Parasites World

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)

Most people see the Tropical Diseases as big Three ,means: HIV/AIDS , Tuberculosis and Malaria .

So most of the helping funding is allocated accordingly.
But ,a group of conditions known collectively as NTDs has an even more widespread impact.They cant often kill,but they debilitate by causing severe Anaemia  , Malnutrition , Delays in intellectual and cognitive development and Blindness.

The Seven most common NTDs have the most devastating impact.

Ascaris lumbricoides afflicts 800 Million people

Trichuris afflicts 600 Million people

Hookworms                       are found in 600 Million people

For more information:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-plan-to-defeat-neglected-tropical-diseases

Condolence to All

Unfortunately we lost one of the Best and Kindest Iranian Fish Parasitologists on Late January 2010.

God bless his soul:                      Dr Behyar Jalali

He left us very soon and its a big loss for all Iranians.

He used to work on Fish Monogeneans mainly,he was really a patient ,kind and nice scientist.

Charles Darwin Birthday(12.Feb)

 Thursday 12 February is Charles Darwin’s birthday and London Natural History Museum will be celebrating the day with lots of exciting events at the Museum. The museum will show the information on the special events coming up to celebrate Darwin’s birthday on its website.

Lovely Bone-Eating Worms

A member of a species likely new to science, the Osedax yellow-collared worm feasts on whale bones in 2008. Named for the thin yellow ring that runs around the base of the worm’s feathery structures–thought to be used for respiration–the species lives below 3,280 feet (1,000 meters).

This lovely worm loves the whales but after the death.

So far,the scientists have confirmed 5 species of Osedax   but in November researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute revealed evidence of 12 more potentially new species, including the yellow-collar, all found in the undersea canyon off Monterey, California.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/photogalleries/091202-ocean-worms-eat-bones/

Veggies may harbor a rare parasite

Rat lungworm is a tropical disease found in warm, moist climes that is caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis, a parasitic worm carried by rats (the parasites live in the pulmonary arteries of rats, hence the name “rat lungworm”). The rats excrete worm larvae in their feces, which are sometimes eaten by small snails and slugs that often nestle in the folds of lettuce, peppers and other produce. 

When people ingest the worm, it travels from the gastrointestinal tract to the central nervous system. Most people experience no symptoms or only mild ones such as muscle aches and sensitivity to light and recover without treatment, in most cases without ever suspecting a parasite (which typically dies off in a few weeks).

And the news is:  Three people in Hawaii have come down with what such a rare parasitic disease called rat lungworm disease in recent weeks.

The best way to avoid rat lungworm disease? Don’t eat raw snails or slugs and wash your vegetables and fruits very well,  with noting that they are small [as short as 2 mm in length] and can easily escape notice if hiding in creases of produce.

Photo Source:    http://www.phsource.us/PH/PARA/Chapter_7.htm

Source:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=watch-out-hawaii-veggies-may-harbor-2009-01-08

Sir Alexander Fleming Decease Anniversary(11 March)

Sir Alexander Fleming(6.August.1881 Lochfield Farm, Darvel, Ayrshire, Scotland- 11.March.1955 London)-Scottish bacteriologist- is best known for his discovery of penicillin. Fleming had a genius for technical ingenuity and original observation. His work on wound infection and lysozyme, an antibacterial enzyme found in tears and saliva, guaranteed him a place in the history of bacteriology. But it was his discovery of penicillin in 1928, which started the antibiotic revolution, that sealed his lasting reputation. Fleming was recognized for this achievement in 1945, when he received the Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Australian pathologist Howard Walter Florey and British biochemist Ernst Boris Chain, both of whom isolated and purified penicillin .(ref: Britannica Encyclopedia)

300Women Who changed the World

Although there are many of such women from our country that unfortunately havent been mentioned in this list,but it is a interesting list.

http://www.britannica.com/women

You can see Ebadi,Shirin( http://www.britannica.com/women/article-9398568 ),Fatimah(Daughter  of Islam prophet Mohammad)( http://www.britannica.com/women/article-9033822 ),Aishah (http://www.britannica.com/women/article-9005229) and Khadijah(http://www.britannica.com/women/article-9045239 )in this list,that we know them well in Iran.

For millennia, women have left their mark on the world, at times changing the course of history and at other times influencing small but significant spheres of life. Only in the past century, however, have concerted efforts been made to represent women’s contributions more fully in history books. Consequently, changes in status for many women in modern times—the right to own property, to vote, and to choose their own careers—may obscure the accomplishments made by women of earlier eras. In selecting 300 influential women, Encyclopædia Britannica has included both contemporary women who are changing today’s world and those whose contributions have endured through the ages.Not all of these women changed the world for the good. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl produced propaganda films that glorified Adolf Hitler’s brutal Third Reich. Many suffered through the deeds of Jiang Qing, who fought bitterly to advance her own political powers during China’s Cultural Revolution.

Learn about 300 women who changed the world—review their accomplishments, locate their birthplaces, and discover the eras in which they lived.

Iranian Society for Parasitology(ISP)general Meeting(5 March)

This meeting was held for election of the new managing team of ISP for 3 years.

The meeting started at 9.35 am and finished at 1 pm.At the beginning the past Board gave the reports about their 3 years works and programs.

56 of Iranian parasitologists(less than expected) attended at this meeting.There were 13 Candidates for the General Board and 3 Candidates for the inspector of the board.

The new Board members include:

1-Rokni,Mohammad Bagher(49votes)

2-Edrisian,Gholamhosein(48votes)

3-Eslami,Ali(42votes)

4-Rezaiian,Mostafa(42votes)

5-Keshavarz,Hosein(42votes)

6-Dalimi asl,Gholamhosein(32votes)

7-Rahbari,Sadegh(23votes)

8-Khazan,Hooshang(Inspector)(26votes)

9-Memar,Ahmadreza(Substitute)(21votes)

10-Razmjoo,Elham(Substitute)(16votes)

11-Mowlavi,Gholamreza(Substitute)(17votes)

The new Board will work for 3 years.

A mechanical device has been developed which can reduce infections of I. multifiliis on farmed trout by ~99%

University of Stirling:   The cilated protozoan Ichthyophthirius multifiliis or “Ich” is recognised as one of the most pathogenic diseases of wild and cultured freshwater fish; infections establishing in hatchery systems proliferate quickly and result in mortalities if left unregulated. While work within the Parasitology Group has investigated host-parasite interactions and the efficacy of a range of anti-protozoocidal drugs, attention now focuses on finding environmentally safe, non-chemical alternative mechanisms to controlling infections. Collaboration with Pisces Engineering has resulted in the co-development of a mechanical device (SystemIch) which removes unwanted parasite cysts from the bottom of commercial trout raceways. The primary mechanical device which consists of a special suction head connected to a pump was used to vacuum the bottom of hatchery raceways. Field trials at a commercial site over a three month period reduced the number of trophonts subsequently establishing on fish by 99.4% (p<0.0001) (view Aquaculture News article [pdf]). Current research explores mechanisms to control infections in pond culture and to explore means of reducing the industry’s dependency on chemotherapeutants by assessing the utility of natural products as possible replacements. The potential of the bioflavonoids, a large number of biologically active compounds that are ubiquitous in plants, are under investigation. Their efficacy against a broad range of bacterial fish pathogens and parasitic fish fungi is promising and it is hoped they will form part of the arsenal in future farm disease management strategies.

Glaxo malaria vaccine protects babies, children

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An experimental malaria vaccine is the most promising yet, protecting up to 65 percent of infants from infection in two studies in Africa, researchers reported on Monday.

Separate tests in Kenya and Tanzania showed GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine called RTS,S could protect babies and toddlers from infection with malaria and could prevent disease even in those already infected.

While the vaccine is far from perfect, it is the best yet against the mosquito-borne parasite, the researchers agreed. They said they would begin phase III clinical tests, the last stage before seeking regulatory approval, next year.

“Even a partially effective vaccine has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives each year,” said Christian Loucq, director of the nonprofit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, which helped to conduct the study.

“We are one important step closer to the date when malaria will join diseases such as smallpox and polio, which have been either eliminated or controlled through vaccines.”

The World Health Organization estimates malaria killed 881,000 people and infected 247 million worldwide in 2006. Some malaria experts say those numbers underestimate the problem.

The disease is especially hard to fight as people are continually infected by mosquitoes throughout their lives. The tiny parasites get into the blood and live and reproduce inside the body, causing fever and sometimes deadly brain infections.

Dr. Salim Abdulla of the Bagamoyo Research and Training Center in Tanzania and colleagues tested 340 infants, giving them three doses of the RTS,S vaccine or three doses of hepatitis B vaccine.

The malaria vaccine protected 65 percent of infants from infection with malaria during the six months of the trial, they reported in the New England Journal of Medicine and told a conference on tropical diseases in New Orleans.

YEARS OF EFFICACY

“We are very confident that the efficacy of the vaccine extends for several years,” Joe Cohen of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in Belgium told the briefing.

An earlier study had shown the vaccine could protect children for at least 18 months.

The children also got vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and Haemophilus influenzae B as part of a World Health Organization childhood vaccination program, and the vaccines all worked well, the study showed.

“I see the effects of malaria in my country firsthand,” Abdulla told the briefing. “So these results are very exciting and give me a new hope of seeing a first generation malaria vaccine available … in the near future.”

In a second trial, Dr. Ally Olutu of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Collaborative Research Center in Kenya and colleagues vaccinated 894 children aged 5 to 17 months with three doses of either a slightly different formulation of the malaria vaccine or a rabies vaccine.
The found clinical episodes of malaria fell by 53 percent.

While this is slightly different from complete protection from infection, the researchers said the point is to protect children from disease, and they felt the results were comparable.

“It is, indeed, a hopeful beginning,” William Collins and John Barnwell, malaria experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote in a commentary published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

They noted that the vaccine was not yet tested in regions with the most intense malaria transmission.