Pathogenic infections of the bowel are peculiarly prevalent in the tropics, where sanitary habits are primitive and flies and other vectors abound. It is incorrect to regard many of these infections as peculiar to the tropics; indeed most of them also are found in the temperate and the cold parts of the globe: The bacterial infections include those responsible for the bacillary dysenteries, the...

The current epidemics of tuberculosis and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (caused, respectively, by infectionwithMycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) andhuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)) are amajor cause for concern.No successful or effective anti-HIV vaccine has been yet developed, and Bacille Calmette– Guérin (BCG) has failed to confer protection against tuberculosis in developing cou...

Intestinal parasite infections are major public health problems of children in developing countries causing undernutrition, anemia, intestinal obstruction and mental and physical growth retardation. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of intestinal helminthic infections among children under five years of age with emphasis on Schistosoma mansoni in Wonji Shoa Sugar Estate, Ethiopia...

The WHO estimates that almost 2 billion people are infected with one or more of these soil transmitted helminths, accounting for up to 40% of the global morbidity from infectious diseases, excluding malaria. Out of these, approximately 300 million infections result in severe morbidity, which are associated with the heaviest worm burdens. In recent years much new information has been obtained ab...

The current epidemics of tuberculosis and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (caused, respectively, by infectionwithMycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) andhuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)) are amajor cause for concern.No successful or effective anti-HIV vaccine has been yet developed, and Bacille Calmette– Guérin (BCG) has failed to confer protection against tuberculosis in developing cou...

Eosinophilic meningitis can be the result of noninfectious causes and infectious agents. Among the infectious agents, Angiostrongylus cantonensis and Gnathostoma spinigerum are the most common. Although angiostrongyliasis and gnathostomiasis are not common in the United States, international travel and immigration make these diseases clinically relevant. Both A. cantonensis and G. spinigerum in...

In this paper, the Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4), established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), with the mandate to review helminthiases research and identify research priorities and gaps, focuses on the environmental, social, behavioural, and political determinants of human helminth infections and outlines a research ...