Nora B Molina is a Specialist in Microbiology and MSc in Clinical Laboratory (UNLP, 2009). Currently she is pursuing PhD in Biomedical Sciences. She has been serving as an Editorial Board Member and Reviewer of international scientific journals. She has participated in several research projects on parasitology and has published original articles, short communications and book chapters.\r\n\r\n

Blastocystis is considered an emerging parasite with a worldwide distribution. In Argentina, scientific research on this protist has been conducted in spatially limited areas, showing heterogeneity in geographic and population distribution. These publications are scattered among numerous sources of information, making their access and visibility to the scientific community harder. The aim of this study was to realize a review of scientific publications about prevalence of Blastocystis in humans of Argentina between 1995 and 2014. The study was conducted from a quantitative methodology perspective with application of a non-experimental, exploratory, retrospective, cross-sectional design analysis of the information. Electronic databases, virtual libraries and regional and institutional repositories were included (Cochrane, MEDLINE/PubMed, LILACS, SciELO, BIREME, REDALyC, DOAJ, SEDICI, PAHO). Manual search was done in printed journals. In total, 91 papers were obtained, which correspond to 140 data on Blastocystis. These publications surveyed 90831 humans during last 20 years. According to published works, the overall prevalence of Blastocystis in humans was 34.7% with a heterogeneous distribution across the country. In the last decade (2005-2014), the lowest rate of infection of parasite was 28.3% in western region and the highest value was 45.1% in the northeastern of Argentina. The accumulated evidence in recent years has highlighted the importance of Blastocystis on human health. This parasite has been frequently detected in the population of Argentina with elevated prevalence rates in all regions of the country.

Ranjit Sah is a MD Resident at Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Nepal. He has been undergoing researches regarding various clinical cases during his study period. He has published article in JIOM with title “Identification of Taenia in a 6 year old child”.

Fascioliasis is a zoonotic disease caused by infection of trematodes belonging to the genus Fasciola (F. hepatica and F. gigantica). Patient may be asymptomatic or present with gastrointestinal symptoms, chronic cholecystitis, cholangitis and liver abscesses which may be accompanied by biliary colic, epigastric pain, jaundice (obstructive jaundice), pruritus and upper right quadrant pain.\r\nWe are reporting a first case of Fasciola gigantica from Nepal causing fascioliasis in a 22 year old male who was referred to surgery department of TUTH, Kathmandu, Nepal from a peripheral Hospital of Eastern Nepal for the evaluation of right upper abdominal pain with radiological investigation suggestive of sludge/ parasitic membrane within the common bile duct. Patient had history of consumption of water-cress and had hyper-eosinophilia on peripheral blood smear examination. ERCP showed the presence of a flat worm resembling Fasciola species and stool examination along with measurement of the detected ova revealed ova of Fasciola gigantica. Patient was treated with standard course of Nitazoxanide (500mg BID for 7 days) and follow up stool examination after 2 weeks revealed no ova of Fasciola gigantica. \r\n So patient with symptoms of obstructive jaundice, eosinophilia and history of water-cress consumption should be suspected for fascioliasis and investigated and treated accordingly. \r\n

Currently pursuing his Ph.D in the Tabriz University Of Medical Sciences.

PURPOSE:\r\nIntestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) can result in high morbidity and mortality, particularly in immunocompromised patients. Infectious diseases are among the main causes of death in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients due to their impaired immune systems. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence IPIs and their associated symptoms in ESRD patients.\r\nMETHODS:\r\nIn this case-control study, the fecal samples of 78 ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis and 140 controls without any kidney problems were analyzed for intestinal parasites using direct-smear, formol-ether and modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining techniques.\r\nRESULTS:\r\nThe difference in the prevalence of IPIs between ESRD patients (30.7 %) and the control group (10.7 %) was significant (OR = 3.7; 95 % CI = 1.8-7.61; P < 0.001). Blastocystis (14.1 %) and Cryptosporidium spp.(11.5 %) were the most common IPIs detected in ESRD patients, and the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. was significantly associated with diarrhea in ESRD patients (OR = 16; 95 % CI = 1.54-166.05; P < 0.05). Leukocytosis, diarrhea, weight loss, nausea/vomiting and bloating were also significantly higher in the hemodialysis group when compared with the control group.\r\nCONCLUSION:\r\nThe current study revealed a high prevalence of intestinal parasites and related clinical symptoms in ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis. Since hemodialysis patients are immunocompromised and intestinal parasites can cause serious clinical complications, we suggest that stool examination for intestinal parasites, with an emphasis on detection of Cryptosporidium spp. and Blastocystis, should be incorporated into the routine clinical care for these patients. Measures for preventing the acquisition of IPIs are also recommended.\r\n

Afolabi Olajide Joseph has completed his MSc from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. He is a Lecturer 1 in the Department of Biology, Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. He has published more than 15 papers in reputed journals.

The study was undertaken in Idogun, an endemic community in Ose local government area, Ondo State, to determine the prevalence of onchocerciasis and the efficiency of ivermectin drug. Structured questionnaire was administered during personal interview and focus group discussion to obtain useful epidemiological information, while skin snip test was employed to determine the prevalence of the disease among the three hundred and eighty-four respondents not below 10 years of age that were randomly selected for the study and the efficiency of the drug was tested for 6 and 12 month post treatments. The results showed that out of the 384 respondents examined for Onchocerca volvulus in the community, 108 (28.1%) were infected with the parasite. The prevalence of the disease was significantly different among the age groups and genders (P<0.05) with the highest prevalence of the disease (41%) observed in age group 51-60 years while the lowest prevalence (0%) was observed in age group 81-90 years. Similarly, the prevalence of infection was significantly higher in male (29.4%) than the female (26.5%). The total efficiency of the drug at 6 months and 12 months post treatments are; 12.1% and 38.8% respectively. The highest efficiency of the drug at 6 months (33.5%) and 12 month post treatments (87.5%) were observed among age groups 31-40 years and 21-30 years respectively, while the lowest efficiency of the drug at 6 months (0) and 12 months post treatments (16.5) were observed at age group 71-80 years. The results suggest the need for continue distribution of the drug in the community in order to completely eradicate the disease.\r\n\r\n

Preeti Bajpai has completed her PhD at the age of 30 years from Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India. She is working as an Associate Professor, Deparment of Biosciences, Integral University, Lucknow. Integral University is a premier educational and research institution recognized from various Goverment Bodies. Dr. Preeti has published more than 42 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute. She has been bestowed with both academic and research awards at National & International Level.

The potential involvement of Toll-like receptors in combating parasitic infections of Leishmania, an intracellular protozoan parasite causes a broad range of clinical manifestations from cutaneous lesions to fatal visceral disease has gained significant attention during the last decades. Although it is well established that Toll-like receptors 9 (TLR9) recognizes microbial CpG DNA, but the specificity of the CpG DNA pattern of Leishmania parasite interacting with endosomal TLR9 is still unexplored. Thus to identify the specific CpG DNA pattern act as TLR9 ligand in Leishmania donovani (L. donovani), the homology search was performed using known CpG ODN 2216 (synthetic) as initial template until a consistent CpG pattern in L. donovani was achieved. Further, we propose a reliable 3D complex model of TLR9 ectodomains (ECDs) with CpG DNA patterns utilizing homology modeling and docking approaches. The molecular docking studies revealed that identified L. donovani CpG pattern encompasses robust docked energy than other patterns considered for this study. The complex interaction patterns demonstrated that the interface between TLR9 and CpG DNA molecules were geometrically complementary. The computed molecular interactions indicated that the identified L. donovani CpG DNA pattern shows comparable binding with known CpG ODN 2216 by LRR11 region of TLR9 acting as the critical region for ligand recognition. This complex model may lead to a better understanding of the function of TLR9 and its interaction with CpG DNA and will improve our understanding of TLR9-ligand interaction in immune regulation.

Ahmed Dayab is the Assistant professor and Head of the Department of Medical Parasitology in Assuit University ,Egypt.

Aim: Due to lack of available studies on the intestinal parasitic infection in children in Aswan Governorate, the present study is planned to monitor and associated risk factors of the intestinal parasitic parasites among urban and rural primary school children in Aswan Governorate.\r\n\r\nStudy Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study.\r\n\r\nPlace and Duration of Study: This study was carried out in Aswan Governorate during the period from October 2015 to March 2016.\r\n\r\nMethodology: A total of 300 stool samples were collected from children were included in the study. Their ages arranged from 6 to 12 years, 170 of them were males 130 were females and examined by direct wet mount and formal ether concentration techniques and also stained with different stain for parasitic infections. Medical Sociodemographic data were collected by using a standardized questionnaire.\r\n\r\nResults: The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was 31%; Single infection in 26% and mixed infection in 5%. The most predominant protozoal parasites found was Entamoeba histolytica 8.3% followed by Giardia lamblia 3.7% and Cryptosporidium parvum 1.7% and commonest helminthic infection was Oxyuris 6.6% followed by H. nana 3% Ascaris lumbricoides 1%. Mixed infection was in form of Entrobius vermicularis plus Entamoeba histolytica in 23.4%, Entrobius vermicularis plus Giardia lamblia in 17.6%, Entrobius vermicularis plus Cryptospordium parvum in 11.8%, Entamoeba histolytica plus Hymenolepis nana in 11.85%, Ascaris lumbricoides plus Entamaobea histolytica in 17.6%, Giardia lamblia plus Entamoeba histolytica in 11.8%. Parasitic infection was more prevalent in rural areas 60% than urban 30%. Parasitic infection was more prevalent in boys 53.8% than girls 46.2%. There was significant increase of recurrent abdominal pain, dysentery, vomiting, diarrhea, peri-anal itching and pallor in infected students when compared to non infected students.\r\n\r\nConclusion: The present study highlighted on prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection in children in Aswan Governorate, Egypt and provided that, the intestinal parasitic infections are a public health problem and there is an urgent need for efforts towards ensuring adequate control of intestinal parasites in Aswan Governorate and preventive measured to be re-established especially in children of school age.\r\n