Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A summary is given on the local and general risks of blood donation for the donor and especially on the recipient's risks to blood transfusion itself, including massive transfusion. The transfusion reactions are grouped in (1) risks in connection with the technique and physics of transfusion (cooling, air embolism, microaggregation, circulatory overload), (2) biochemical-metabolic risks (citrate intoxication, acidity, coagulation deficiencies), (3) immunological-serological risks (allergic and hemolytic reaction, addendum: pyrogenic reaction), (4) dangers of infection (bacteria: septic-toxic reaction, protozoae: malaria, viruses: herpes group, cytomegaly, hepatitis). In order to cut down the overall frequency of transfusion reactions, the use of blood derivatives instead of whole blood has been described.
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PMID:[Risks to donor and recipient in blood collection and blood transfusion]. 55 63

General screening investigations with various antigens were carried out with a view to further specific investigations being carried out on the Cape Verde Islands concerning infectious diseases. Serological positive reactions were found in Mumps, Adeno, PLT, Cytomegaly, Herpes, Para-influenza 1, 2, 3, Influenza A and B, Mycoplasmosis, RS-Virus, Gonorrhoea, Hepatitis A and B, R. conori, Malaria, Syphilis, Brucella abortus, Brucella melitensis, Varicella, Legionella, Picornavirus, Measles, German Measles, Listeriosis, Toxoplasmosis and Amoebic dysentery.
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PMID:Serological screenings of various infectious diseases on the Cape Verde Islands (West Africa). 344 44

Following an overview of the less developed countries (LDCs) and their health problems, attention is directed to what pharmaceutical companies have been doing to develop tropical disease medicinals: past and current programs for the development of pharmaceuticals; the relationship of pharmaceuticals to other health problems; criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry; problems and constraints in developing drugs by pharmaceutical firms, particularly for tropical diseases; and strengthening incentives to pursue tropical medicine research in the future. There are 31 countries in the less developed category and they have 4 things in common: poverty; a high birthrate; a young population, and a low life expectancy. At the top of the list of the major health problems in developing countries are malaria, diarrheal diseases, and malnutrition. For malaria, there is a need for something new for chloroquine resistant infections, but research looks promising. Meanwhile, the use of presently available medications in much of the world would go far towards alleviating suffering and death from this disease. For diarrheal diseases and malnutrition the principal problems lie elsewhere than with development of new pharmaceuticals. For tuberculosis and leprosy, the 4th and 5th major health problems, therapy has improved markedly in recent years, yet there is room for improvement. Of the sexually transmitted diseases, only for sexually transmitted herpes is the industry missing a solution. On balance, it seems clear that the need for new pharmaceuticals, although important, is not as critical as some of the other needs of the LDCs. If this individual is correct in maintaining that the most important problems in the LDCs are pure water, adequate food, basic sanitation, and a distribution system for already available pharmaceuticals, then the question is why is the drug industry singled out for so much criticism. The principal charges, which are discussed in detail, are as follows: inadequate research on the endemic diseases of the developing and least developed countries; the practice of "dumping" drugs in developing countries that do not sell or sell for different indications at home; labeling of products differently than in the US; permitting over the counter sales of drugs that a prescription only goods in the US; selling products whose stated expiration date has passed; and charging high prices and reaping excessive profits. The critics are the UN agencies, consumer groups, trade unions, and media writers. Much of what is said is in defense of the pharmaceutical industry. but shortcomings are also noted.
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PMID:The role of pharmaceuticals in the total health care of developing countries. 685 94

An excess of classic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in individuals of southern European ancestry has long been suspected and recently quantified in terms of age-standardized rates. In Italy and most notably in southern Italy for the period 1976-84, prior to the AIDS epidemic, KS incidence rates were two-to-three-fold higher than in the United States and Sweden and many ten-fold higher than in England and Wales and Australia. A high frequency of classic KS has also been documented in Israel and, in low-risk countries, in individuals born in southern Europe and the Middle East. Many infections have been suspected to play a role in the etiology of KS, including cytomegalovirus, malaria and, most recently, a new virus of the herpes family, identified in AIDS-associated and classic KS. The present review deals with epidemiologic data concerning KS in the Mediterranean and stresses the opportunity to combine the study of KS in AIDS as well as non-AIDS patients in order to shed light on this no longer rare disease.
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PMID:Epidemiology of classic Kaposi's sarcoma, with special reference to mediterranean population. 880 45

Vaccination has been one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions ever employed. One disease (smallpox) has been eradicated, another (poliomyelitis) should disappear early in the new millennium and a third (measles) should follow shortly after. Conventional vaccines usually depend on one of three development processes, attenuation of virulent organisms (by passage in cell culture and/or experimental animals), killing of virulent organisms (by chemical inactivation) or the purification of immunogenic molecules (either proteins or carbohydrates) from whole organisms. These traditional processes, although serendipitous and poorly understood, have produced effective pharmaceutical products which give excellent protection against diseases such as smallpox, rabies, measles, yellow fever, tetanus and diphtheria. In spite of these successes however, the application of these protocols have failed to produce safe and efficacious vaccines against other infectious diseases which kill or maim tens of millions of people every year. The most important of these are malaria, AIDS, herpes, dengue fever and some forms of viral hepatitis. Consequently, fundamentally new technologies are required to tackle these important infections. One of the most promising has been the development of genetically modified viruses. This process normally involves taking a proven safe and efficacious vaccine virus, such as vaccinia or adenovirus, and modifying its genome to include genes coding for immunogenic proteins from other viruses such as HIV or measles. This review will describe the generation of such novel vaccine vectors and compare their advantages and shortcomings. In addition the literature describing their use as experimental vaccines will also be reviewed.
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PMID:Genetically modified viruses: vaccines by design. 1148 48

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued exaggerated projections about AIDS deaths that the press picked up to paint an apocalyptic future for Africa. Computer models used by WHO estimate that 2-3 million people in Africa are suffering or have died from AIDS since the early 1980s and another 10 million are carrying HIV. WHO surveys during 1987 indicated HIV seroprevalence rates from 5% to 30%. The Global Program on AIDS (GPA) utilized these data to predict 6.5 million new AIDS deaths annually by 1997, which would reduce population growth in urban areas by over 30%. This projection seems to be an exaggeration. The same 1987 figures were used to predict AIDS deaths for 1992. Using the highest seroprevalence rate of 30%, the WHO model predicted a high scenario of 6 million new AIDS deaths in 1992, when in fact the cumulative cases were only 331,376 in 1994. Even the low scenario of a 5% seroprevalence rate predicted 750,000 new AIDS cases for 1992, whereas the 1% rate suggested 500,000 new AIDS cases. Another projection made in 1994 estimated only 350,000 new AIDS cases for Africa in 1994. The discrepancies between projections and recorded figures are attributable to lack of statistical data and reliable reporting of mortality. National estimates are derived from censuses and surveys which are overextrapolated. Since 1985, AIDS has been defined in Africa on the basis of clinical observation (chronic diarrhea or prolonged fever and persistent cough or herpes) because of lack of HIV testing facilities. However, it is impossible to tell whether someone who develops malaria does so because of AIDS or because of normal impaired immunity. This definition has inflated the estimated AIDS figures. The danger of the AIDS epidemic is dwarfed by 3.5 million deaths from tuberculosis and 16.8 million deaths from malaria since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. The frightening scenario looms that widespread, but curable, diseases are wrongly classified as AIDS-related complex, thereby foregoing appropriate treatment.
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PMID:WHO criticised for "inflating" AIDS figures. 1231 62

Although antimalarial drugs have been developed primarily to treat malaria, they are also beneficial for many dermatological, immunological, and rheumatological diseases, for which they are mostly used today in the Western world. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of quinine sulfate (QS) on the multiplication and adsorption of herpes virus type I (HSV-1). When Vero cells (African green monkey kidney) are infected with HSV-1 in the presence of QS, the viral adsorption is reduced, as demonstrated by a decrease of the number of microscopic plaques of the virus. When the virus-infected Vero cells are incubated in the presence of QS, the multiplication of HSV-1 is also reduced, and the diameter of the plaque are visibly smaller. The practical implications of the antiviral action of antimalarial drugs might be especially important to immunosuppressed patients who receive these drugs for autoimmune collagen-vascular diseases or as additional therapy for AIDS.
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PMID:Quinine sulfate and HSV replication. 1295 50

In many human infections, hosts and pathogens coexist for years or decades. Important examples include HIV, herpes viruses, tuberculosis, leprosy, and malaria. With the exception of intensively studied viral infections such as HIV/AIDs, little is known about the extent to which the clonal expansion that occurs during long-term infection by pathogens involves important genetic adaptations. We report here a detailed, whole-genome analysis of one such infection, that of a cystic fibrosis (CF) patient by the opportunistic bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The bacteria underwent numerous genetic adaptations during 8 years of infection, as evidenced by a positive-selection signal across the genome and an overwhelming signal in specific genes, several of which are mutated during the course of most CF infections. Of particular interest is our finding that virulence factors that are required for the initiation of acute infections are often selected against during chronic infections. It is apparent that the genotypes of the P. aeruginosa strains present in advanced CF infections differ systematically from those of "wild-type" P. aeruginosa and that these differences may offer new opportunities for treatment of this chronic disease.
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PMID:Genetic adaptation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the airways of cystic fibrosis patients. 1671 89

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequencies of opportunistic diseases among AIDS patients at the Jeanne Ebori Foundation (JEF) in Libreville, Gabon. A total 6313 file of patients treated in the internal medicine unit between 1994 and 1998 were analyzed. Findings showed that the main diseases related to AIDS classified according to seroprevalence were as follows: purigo (100%), cerebral toxoplasmosis (100%), oral candidiaisis (88%), bacteremia (87.8%), shingles (84.6%), minor salmonelosis (72%), and tuberclosis. The main diagnoses unrelated to AIDS at the JEF according to seroprevalene were typhoid (9.4%), common pneumonia (28%), bacterial meningitis (26.3%, hepatitis B (20.0%), and malaria (14%). In addition to these diseases there were nine cases of Kaposi's sarcoma, four cases of isosporosis, two cases of cryptococcosis, two cases of herpes Varicella, one case of cryptosporidiosis, and one case of isosporosis. The incidence of opportunistic disease was high in our study and must be taken in drug procurement.
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PMID:[Opportunistic diseases in HIV-infected patients at the Jeanne Ebori Foundation in Libreville, Gabon]. 1677 41

Immunisation with purified DNA is a powerful technique for inducing immune responses. The concept is very simple, involving insertion of the gene encoding the antigen of choice into a bacterial plasmid, and injection of the plasmid into the host where the antigen is expressed and induces humoral and cellular immunity. This technology can induce immunity to all antigens that can be encoded by DNA; this includes all protein, but not carbohydrate, antigens. DNA immunisation appears to result in presentation of antigens to the host's immune system in a natural form, similar to that achieved with live attenuated vaccines. The most efficacious routes for DNA immunisation are bombardment with particles coated with DNA (gene-gun), followed by intramuscular and intradermal administration. The efficiency of transfection of host cells is low, but sufficient to induce immunological responsiveness. The DNA plasmid is retained in the transfected cells in an unintegrated form for the life of the cell. The majority of transfected cells are eliminated, but residual expression has been detected for longer periods. In animal model systems, DNA immunisation has been shown to induce protective immunity to influenza, herpes, rabies, hepatitis B and lymphocytic choriomeningitis viruses, and to malaria and mycobacteria. However, strategies to induce protective immunity to HIV and other disease agents remain to be developed. DNA vaccines permit modulation of the immune response by altering the route or method of DNA administration, by including immunostimulatory sequences in the plasmid, and by co-administration of cytokine genes with the gene encoding the antigen of interest. A T helper 1 response provides cell-mediated immune killing of infected cells and neutralising antibody production, while a T helper 2 response induces IgE and allergic responses. The advantages of DNA immunisation are: similarity to live attenuated vaccination but without the possibility of contamination with undesirable agents;correct presentation of antigen;combinations of DNA-encoded antigens and/or cytokines may be administered;genetic stability;potential speed of making new vaccines with genetic identity;development of vaccines for agents that cannot be grown in culture;no need for a cold chain; andpossibility of modulation of the immune response. The perceived risks include: integration of the plasmid into the host genome;induction of anti-DNA antibodies and autoimmunity; andinduction of tolerance. The available information concerning safety is encouraging, with the risk of integration being considered to be orders of magnitude below the spontaneous mutation frequency in humans. DNA immunisation offers the possibility of extending the control of infectious diseases far beyond those that are currently controlled by conventional and recombinant vaccines, to include vaccines for parasites and cancer. However, it is currently too early to predict the future extent of use of DNA vaccines in human immunisation programmes because the initial clinical trials are still in progress.
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PMID:DNA vaccines: a review of developments. 1802 May 19


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