Parasitic Diseases

Husband and wife poison themselves trying to self-medicate with chloroquine - Livescience.com Husband and wife poison themselves trying to self-medicate with chloroquine - Livescience.com Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:24 AM PDT An Arizona man is dead and his wife is hospitalized after both of them self-medicated with chloroquine phosphate, a chemical used to treat fish for parasites, in an effort to ward off the novel coronavirus.  The couple, both in their 60s, listened to President Donald Trump tout chloroquine, a decades-old antimalarial drug , as a very promising treatment for COVID-19 in a recent press conference. The woman, who asked not to be named, said she was familiar with the chemical because she used it to treat her koi fish.  "I saw it sitting on the back shelf and thought, 'Hey, isn't that the stuff they're talking about on TV?'" she told NBC News on Monday (March 23). "We were afraid of getting sick,...

What is toxoplasmosis? - Livescience.com What is toxoplasmosis? - Livescience.com Posted: 27 Jan 2020 12:00 AM PST Toxoplasmosis stands as one of the most common parasitic infections in the world — in fact, you may even harbor the pervasive pathogen and not ever know it.  A super common parasite Caused by a single-celled microorganism called Toxoplasma gondii , toxoplasmosis may affect up to 2 billion people worldwide, according to the Handbook of Clinical Neurology — that's nearly one-third of all the people on Earth .  "You can find this [parasite] anywhere — on land, in the sea, in the air," said Bill Sullivan, a molecular and cell biologist at the Indiana University School of Medicine who studies T. gondii in his lab. Related: 7 strange facts about the 'mind-control' parasite toxoplasma gondii More than 40 million infected people live in the U.S., though most develop no noticeable symptoms from the diseas...

Scientists find evidence of huge increase in parasitic worms found in raw seafood dishes - Food Safety News Scientists find evidence of huge increase in parasitic worms found in raw seafood dishes - Food Safety News Posted: 22 Mar 2020 09:19 PM PDT The next time you eat sashimi, nigiri or other forms of raw fish, you should consider doing a quick check for worms, according to a team of researchers. A new study led by scientists at the University of Washington found "dramatic increases in the abundance of a worm that can be transmitted to humans who eat raw or undercooked seafood."   "Its 283-fold increase in abundance since the 1970s could have implications for the health of humans and marine mammals, which both can inadvertently eat the worm," according to a report on the scientists' work. They looked at a parasitic worm, known as Anisakis or "herring worm."   Their's is the first study to combine t...

Firsthand Look Inside Asia's Busiest Wet Markets - Sentient Media Firsthand Look Inside Asia's Busiest Wet Markets - Sentient Media Posted: 31 Mar 2020 05:41 AM PDT March 31, 2020 Investigative photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur and documentary filmmaker Kelly Guerin visited Asia's busiest wet markets to document the breeding grounds of highly infectious diseases like COVID-19. Reading Time: 5 minutes Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Investigative photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur and documentary filmmaker Kelly Guerin visited Asia's busiest wet markets to document the breeding grounds of highly infectious diseases like COVID-19. Investigative photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur and filmmaker Kelly Guerin traveled to wet markets in Taiwan, China, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand to document the epicenter of Asia's bustling wildlife trade. Today, their photographs shine new light on the imminent thr...

Novel compound to kill malaria parasites developed by researchers - Drug Target Review Novel compound to kill malaria parasites developed by researchers - Drug Target Review Posted: 06 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PST A collaborative team has developed a compound called WM382, which targets two crucial enzymes in the malaria parasite, effectively killing it. A novel antimalarial compound that can effectively kill malaria parasites has been developed, say a collaborative team of researchers. The scientists hope that drugs based on these early compounds will soon enter Phase I clinical trials. The study was conducted by the Australian Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and pharmaceutical company MSD. According to the team, in pre-clinical testing the compounds were effective against different species of malaria parasites, including the deadly Plasmodium falciparum and at multiple stages of the parasite lifecycle. The compounds target a previously ...

Coronavirus: list of accredited labs from which Cyprus will accept health certs for entry - Cyprus Mail Coronavirus: list of accredited labs from which Cyprus will accept health certs for entry - Cyprus Mail Posted: 16 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PDT The health ministry has issued a list of accredited organisations abroad from which it will accept certificates from travellers to enter the Republic of Cyprus. The list will be updated, it said. Persons holding a certificate issued by laboratories having a formal agreement with the state from which they depart shall be admitted to the country. However, when they arrive they will be quarantined in a place designated by the Republic of Cyprus. Airlines will not allow boarding without a medical certificate, and if people come without a health certificate, they will not be allowed to enter Cyprus. List of accredited labs: Medical University of Vienna, Austria Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium, Natio...