Blood parasites of penguins: a critical review

Parasitology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 143 (8) ◽  
pp. 931-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALPH ERIC THIJL VANSTREELS ◽  
ÉRIKA MARTINS BRAGA ◽  
JOSÉ LUIZ CATÃO-DIAS

SUMMARYBlood parasites are considered some of the most significant pathogens for the conservation of penguins, due to the considerable morbidity and mortality they have been shown to produce in captive and wild populations of these birds. Parasites known to occur in the blood of penguins include haemosporidian protozoans (Plasmodium, Leucocytozoon, Haemoproteus), piroplamid protozoans (Babesia), kinetoplastid protozoans (Trypanosoma), spirochete bacteria (Borrelia) and nematode microfilariae. This review provides a critical and comprehensive assessment of the current knowledge on these parasites, providing an overview of their biology, host and geographic distribution, epidemiology, pathology and implications for public health and conservation.

Author(s):  
Patrick Amoatey ◽  
Azizallah Izady ◽  
Ali Al-Maktoumi ◽  
Mingjie Chen ◽  
Issa Al-Harthy ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumi Dutta ◽  
Bramha Gupta ◽  
suneel Kumar srivastava ◽  
Ashok Kumar Gupta

The rapid increase of toxic dye wastewater generated from various industries remains a severe public health problem and of prime environmental protection concern. Therefore, it has imposed a major challenge...


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja McIlfatrick ◽  
Paul Slater ◽  
Esther Beck ◽  
Olufikayo Bamidele ◽  
Sharon McCloskey ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Palliative care is recognised as a public health issue with the need for earlier integration in the wider healthcare system. However, research indicates that it continues to be accessed late in the course of an illness, public understanding of palliative care is limited, and common misconceptions prevail. Strategies to address this are needed in order to reduce barriers to palliative care delivery and improve access. Methods An explanatory sequential mixed methods study, comprising a cross-sectional survey and interviews was undertaken. Sociodemographic characteristics, public awareness, knowledge and perceptions of palliative care were examined and strategies to raise awareness and overcome barriers within a public health framework were identified. Survey data were analysed using SPSS v25 with factor analysis and non-parametric statistics and qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results A total of 1201 participants completed the survey (58.3% female, mean age 61 years) and 25 took part in interviews. A fifth of participants (20.1%) had previously heard about palliative care and had an accurate understanding of the term. Being female, higher educated, married, and older, increased respondents’ levels of awareness. The three most commonly held misconceptions included: Palliative care is exclusively for people who are in the last 6 months of life (55.4% answered incorrectly); A goal of palliative care is to address any psychological issues brought up by serious illness (42.2% answered incorrectly); and a goal of palliative care is to improve a person’s ability to participate in daily activities (39.6% answered incorrectly). Talking about palliative and end of life care was advocated but societal taboos restricted this occurring with exposure limited to personal experience. Conclusions Current knowledge gaps and misconceptions derived from limited ad hoc personal experiences and fear of engaging in taboo conversations may deter people from accessing integrated palliative care services early in a disease trajectory. The results indicate the need for public education programmes that move beyond merely raising awareness but provide key messages within a public health approach, which may change attitudes to palliative care thus ultimately improving end of life outcomes.


2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 567-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
JE Kivistö ◽  
VM Mattila ◽  
J Parkkari ◽  
P Kannus

Poisonings cause considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, only few countries have published nationwide statistics on poisoning deaths. Based on the Official Cause-of-Death Statistics of Finland, we investigated the incidence and secular trend of poisoning deaths in Finland in 1971–2005. Alcohol poisoning deaths and other poisoning deaths were analyzed separately. During the 35-year study period, other poisoning deaths (non-alcohol) increased from 2.6/100,000 in men and 1.4/100,000 in women in 1971 to 6.8/100,000 and 3.2/100,000 in 2005, respectively. Alcohol poisoning death rates also increased from 9.6/100,000 in men and 0.7/100,000 in women in 1971 to 16.8/100,000 and 4.2/100,000 in 2005, respectively. In the early 1970s, the incidence rates of alcohol deaths were about 10 times higher in men compared with women, whereas in the last few years of observation, men's incidence rate was only about four times higher. Our study showed that alcohol and other poisoning deaths increased in Finland between 1971 and 2005. Men’s risk was markedly higher than women’s risk, but in the later years, women’s risk was increasing. Poisoning death rates among children and adolescents were low throughout the period.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercia Rasoanoro ◽  
Steven M. Goodman ◽  
Milijaona Randrianarivelojosia ◽  
Mbola Rakotondratsimba ◽  
Koussay Dellagi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Numerous studies have been undertaken to advance knowledge of apicomplexan parasites infecting vertebrates, including humans. Of these parasites, the genus Plasmodium has been most extensively studied because of the socio-economic and public health impacts of malaria. In non-human vertebrates, studies on malaria or malaria-like parasite groups have been conducted but information is far from complete. In Madagascar, recent studies on bat blood parasites indicate that three chiropteran families (Miniopteridae, Rhinonycteridae, and Vespertilionidae) are infected by the genus Polychromophilus with pronounced host specificity: Miniopterus spp. (Miniopteridae) harbour Polychromophilus melanipherus and Myotis goudoti (Vespertilionidae) is infected by Polychromophilus murinus. However, most of the individuals analysed in previous studies were sampled on the western and central portions of the island. The aims of this study are (1) to add new information on bat blood parasites in eastern Madagascar, and (2) to highlight biotic and abiotic variables driving prevalence across the island. Methods Fieldworks were undertaken from 2014 to 2016 in four sites in the eastern portion of Madagascar to capture bats and collect biological samples. Morphological and molecular techniques were used to identify the presence of haemosporidian parasites. Further, a MaxEnt modelling was undertaken using data from Polychromophilus melanipherus to identify variables influencing the presence of this parasite Results In total, 222 individual bats belonging to 17 species and seven families were analysed. Polychromophilus infections were identified in two families: Miniopteridae and Vespertilionidae. Molecular data showed that Polychromophilus spp. parasitizing Malagasy bats form a monophyletic group composed of three distinct clades displaying marked host specificity. In addition to P. melanipherus and P. murinus, hosted by Miniopterus spp. and Myotis goudoti, respectively, a novel Polychromophilus lineage was identified from a single individual of Scotophilus robustus. Based on the present study and the literature, different biotic and abiotic factors are shown to influence Polychromophilus infection in bats, which are correlated based on MaxEnt modelling. Conclusions The present study improves current knowledge on Polychromophilus blood parasites infecting Malagasy bats and confirms the existence of a novel Polychromophilus lineage in Scotophilus bats. Additional studies are needed to obtain additional material of this novel lineage to resolve its taxonomic relationship with known members of the genus. Further, the transmission mode of Polychromophilus in bats as well as its potential effect on bat populations should be investigated to complement the results provided by MaxEnt modelling and eventually provide a comprehensive picture of the biology of host-parasite interactions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 13-15
Author(s):  
Pankaj Prasad Verma ◽  
Manjar Ali ◽  
Sanjay Singh ◽  
Vinay Pratap

Tuberculosis is a major health problem worldwide and in India continues to be responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality despite tremendous effort made in diagnosis, prophylaxis and therapy. The disease may involve any system of body but abdomen is one of the commonest site of involvement after lungs. This study is carrying to nd out Incidence of Abdominal Tuberculosis in patients of pain abdomen presenting as acute/chronic cases. The present study was carried out in the Department of Surgery, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, from April 2018 to September 2019. The total number of cases selected disease remains early detection. A continual awareness on the part of the clinician of the possibility of abdominal Tuberculosis in many patients with obscure abdominal symptoms should avoid errors and aid in the detection of a condition, which if treated early, not only produces remarkable remission and relief on the part of for this study was 1800. According to the presentation, the patients were clinically divided into 2 broad groups: those who were admitted as acute emergencies and those who came with a chronic presentation. From these two groups 100 cases were fall in our inclusion criteria. Of these 100 patients, most were in their third or fourth decades of life, and females were approx two times more commonly affected as their male counterparts, maintaining an approximate ratio of 1.86:1. Thus we had a 5.55 % incidence of abdominal Tuberculosis in this series. The development of cheap and efcient procedures for early diagnosis remains one of the practical problems to battle this disease, because the only way to decrease morbidity and mortality of this the patients but also takes unnecessary burden off the health care services.


1988 ◽  
Vol 152 (6) ◽  
pp. 842-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. J. McLoughlin

In Prudhoe Hospital, a large mental-handicap hospital of 1000 residents, it was found that of the 94 deaths that occurred between 1982 and 1986, three were closely associated with the habit of pica. These deaths occurred in severely and profoundly handicapped males, whose average age was 32, compared with an average age of death of 58 for the combined groups of severely and profoundly mentally handicapped patients (22 cases), and an average age of death of 60 for all degrees of handicap (94 cases). It seems likely that the habit of pica constitutes a cause of considerable morbidity and mortality in certain institutionalised patients.


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