as a public health problem, but it was not known if it could also interrupt transmission and eliminate the parasite in endemic foci in Africa where vectors are highly efficient. A longitudinal study was undertaken in three hyperendemic foci in Mali and Senegal with 15 to 17 years of annual or six-monthly ivermectin treatment in o...

BACKGROUND The initial endemicity (pre-control prevalence) of onchocerciasis has been shown to be an important determinant of the feasibility of elimination by mass ivermectin distribution. We present the first geostatistical map of microfilarial prevalence in the former Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP) before commencement of antivectorial and antiparasitic interventions. ...

Onchocerciasis (also known as ‘river blindness’), is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by the (Simulium-transmitted) filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. The occurrence of ‘blinding’ (savannah) and non-blinding (forest) parasite strains existence corresponding, locally adapted Onchocerca–Simulium complexes were postulated to explain greater blindness prevalence in savannah than forest...

INTRODUCTION There is no clear consensus as to what constitutes an obstructive ventilatory defect (OVD): Is it FEV1/FVC<lower limit of normal (LLN) or<0.70 (respectively, physiological and operational definitions)? AIM To determine, according to the two definitions, the percentage of subjects having an OVD among them explored in a lung function exploration laboratory. POPULATION AND METHODS...