Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Parasite Control”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 865 records · Page 48Linked to original sources

The effect of permethrin impregnated sisal curtains on vector density and malaria incidence: a pilot study.

Impregnation of bednets and curtains with suitable pyrethroids may reduce entomological inoculation rates (EIR) and malaria incidence. We conducted a quasi-experimental pilot study over 3 months in Western Kenya on 20 houses with 54 children. Ten houses in the experimental site received sisal curtains treated with permethrin at either 0.5g/m2 or 0.1g/m2. Control houses had untreated curtains or none. Mosquito vector density (MVD), man biting rates (MBR), and residual insecticidal effects (RIE) of permethrin were determined every two weeks. MVD was reduced by 97.7% and 98.7% in houses from the 2 experimental groups with a 60% reduction with unimpregnated curtains. MBR varied from 6.4 (no curtains), 1.7 (unimpregnated), 0.7 (0.5g/m2 curtains) to 0.4 (1.0g/m2 curtains). RIE begun to decline after the fourth month. Malaria incidence remained similar at the two sites. We conclude that covering of eaves and windows with permethrin impregnated sisal curtains can reduce MVD and the number of mosquito bites to individuals sleeping in protected houses.

Animals↗

Controlled dosage titration of febantel paste in naturally parasitized cattle.

A controlled anthelmintic trial was conducted to determine the efficacy of febantel paste (45.5%) at dosages of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 mg/kg in calves harboring natural gastrointestinal nematode infections. Dosages of 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 mg of febantel/kg of body weight were greater than 96% effective in removing adults of Haemonchus contortus, Ostertagia spp, Cooperia spp, and Oesophagostomum radiatum. The 2.5 mg/kg dosage was considered suboptimal because of low efficacy against Ostertagia and Cooperia spp. Efficacies against Trichostronglylus axei, Trichuris spp, Bunostomum phlebotomum, and Stronglyloides papillosus were difficult to determine because fewer numbers of these nematodes were recovered. Efficacies of febantel paste against immature bovine parasites ranged from 83.62% to 97.72%.

Animals↗

Epidemiological modelling for onchocerciasis control.

Planning and evaluation of parasitic disease control is complicated by the many interacting factors that jointly determine the epidemiological trends under different control strategies. The Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP) of the World Health Organization in West Africa has recognized this problem and uses epidemiological modelling as on aid to addressing control questions. Dik Habbema, Edoh Soumbey Alley, Anton Plaisier, Gerrit van Oortmorssen and Hans Remme describe the organization of modelling in the OCP and summarize the most important achievements thus far. The experience with applied modelling in OCP is of considerable interest for other disease control programmes.

Journal Article↗

Testing alternative hypotheses for variation in amphipod behaviour and life history in relation to parasitism.

We tested two hypotheses concerning changes in investment in current reproduction for parasitised hosts, using amphipods (Corophium volutator) which act as second intermediate hosts for trematodes (Gynaecoyla aduncta). One hypothesis requires that parasites exert control over their hosts (parasite manipulation), whereas the other predicts that hosts control decisions over investment (adaptive host response). Although these hypotheses are viewed as mutually exclusive, our various results support both hypotheses. For example, female amphipods infected by late-stage larvae were often found crawling at times when predation by sandpipers (Calidris pusilla), which are the final hosts for trematodes, was likely, while uninfected females typically remained in their burrows. Furthermore, old females that were newly-infected by trematodes often aborted and ate their young. Both of these responses seem inconsistent with female investment in current reproduction, but can be interpreted as adaptive parasite manipulation. In contrast, young non-ovigerous females that were newly-infected hastened the onset of their parturial moult and thus, time to becoming receptive. This response can be explained as a host adaptation to minimise the cost of parasites. We contend that differences between parasitised and unparasitised hosts in behaviour or investment can be explained as both parasite and host adaptations, expressed at different times in the host's life history. Such compromise will help explain the persistence of parasite-host associations in nature.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Parasite enzymes and the control of roundworm and fluke infestation in domestic animals.

The potential application of parasite enzymes to the serodiagnosis and control of veterinary helminthiases is reviewed. Consideration is given to the use of secreted enzymes as potential antihelminth vaccine components, in the search for novel anthelmintic agents and as serodiagnostic targets. The discussion focuses on recent advances in the definition of the molecular and functional properties of helminth enzymes and the application of this information to the development of novel anthelmintics as well as vaccines. Enzymes included are acetylcholinesterases, enzymes of polyamine and carbohydrate metabolism, proteases and detoxifying activities such as superoxide dismutases and glutathione S-transferases.

Animals↗

Antigens with application toward immune control of blood-feeding parasitic nematodes.

This review considers progress toward immune control of nematode parasites that feed on mammalian host blood. Approaches to identify relevant parasite antigens include use of irradiated larvae, somatic antigens, metabolites, enzymes and gut antigens. Because significant immune protection has more recently been achieved using gut antigens of the blood-feeding parasite Haemonchus contortus, these antigens are considered in greater detail. Issues discussed are implications of gut antigens in immune control, potential mechanisms involved in this immunity, biochemical characteristics of gut antigens and potential application of gut antigens to immune control of other blood-feeding nematodes.

Animals↗

Interleukin-12 mediates resistance to Trypanosoma cruzi in mice and is produced by murine macrophages in response to live trypomastigotes.

Host resistance to infection by Trypanosoma cruzi is dependent on both natural and acquired immune responses. During the first week of infection in mice, NK cell-derived gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) is involved in controlling intracellular parasite replication, mainly through the induction of NO biosynthesis by activated macrophages. Interleukin-12 (IL-12) has been shown to be a powerful cytokine in inducing IFN-gamma synthesis by NK cells, as well as in mediating resistance to different intracellular protozoa. We have therefore studied the ability of T. cruzi to elicit IL-12 synthesis by macrophages and the role of this cytokine in controlling parasite replication during acute infection in mice. Our results show that macrophages cultured in the presence of live trypomastigote forms (but not epimastigotes) release IL-12 that can induce IFN-gamma production by normal spleen cells. IL-12 was detected in as little as 12 h after the addition of the trypomastigotes, and the level of IL-12 peaked at 48 h after the initial macrophage-parasite incubation. The addition of anti-IL-12 monoclonal antibody to macrophage-trypomastigote supernatants dose-dependently inhibited IFN-gamma production by naive splenocytes. Finally, the in vivo role of IL-12 in resistance to infection by T. cruzi was analyzed. Mice treated with anti-IL-12 monoclonal antibody had significantly increased parasitemia and mortality in comparison with those of control infected mice treated with control antibody. Together, these results suggest that macrophage-derived IL-12 plays a major role in controlling the parasitemia in T. cruzi-infected mice and that the animal's resistance during the acute phase of infection may, at least in part, be a consequence of postinfection levels of IL-12.

Animals↗

Morantel sustained release bolus: a new approach for the control of trichostrongylosis in Austrian cattle.

The efficacy of a morantel sustained release bolus to control gastrointestinal parasitism during two consecutive grazing seasons was assessed in replacement dairy heifers raised under field conditions in Austria. Thirty calves were randomly allotted into two equal groups and maintained throughout the 1979 summer pasturing season on adjacent pastures of equal size with identical grazing history. Twenty-four of the thirty calves used in 1979 were monitored throughout 1980, each animal remained in the same treatment group as the previous year and grazed the same pastures as the previous year. In both 1979 and 1980 the bolus was administered to each animal in the treated group one week before turnout onto spring pastures, while the control animals received no anthelmintic treatment during either year. The efficacy of the bolus was assessed by comparison of faecal worm egg counts, herbage larval counts, worm counts from tracer and principal trial animals, weight gains and by the incidence of clinical disease found in both tracer and trial animals throughout the grazing season. Milk production was also monitored for all animals in both treatment groups during the first lactation. The system of treatment used in the present study with the morantel sustained release bolus was highly effective in preventing a significant buildup of infective larvae on pasture to the end of the grazing season in both years. In 1979 worm counts of tracer calves grazed on the treated pastures in mid-August were similar to those recorded at the beginning of the season, while worm counts in the control tracers were five times the total found at the beginning of the season. In 1979 the bolus-treated calves outperformed the control group by 34.8 kg (P less than 0.001) over the 168-day grazing period. These results demonstrated that administration of the bolus to calves at the time of turnout onto spring pastures was most effective both in controlling parasites within the cattle themselves and in reducing the level of parasite contamination. During the second grazing season (1980) no beneficial effect in weight gain was observed due to the second bolus treatment. Weight gains realized during the first year, however, largely remained through the second year and the bolus-treated heifers reached breeding weight on average 19 days earlier. No difference in milk yield was observed between the treated and control animals during thier first year of lactation.

Animals↗

Motility and infectivity of Plasmodium berghei sporozoites expressing avian Plasmodium gallinaceum circumsporozoite protein.

Avian and rodent malaria sporozoites selectively invade different vertebrate cell types, namely macrophages and hepatocytes, and develop in distantly related vector species. To investigate the role of the circumsporozoite (CS) protein in determining parasite survival in different vector species and vertebrate host cell types, we replaced the endogenous CS protein gene of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei with that of the avian parasite P. gallinaceum and control rodent parasite P. yoelii. In anopheline mosquitoes, P. berghei parasites carrying P. gallinaceum and rodent parasite P. yoelii CS protein gene developed into oocysts and sporozoites. Plasmodium gallinaceum CS expressing transgenic sporozoites, although motile, failed to invade mosquito salivary glands and to infect mice, which suggests that motility alone is not sufficient for invasion. Notably, a percentage of infected Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes showed melanotic encapsulation of late stage oocysts. This was not observed in control infections or in A. gambiae infections. These findings shed new light on the role of the CS protein in the interaction of the parasite with both the mosquito vector and the rodent host.

Animals↗

Nematophagous fungi: prospective biological control agents of animal parasitic nematodes?

The rapidly escalating problem of anthelmintic resistance and the increasing concerns of chemical residues in livestock products and the environment pose serious threats to the future of chemotherapeutic control o f animal parasitic nematodes. One possible non-chemotherapeutic approach is biological control using nemotophagous fungi. Although Grønvold and colleagues recently described their experiments with two nematode-destroying fungi, Arthrobotrys and Duddingtonia, this alternate control option has received relatively little research attention. Here, Peter Waller broadens the discussion to consider the fundamental problems and prospects of this non-chemotheropeutic control strategy.

Journal Article↗

For a few parasites more: Inoculum size, vector control and strain-specific immunity to malaria.

What precipitates malaria illness in an area of intense transmission? Greenwood, Marsh and Snow(1) and Marsh(2) have discussed the hypothesis that the severity of malaria depends on the size of the inoculum, that is, on the number of sporozoites inoculated at one time(3). According to these authors, this is suggested by the results of vector control trials in which parasite prevalence remained the same but episodes of disease were reduced. This is clearly an important observation, but Jo Lines and Jo Armstrong interpret it differently. They see the primary implication of these results as being that natural immunity to malaria must be largely strain specific, and only if there is strain specificity can inoculum size be important. Here they present arguments to support this view,and point out that, if there is strain specific immunity, then short-term evaluation o f vector control is likely to overestimate its long-term benefit.

Comment↗

Ectoparasitic infestations.

Ectoparasitic infestations are highly prevalent in resource-poor populations throughout the world and are associated with considerable morbidity. Reliable data on the epidemiology, immunology, and therapy of ectoparasitic infestations and on the biology of the parasites remain scarce. The control of parasitic skin diseases, such as scabies, pediculosis, tungiasis, myiasis, and cutaneous larva migrans in endemic areas remains a challenge. Using appropriate study designs, it is imperative to increase further the knowledge on the various aspects of the parasites and the infestations they cause.

Journal Article↗

Bayesian statistics for parasitologists.

Bayesian statistical methods are increasingly being used in the analysis of parasitological data. Here, the basis of differences between the Bayesian method and the classical or frequentist approach to statistical inference is explained. This is illustrated with practical implications of Bayesian analyses using prevalence estimation of strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis as two relevant examples. The strongyloidiasis example addresses the problem of parasitological diagnosis in the absence of a gold standard, whereas the onchocerciasis case focuses on the identification of villages warranting priority mass ivermectin treatment. The advantages and challenges faced by users of the Bayesian approach are also discussed and the readers pointed to further directions for a more in-depth exploration of the issues raised. We advocate collaboration between parasitologists and Bayesian statisticians as a fruitful and rewarding venture for advancing applied research in parasite epidemiology and the control of parasitic infections.

Animals↗