Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0017536 (giardiasis)
 1,714 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Wild-caught synanthropic flies were tested for the presence of Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia on their exoskeletons and in their digestive tracks by fluorescent in situ hybridization and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated monoclonal antibody (MAb) against Cryptosporidium and Giardia cell wall epitopes. The levels of C. parvum were positively correlated with the levels of G. lamblia, indicating a common source of contamination. The majority of oocysts and cysts were potentially viable (C. parvum = 80% and G. lamblia = 69%). More G. lamblia cysts occurred on the exoskeleton of the flies than within the digestive tracts; the opposite relationship was observed for C. parvum. No genotype other than C. parvum G2 was found to be associated with flies. Because filth flies carry viable C. parvum oocysts and G. lamblia cysts acquired naturally from unhygienic sources, they can be involved in the epidemiology of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis. Fluorescent oligonucleotide probes used together with FITC-conjugated MAb represent a convenient and cost-effective technique for rapid and specific identification of human-infectious species of Cryptosporidium and Giardia mechanically transported by flies, and for the assessment of the viability of these pathogens.
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PMID:Detection of Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia carried by synanthropic flies by combined fluorescent in situ hybridization and a monoclonal antibody. 1264 16

In Japan parasitic diseases have been considered to be successfully controlled in the last 30 years. However, some parasitic diseases, such as food-borne zoonoses and/or larva migrans, are emerging and/or re-emerging in Japan. Furthermore, imported parasitic diseases like malaria are also gradually increasing. Unfortunately accurate numbers of parasitic diseases other than echinococcosis, malaria, amebiasis, giardiasis, or cryptosporidiosis are obscure in Japan because of the lack of a legal registration system. Since symptoms and diagnostic imaging patterns of parasitic diseases are non-specific and have similarities with other infectious diseases or cancer, parasitic diseases are sometimes overlooked or left misdiagnosed. In this review, the current status of parasitic diseases in Japan is briefly summarized based on the analysis of the accumulated cases seen in our department. We also outline the clinical features, differential diagnosis and treatment of representative parasitic diseases for the better understanding and management of the parasitic diseases in Japan.
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PMID:The current status of parasitic diseases in Japan. 1270 86

The prevalence and infection pattern of naturally acquired giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis in 20 ranch raised beef calves and their dams from birth to weaning was determined. Rectal fecal samples were collected from calves at 3 days of age and weekly thereafter; cows' fecal samples were collected at the time of calving, 1 week later and four times during the summer grazing period. Blood samples were collected from the calves at 3 days of age to determine IgG(1) concentrations. Giardia lamblia cysts were shed by all 20 calves (100%) at some date during the duration of the study. However, only one calf (5%) shed Cryptosporidium parvum on two sample dates during the trial. Giardia cysts were first detected at 3.9+/-1.37 weeks of age with a range of 2-7 weeks of age. The geometric mean number of Giardia cysts in the calf feces increased from none at 1 week of age to a maximum of 2230 cysts/g of feces at 5 weeks of age and then decreased to 2 cysts/g at 25-27 weeks of age. Infection rate of calves shedding Giardia cysts peaked at 85% at 5 weeks of age and then decreased to 21% at 25-27 weeks of age. Giardia cysts, shed by calves peaked 1 week after initial shedding and decreased (P<0.05) for the remainder of the trial with the exception of week 3. There was a lower (P<0.05) percentage of calves shedding Giardia cysts weeks 3-10 and 15-25 compared to when shedding was first detected. All calves had complete or partial transfer of passive immunity as measured by IgG(1) levels. The rate of infection (15%) and the geometric mean number of Giardia cysts in the cows' feces (38.49 cysts/g) numerically increased at 1 week post-calving compared to levels at calving. The rate of infection (40%) numerically increased and the geometric mean number of Cryptosporidium andersoni oocysts in the cow feces (37.48 oocysts/g) increased (P<0.05) at 1 week post-calving and decreased to 0 at 13-16 weeks post-calving. This study is the first to document the cumulative prevalence and infection patterns of Giardia and Cryptosporidium in beef cattle under ranch conditions.
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PMID:Prevalence and infection pattern of naturally acquired giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis in range beef calves and their dams. 1278 73

Swimming is the second most popular exercise activity in the United States, with approximately 360 million annual visits to recreational water venues (1). This exposure increases the potential for the spread of recreational water illnesses (RWIs) (e.g., cryptosporidiosis, giardiasis, and shigellosis). Since the 1980s, the number of reported RWI outbreaks has increased steadily (2). Local environmental health programs inspect public and semipublic pools periodically to determine compliance with local and state health regulations. During inspections for regulatory compliance, data pertaining to pool water chemistry, filtration and recirculation systems, and management and operations are collected. This report summarizes pool inspection data from databases at six sites across the United States collected during May 1--September 1, 2002. The findings underscore the utility of these data for public-health decision making and the need for increased training and vigilance by pool operators to ensure high-quality swimming pool water for use by the public.
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PMID:Surveillance data from swimming pool inspections--selected states and counties, United States, May--September 2002. 1280 97

Paneth cells are important contributors to the intestinal antimicrobial barrier through synthesis and release of antimicrobial peptides and proteins. Animal studies indicate that Paneth cell numbers, location and granule morphology are altered by infection and zinc status. We examined human tissue to determine whether Paneth cell numbers, distribution or granule morphology are altered in infective, inflammatory and nutritional disorders. Archival sections from infective disorders (giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, HIV, helminth infection) were compared with active inflammatory conditions (coeliac, Crohn's and graft-versus-host diseases) and histologically normal tissues. A subset of tissues was studied by electron microscopy and TUNEL staining for apoptosis. Human defensin-5 (HD5) peptide and mRNA was analysed by immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Sections from a tropical population cohort study were then analysed to determine the relationship of granule depletion to infection, nutritional status and plasma zinc concentration. In HIV-related cryptosporidiosis, but not other disorders, Paneth cells were reduced in number and markedly depleted of granules. Paneth cell granule depletion was associated with reduced HD5 immunoreactivity, but this was not due to apoptosis and there was no reduction in mRNA transcripts. In the tropical population studied, depletion of granules was associated with reduced body mass index, reduced plasma zinc levels and HIV infection. Paneth cell granules in human small intestine may be depleted in response to infective and nutritional stress. We postulate that this is one mechanism through which zinc status influences host susceptibility to intestinal infection.
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PMID:Paneth cell granule depletion in the human small intestine under infective and nutritional stress. 1473 60

Like antibacterial agents, antiparasite drugs for pregnant women and children must be chosen in function of the stage of pregnancy, age of the child, and expected benefit-risk ratio. While no agent is totally safe, there are few absolute contraindications. Most zones of serious endemic parasite disease are located in developing countries where parasite, bacterial, or viral conditions combined with poor nutrition treatment make it necessary to treat disease in a complex pathogenic environment that weakens pregnant women and children with multiple parasite infections. In both temperate and tropical zones, there have been few real therapeutic advances involving release of new products on the market or development of new indications for existing products. Constant appearance and extension of hematozoa resistance to conventional and even more recent antimalarial agents have prompted research to find new active drugs and long-lasting treatment combinations. Real therapeutic breakthroughs have resulted from the need to develop safe drugs without substantial side-effects for single-dose use in control programs against endemic parasite diseases in mass populations including pregnant women and young children in tropical zones. There are several notable examples in the field of major verminous diseases. Ivermectin is a versatile drug that can be used against filariasis as well as for management of intestinal worms or ectoparasitosis in temperate and tropical countries. Praziquantel is an important advance in platyhelminthiasis, especially bilharziais. Triclabendazole, the latest addition to the benzimidazole family, has shown promise as a substitute for bithionol, that is difficult to procure and not recommended in pregnant women, for treatment distomiasis occurring in pregnant women and children. Other examples include albendazole against giardiasis, nitazoxamide against cryptosporidiosis, artemisinine against bilharziasis, and paramomycine, not recommended in pregnant women, against leishmaniasis.
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PMID:[Antiparasitic treatments in pregnant women and in children in 2003]. 1476 5

Nowadays, the parasitic zoonose organisms Giardia lamblia und Cryptosporidium spp. are among the most relevant pathogens of drinking water-associated disease outbreaks. These pathogens are transmitted via a fecal-oral route; in both cases the dose of infection is low. Apart from person-to-person or animal-to-person transmissions, the consumption of contaminated food and water are further modes of transmission. The disease is mainly characterized by gastrointestinal symptoms. In industrialized countries, the prevalence rate of giardiasis is 2-5 % and of cryptosporidiosis 1-3%. Throughout the world, a large number of giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis outbreaks associated with drinking water were published; in 2001 the first case in Germany was identified. Giardia and Cryptosporidium are detected in surface water and sporadically in unprotected groundwater. Use of these waters for drinking water abstraction makes high demands on the technology of the treatment process: because of the disinfectant resistance of the parasites, safe elimination methods are needed, which even at high contamination levels of source water guarantee safe drinking water. Further measures for prevention and control are implementation of the HACCP concept, which includes the whole chain of procedures of drinking water supply from catchment via treatment to tap and a quality management system.
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PMID:[Parasitic zoonoses transmitted by drinking water. Giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis]. 1525 26

The accurate identification of a parasite at the species and/or genotype level has major implications for various aspects of human and veterinary parasitology, including the diagnosis, the taxonomy, the treatment and the control. The advent of molecular techniques, in particular those based on the in vitro amplification of nucleic acids, has dramatically improved our ability to detect infections caused by parasites. To illustrate the progress in molecular diagnostics, Cryptosporidium and Giardia are used here as examples of parasites for which both the diagnosis and the taxonomy have traditionally been problematic. These protozoan parasites, while very different for many aspects of their biology, shares a complex series of transmission routes, including anthroponotic and zoonotic transmission, as well as waterborne and foodborne transmission. The resistant stages produced by Cryptosporidium and Giardia (oocysts and cysts, respectively) are remarkably stable, and can survive for weeks to months in the environment. Further, the infective dose is low, and infectious dose studies and models suggest that even a single oocyst or cyst carries some probability of causing an infection. Finally, most faeces that contain (oo)cysts end up in the environment and can be spread to foods by irrigation or by direct contact, and can persist in the water, as routine treatments eliminate only a fraction of these stages. This situation explains the growing interest towards the development of methods that allows such stages to be detected with the highest sensitivity and specificity. A variety of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assays have been described for both Cryptosporidium and Giardia. The choice of a particular assay mainly depends on the amount of information carried by the genetic locus under analysis. Indeed, some assays can be used to identify the different species within a genus, while others allowed to distinguish between isolates of the same species (genotypes), and some can even be used for both purposes. Post-PCR analyses are usually based on the direct sequencing of the amplification products, or on the digestion with endonucleases followed by gel electrophoresis of the restriction fragments. In the last few years, the molecular characterization of a large number of isolates, collected from infected hosts and from the environment, has considerably changed our view of the epidemiology of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis. Indeed, several species/genotypes have been established as human pathogens, and the nature of the parasites present in the water and in food have been investigated, allowing a better understanding of the complex circulation of the parasites in the environment, that may eventually led to implemented control measures. Finally, phylogenetic analysis of several nuclear genes is having a major impact in the revision of the taxonomy of Cryptosporidium and Giardia. The main limitation of PCR is that it doesn't provide information on the viability and infectivity of the pathogen. To obtain additional information on these important aspects, indirect methods, such as inclusion/exclusion assays using vital dyes or the Reverse-Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), can be used. Since RT-PCR relies on the integrity of mRNA, which usually has very short half-life (seconds), its use is thought to provide a more closely correlated indication of viability status compared to DNA-based methods. RT-PCR assays usually target the heat shock protein (hsp) 70 gene. The rationale behind this choice is that hsps are known to be synthesized with a high level of efficiency in stressed organisms; therefore, when (oo)cysts are exposed to a thermal shock, the induction of heat shock response provides both a level of amplification to increase detection sensitivity and an index of viability. Moreover, with the recent introduction of real-time PCR, that allows the continuous monitoring of amplicon formation throughout the reaction, quantitative aspect of the infection could be studied with exquisite sensitivity. This will, for example, allow (1) to detect carrier states, (2) to determine the number of oocysts/cysts present in a sample, (3) to study quantitative aspects of gene expression during the various phases of the infection.
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PMID:[New methods for the diagnosis of Cryptosporidium and Giardia]. 1530 6

Parasitic diseases associated with diarrhoea are increasingly recognized as important public health problems in China. They range from well-known intestinal infections such as giardiasis, to infections better known for other symptoms - such as malignant malaria and schistosomiosis. In this review, Dr Wang Cheng-i discusses recent Chinese studies on giardiasis and amoebiasis, which have been somewhat neglected in the past, and on cryptosporidiosis and infantile hookworm infection which have only recently been recognized as a health problem in China.
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PMID:Parasitic diarrhoeas in China. 1546 2

Nitazoxanide (Alinia, Romark Laboratories) was synthesized based on the structure of niclosamide. In vitro studies have demonstrated activity against a broad range of parasites as well as some bacteria. Three controlled trials demonstrated efficacy in cryptosporidiosis, however, the efficacy in advanced AIDS patients (CD4 cell counts = 50) at approved doses was limited. Trials have also demonstrated efficacy comparable to metronidazole (Flagyl, GD Searle and Co.) in giardiasis with fewer side effects. Nitazoxanide is also effective versus intestinal helminths and tapeworms as well as in chronic fascioliasis. Side effects in clinical trials have been similar to placebo. Nitazoxanide is the first agent proven to be effective in cryptosporidiosis. It has also proven efficacy in giardiasis. Nitazoxanide is efficacious again intestinal helminths. Additional indications may be developed in the future.
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PMID:Nitazoxanide: a new broad spectrum antiparasitic agent. 1548 70


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