Protozoan Infections

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley C Van Voorhis

Protozoans cause a number of important infectious diseases. This chapter discusses malaria, babesiosis, toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis; in addition, the chapter describes the intestinal protozoan infections caused by Giardia lamblia; Dientamoeba fragilis; Entamoeba histolytica; Blastocystis hominis; the coccidial organisms Cystoisospora belli, Cryptosporidium, and Cyclospora cayetanensis; Balantidium coli; and microsporidia. Figures illustrate the taxonomy of pathogenic protozoans; the life cycle of malaria; identification of species of malaria based on forms seen on blood smears; Babesia parasites in erythrocytes; the life cycle, tachyzoites, and tissue cysts ofToxoplasma gondii; G. lamblia trophozoites and cysts; a D. fragilis trophozoite; E. histolytica cyst and trophozoite forms; Entamoeba coli; clinical involvement in amebiasis; B. hominis; cysts of Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, and Cystoisospora; Acanthamoeba polyphaga cyst and histopathologic features; histopathology of Naeglaria meningoencephalitis;Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis cutaneous infection; amastigotes of Old World leishmaniasis; the insect vector for Chagas disease; Romaña sign in acute Chagas disease;Trypanosoma cruzi, and T. brucei. Tables list the differentiating features of Plasmodium species that cause malaria; dosages, principal side effects, and main limitations of antimalarial drugs; and forms of New World leishmaniasis. A sidebar provides Internet links on protozoan infection.  This review contains 22 highly rendered figures, 3 tables, and 121 references.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb Okeri Ondara ◽  
Benson Omweri Nyachong’i ◽  
Vincent Obino Orucho

Abstract ABSTRACT. Objectives: Mortality and morbidity due to diarrheal diseases among children below the age of five has been increasing especially in the developing countries. This infection has not got attention like other health issues at national or regional levels. Documenting the risk prevalence and factors that influence the occurrence of the diarrheal diseases help to inform the and to develop preventive strategies for the county of study and the country at large. Results: There was high prevalence of gastro intestinal protozoan infection with 34(28.3%) children infected with either Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia or both (co infections). Female children were 2.1 times less likely to be infected with gastro intestinal protozoa than their male counterparts, though not statistic ally different (P=0.392). Keywords: Gastro intestinal protozoans, diarrhea, children under 5 years


Author(s):  
Reza Jafari ◽  
Huriyeh Gorgizadeh ◽  
Masoud Soosaraei ◽  
Azar Shokri ◽  
Zainab Bandalizadeh ◽  
...  

Background: It is make clear that salt and pepper retinal lesion (SPRL) has subsequently associated with the infection with Giardia lamblia (G. lamblia). However, little is known regarding prevalence of SPRL among patients suffered from parasitic infections in the world. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of SPRL among patients with intestinal protozoan infections, for the first time, in Sari, northern Iran. Methods: In this case-control study a total of 150 subjects participated: 75 were in patients group diagnosed to have intestinal parasite, and 75 in control group without any intestinal infection. Fecal samples were obtained from all participants and examined with wet mount and formalin-ether methods. The retina of both groups was examined by an ophthalmologist. Results: Overall, salt and pepper retinal changes were diagnosed in 12 (16 %) patients with at least one parasitic infection (7 females and 5 males). G. lamblia was diagnosed in 6 subjects (50%), Blastocystis hominis in 5 (41.6%), and Entamoeba coli in 1 (8.3 %). Most of the patients (58.3%) had a mild infection. Bilateral retina involvement was observed in 75% of the patients. Furthermore, macula involvement was observed in 91.7 % with SPRL. Conclusion: Our findings indicated the relatively high prevalence of SPRL in subjects with giardiasis and blastocystosis. It can be concluded that not only G. lamblia but also B. hominis can cause SPRL in Sari, Iran. Further studies are needed to find other etiologic parasites able to cause retinal damages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Esy Maryanti ◽  
M. Reyhan Ahza Hamidy ◽  
Lilly Haslinda

Opportunistic intestinal protozoa are protozoa that can infect humans at a time when the body’s defense system isdeclining (immunocompromising). Opportunistic protozoan infections are infections by intestinal protozoa that werenot previously considered important, but now can cause disease in humans. Opportunistic intestinal protozoan infectionsbesides being found in immunocompromised patients are also reported to infect children. Some of the intestinalprotozoan species that have been identified to cause infection are Cryptosporidium sp, Isospora belii, Cyclospora sp,and Blastocystis hominis. This study was an analytical study with a cross sectional design conducted in June 2018until January 2019. In this study, modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining was used and the results were 25.6% of orphanagesinfected with opportunistic intestinal protozoa, which consisted of Cryptosporidium sp. as much as 14.1%, Blastocystishominis as much as 4.6%, infection with a mixture of Cryptosporidium sp and Blastocystis hominis as much as 4.6%,Isospora belii as much as 2.3%, and no infection by Cyclospora cayetanensis. There was no association betweenopportunistic intestinal protozoan infections with poor handwashing habits, bowel habits, food hygiene, drinkingwater treatment, and bad animal raising habits.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
R. B. Sah ◽  
U Shah ◽  
N Jha

<strong>Introduction</strong>: Intestinal protozoan infections continue to remain a global public health challenge, particularly in developing countries. Since diagnosis of these parasites is difficult, prevalence data on intestinal protozoa is scarce. <strong>Objectives</strong>: To measure the prevalence of intestinal Protozoan Infections and to identify risk factors associated with Protozoan Infections among the tea garden workers in Ilam district of Nepal. <strong>Materials and Methods</strong>: A Community based cross-sectional study was conducted among tea garden workers in Ilam district of Nepal. Out of 4 tea estates in Ilam District, 2 tea estates (Ilam Municipality and Kanyam) were selected randomly. Out of total 150 tea workers (30 in Ilam Municipality and 120 in Kanyam), 98 workers participated in the study. Semi-structured questionnaire was used and routine examination of stool was done. Collected data was entered in Microsoft excel and analysed. <strong>Results</strong>: Prevalence of protozoan infections among the Tea Estates workers of Ilam District was 22.4%. <em>Giardia lamblia</em> was seen higher (12.2%) than <em>Entamoeba histolytica</em> (10.2%). Regarding ethnicity, the protozoan infection was seen higher among Dalit (40%) than Janajati (18.8%) and Brahmin/Chhetri (11.1%) (P&lt;0.05). The protozoan infections was seen lower who use of soap and water after defecation (6.2%) than those using only water (60%) (P&lt;0.001). The protozoan infections was also seen lower who wear sandals or shoes (17.3%) than those did not wear (47.1%) (P&lt;0.05). The protozoan infection was seen higher among those having the habit of nail biting and thumbs sucking. <strong>Conclusions</strong>: There is relatively high prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection among the Tea garden workers in Ilam District of Nepal. This obviously suggests that there is possible poor personal hygiene, sanitation, and behavior oriented risk factors which predispose the workers to these parasites.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-36
Author(s):  
Ram Bilakshan Sah ◽  
IS Paudel ◽  
R Baral ◽  
P Poudel ◽  
N Jha ◽  
...  

Intestinal parasites, notably the protozoa are among the most common infections of school age children where they cause morbidity in developing countries.The objective of the study was to measure the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infec­tion and to identify risk factors associated with protozoan infection among the school children of Itahari.The cross sectional study was conducted in Grade VI, VII and VIII in schools of Itahari Municipality. Stratified random sampling method was applied to choose the schools and the study subjects. Semi-structured questionnaire was administered to the study subjects and microscopic examination of stool was done.The Chi-square test was used to measure the association of risk factors and intestinal protozoan infections.Overall intestinal protozoan infection was found to be 18.5 percent. Giardia lamblia was found high (10.5%) in comparison to Entamoeba histolytica (8%). Almost (18.4%) of male and (18.6%) of female were infected with protozoan parasites. The use of soap and water after defecation had lower prevalence of protozoan infections (16%) than only use of water (28.9%). The protozoan infection was significantly lower among having clean nail (6%) in comparison to having not clean (24.8%) respectively. We conclude that the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection was found to be high in school children of Itahari and those having unhygienic skin, nail and clothes, and the habit of nail biting and thumb sucking was found to have significant relationship in the causation of intestinal protozoan infection. Journal of Chitwan Medical College 2013; 3(1): 32-36 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmc.v3i1.8463


F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry K. Smith ◽  
Frédéric Bringaud ◽  
Derek P. Nolan ◽  
Luisa M. Figueiredo

Cellular metabolic activity is a highly complex, dynamic, regulated process that is influenced by numerous factors, including extracellular environmental signals, nutrient availability and the physiological and developmental status of the cell. The causative agent of sleeping sickness, Trypanosoma brucei, is an exclusively extracellular protozoan parasite that encounters very different extracellular environments during its life cycle within the mammalian host and tsetse fly insect vector. In order to meet these challenges, there are significant alterations in the major energetic and metabolic pathways of these highly adaptable parasites. This review highlights some of these metabolic changes in this early divergent eukaryotic model organism.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 838
Author(s):  
Berta Grau-Pujol ◽  
Inocencia Cuamba ◽  
Chenjerai Jairoce ◽  
Anelsio Cossa ◽  
Juliana Da Silva ◽  
...  

Intestinal parasite infections can have detrimental health consequences in children. In Mozambique, soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are controlled through mass drug administration since 2011, but no specific control program exists for enteric protozoa. This study evaluates STH and protozoan infections in children attending healthcare in Manhiça district, Southern Mozambique, and its association with water and sanitation conditions. We conducted a cross-sectional study in children between 2 and 10 years old in two health centers (n = 405). A stool sample and metadata were collected from each child. Samples were analyzed by multi-parallel real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR). We fitted logistic regression-adjusted models to assess the association between STH or protozoan infection with household water and sanitation use. Nineteen percent were infected with at least one STH and 77.5% with at least one enteric protozoon. qPCR detected 18.8% of participants with intestinal polyparasitism. Protected or unprotected water well use showed a higher risk for at least one protozoan infection in children (OR: 2.59, CI: 1.01–6.65, p-value = 0.010; OR: 5.21, CI: 1.56–17.46, p-value = 0.010, respectively) compared to household piped water. A high proportion of children had enteric protozoan infections. Well consumable water displayed high risk for that.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muneaki Hashimoto ◽  
Hirokazu Sakamoto ◽  
Yusuke Ido ◽  
Masato Tanaka ◽  
Shouki Yatsushiro ◽  
...  

mSphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijian Qiu ◽  
Jillian E. Milanes ◽  
Jessica A. Jones ◽  
Rooksana E. Noorai ◽  
Vijay Shankar ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The African trypanosome has evolved mechanisms to adapt to changes in nutrient availability that occur during its life cycle. During transition from mammalian blood to insect vector gut, parasites experience a rapid reduction in environmental glucose. Here we describe how pleomorphic parasites respond to glucose depletion with a focus on parasite changes in energy metabolism and growth. Long slender bloodstream form parasites were rapidly killed as glucose concentrations fell, while short stumpy bloodstream form parasites persisted to differentiate into the insect-stage procyclic form parasite. The rate of differentiation was lower than that triggered by other cues but reached physiological rates when combined with cold shock. Both differentiation and growth of resulting procyclic form parasites were inhibited by glucose and nonmetabolizable glucose analogs, and these parasites were found to have upregulated amino acid metabolic pathway component gene expression. In summary, glucose transitions from the primary metabolite of the blood-stage infection to a negative regulator of cell development and growth in the insect vector, suggesting that the hexose is not only a key metabolic agent but also an important signaling molecule. IMPORTANCE As the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei completes its life cycle, it encounters many different environments. Adaptation to these environments includes modulation of metabolic pathways to parallel the availability of nutrients. Here, we describe how the blood-dwelling life cycle stages of the African trypanosome, which consume glucose to meet their nutritional needs, respond differently to culture in the near absence of glucose. The proliferative long slender parasites rapidly die, while the nondividing short stumpy parasite remains viable and undergoes differentiation to the next life cycle stage, the procyclic form parasite. Interestingly, a sugar analog that cannot be used as an energy source inhibited the process. Furthermore, the growth of procyclic form parasite that resulted from the event was inhibited by glucose, a behavior that is similar to that of parasites isolated from tsetse flies. Our findings suggest that glucose sensing serves as an important modulator of nutrient adaptation in the parasite.


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