This paper reports an approach to the identification of prehistoric parasitic infection, which integrates traditional morphological methods with molecular methods. The approach includes the strengths of each method while mitigating the limitations. Demonstrating the efficacy of this approach, we provide a case study from a 1,400 year old desiccated fecal sample from La Cueva de los Muertos Chiq...

Recent studies on the free-living stages of gastro-intestinal worm parasites of sheep show that their rates of development to the infective stage is slower and the mortality of infective larvae in pastures is lower than was believed hitherto. This, together with findings on the natural regulation of worm populations in sheep,. suggests that worm burdens do not increase through a rapid successio...

When infection occurs, neutrophils rapidly migrate to the affected site. Although the neutrophils neutralize microorganisms, they can also cause tissue damage or render invasion pathways to pathogens. Thus, the migration could be either beneficial or unfavorable in the initial control of infection. Studies on neutrophil recruitment revealed its complexity, especially in terms of the regulation ...

The influence of density-dependent processes on the transmission of parasitic helminths is determined by both the severity of the regulatory constraints and the degree of parasite overdispersion among the host population. We investigate how overdispersed parasite distributions among humans influence transmission levels in both directly- and indirectly-transmitted nematodes (Ascaris lumbricoides...

BACKGROUND Residents of resource-poor tropical countries carry heavy burdens of concurrent parasitic infections, leading to high rates of morbidity and mortality. This study was undertaken to help identify the social and environmental determinants of multiple parasite infection in one such community. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Residents of Kingwede, Kenya aged 8 years and older were teste...

Co-infection with hookworm and schistosomes is a common phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in parts of South America and southeast Asia. As a first step towards understanding the metabolic response of a hookworm-schistosome co-infection in humans, we investigated the metabolic consequences of co-infection in an animal model, using a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolic pro...

As many as one million deaths annually are attributed to malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes. The heaviest burdens of malaria are found in poor tropical countries, where medical systems are often ill-equipped to treat the sick, and where public health programs may lack the resources for effective and sustainable campaigns of prevention and control. In recent years, the intern...

Protein malnutrition may increase susceptibility to gastrointestinal parasitic infections, possibly as a result of impaired intestinal and/or systemic T helper 2 (Th2) effector responses induced by down-regulation of Th2 cytokines and/or up-regulation of Th1 cytokines. To test this hypothesis, female BALB/c mice (n = 18/diet) were fed a control (24%), marginal (7%), or deficient (3%) protein di...

Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is a major parasitic disease of humans in sub-Saharan Africa caused by the microfilarial stage of the nematode Onchocerca volvulus. Using Onchocerca ochengi, a closely related species which infects cattle and is transmitted by the same black fly vector (Simulium damnosum sensu lato) as O. volvulus, we have conducted longitudinal studies after either natural fiel...

The objective of the present study was to investigate whether climate change in recent years have influenced the onset of acute outbreaks of Fasciola hepatica in ovine farms in southern Italy. In May-June 2014, a severe outbreak of F. hepatica occurred in three sheep farms in the Campania region. Clinical, coprological and necroscopic examinations were performed. Morbidity and mortality due to ...