Urinary Schistosomiasis

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm2300207

> Images in Clinical Medicine from The New England Journal of Medicine
#IDMastodon #MedMastodon #medicine #infectiousdiseases #tropical #bladder #schistosomiasis

Sommerlektüre: Unser #Pharmabrief 4-5/2023

Zur #Insulin'herstellung, #Schistosomiasis und unserer Vortragsreise & Konferenz zu #Pandemie'folgen mit @SUE_NRW 👇👀

https://bukopharma.de/images/pharmabrief/2023/Phbf2023_04_05.pdf

A difficult part of controlling some #parasitic #diseases is their complex #lifecycle with multiple #hosts.

But this can also be used against them by controlling their hosts.

This article outlines a fantastic #schistosomiasis #management strategy in which #snail #habitat (#vegetation) was reduced.

Benefits:
-disease reduction
-better access to water
-compost for #agriculture
-animal feed

Article 🔗 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06313-z

Explainer 🔗 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02178-4

Podcast 🔗 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02362-6

AAAS: "'Win-win-win' strategy reduces dangerous parasite infections in African villages." A parasitic flatworm in the genus Schistosoma in Africa infects millions, causing pain, weakness + in children failure to thrive plus cognitive dysfunction. Some peope get liver disease or cancer. "Now, researchers have shown in a trial in Senegal that a simple intervention could reduce the risk of infection and break the resulting spiral of poverty and disease." Harvesting aquatic plants removes habitat for the snails carrying the parasite, which slashes rates of schistosomiasis, benefiting farmers with the vegatation being used for fertilizer + fodder for animals. Infected people pass schistosome eggs in their urine or stool, depending on species. The eggs infect certain snail species, which release second-stage larvae which can burrow through intact human skin, completing the cycle. The drug praziquantel can knock down the disease burden in people, but rapid reinfection often occurs. In the randomized, controlled trial,  residents of 8 villages in Senegal were paid to remove water plants every 3 months for 3 yrs. The number of snails was reduce eightfold compared to control villages. "And the percentage of schoolchildren infected with one flatworm parasite, Schistosoma mansoni, was 23.5% in sites where the vegetation was removed, whereas it was 31.5% in control villages, Rohr and colleagues report in Nature." The composted plants increased yields of papper + onions, 2 local crops. As for fodder, goats were not interested, but sheep, donkey + cattle were happy to partake. As a former president told us, this represents so much winning that we should be sick + tired of all the winning.   #schistosomiasis    #parasitology    #winning

A new study of ancient Egyptian child mummies reveals that they suffered from a parasitic disease called schistosomiasis. The disease is caused by worms that infect the urinary tract or the intestines after contact with contaminated water. Schistosomiasis is still a major public health problem in many parts of the world, affecting more than 250 million people.

#Egypt #Mummies #Schistosomiasis

https://www.sciencealert.com/egyptian-child-mummies-reveal-high-prevalence-of-an-ancient-sickness

New research article in The Lancet Infectious Diseases>

Efficacy, safety, and palatability of arpraziquantel (L-praziquantel) orodispersible tablets in children aged 3 months to 6 years infected with #Schistosoma in Côte d'Ivoire and Kenya

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(23)00048-8/fulltext

#schistosomiasis

#Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease (#NTD); one diagnosis is finding the parasite egg in urine. It can be as low as one egg in one liter. We can use our microfluidic to find and identify the egg using cheap microscopes.

How cheap, you ask? Same question I asked @beniroquai: “what’s the cheapest microscope we can do for this detection?” And so the #ESP32 #microscope was born. Less than 10€, mostly 3D printed, wifi, and fully open: https://github.com/Matchboxscope/Matchboxscope/blob/master/Matchboxscope.md

Gemäß der Weisung in der Bibel wachset und mehret Euch hat uns Schistosomiasis erreicht.
Man darf davon ausgehen, daß hier der Klimawandel dazu beiträgt und auch das Reisen.
#Schistosomiasis #Bilharziose #Zerkarien #Praziquantel

https://www.mta-dialog.de/artikel/schistosomiasis

Pondering: what is a #vector? This paper (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5352812/) highlights the many definitions. I'd add a #PublicHealth one: if controlling or behaviorally avoiding the transmitting species would substantially reduce human infection, then it's a vector. Thus I say that #schistosomiasis is a #VectorBorneDisease, even though the #snail intermediate hosts don't directly interact with the mammalian hosts.

I have many ongoing projects in #genomics and #evolution of #diseases caused by #parasites. One area concerns #snails that transmit #schistosomes which infect >200 million people. I want to find snail #genes that affect their resistance to infection by parasites, and study how these genes naturally vary and evolve. If we can block infection in wild snails, we could stop the spread of deadly #schistosomiasis.
🐌