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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

For more than thirty years, from the early Twenties to the late Fifties, the inoculation of malaria parasites was the therapeutic treatment preferred by Western psychiatrists and neurologists for several clinical forms of tertiary syphilis, especially general paresis. During those decades, tens of thousands of people, mainly paretics but also schizophrenic patients, were intentionally infected with the human malaria parasites. In this paper we present the result of a bibliographic survey of the practice of malariatherapy in Italy. We analyzed the seven main Italian neurology and psychiatry journal from 1920 to the 1960. Moreover, we collected malariological bibliography concerning malariatherapy, and all the books on malariatherapy and chapter on this topic contained in any neurology and psychiatry textbooks published in Italy during the same period. We found 91 papers in the psychiatry journals. Most of these papers were concentrated between 1926 and the end of the Thirties; the main subject consisted of clinical-statistical information, but several papers concerned serological or anatomical alteration associated to the evolution of the disease and the therapy, and the mechanisms of action. Most articles discussed the criteria for defining recovery from general paresis obtained through malariatherapy. This historical and bibliographic review shows that malariatheapy was immediately accepted among Italian psychiatrists because of the strong relationship with Austrian and German psychiatric culture. The spread of the treatment was concentrated in the North and Center of Italy, and was administrated mainly in public psychiatric hospitals and university neurological clinics. Malariatherapy is a very interesting and fascinating subject the history of the interdisciplinary aspects related to the use of malariatherapy in psychiatry and malariology makes. This subject a unique probe for exploring in a very concrete way the evolution of several important and still topical clinical, biological and ethical issues of XXth century medicine.
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PMID:[Malariatherapy in Italy. A historical account of therapeutic inoculation of malaria parasites in Italian psychiatric clinics]. 1568 95

Unsafe injection practices have been implicated in the worldwide spread of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV or any parasitic disease with a blood phase, such as malaria, filaria and syphilis. Review of injection safety in India also revealed that use of injection is often inappropriate, injections are administered with unreliable safety measures. Studies in India have documented the association of injection use and spread of hepatitis C and kala-azar also. Some measures to address the issue are also discussed.
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PMID:Injection safety and its impact in India: a literature analysis. 1570 25

Travellers to areas where poverty and pollution prevail may be exposed to the same health risks as are the local populations. In the future, prophylaxis for travellers will therefore rely upon advances in prevention being distributed equally to people in both rich and poor societies. Of the eight World Millennium Development Goals to be attained by 2015, most relate indirectly to human health, while three relate directly to the prevention and fighting of diseases. Reduction of the child mortality rate and control of major infectious diseases are among the most important goals. In endemic areas of poverty and deficient infrastructure, children risk being infected primarily by diarrhoeal diseases, hepatitis A, polio, measles and other respiratory infections, and vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria, as well as, increasingly, blood/sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis. Adults as well as children travelling to such areas may be hit by the very same diseases. Eradication of polio and measles is within reach, while a number of other infections without effective vaccines will not be controlled without a large-scale global effort including protection of pesticides and antibiotics against development of resistance of disease vectors. Advances in travel medicine are thus closely linked with global advances in health and living conditions.
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PMID:[Prophylaxis-- what lies ahead?]. 1623 93

Voluntary non-remunerated blood donation is the source of the safest blood supply to the transfusion service. In the Indian set up where voluntary donations are fewer and poorly structured, safety of blood could still be compromised. This study was carried out to find out the seroprevalence of transfusion transmitted diseases among replacement and voluntary donors. A retrospective study of replacement and voluntary donors over a three and a half year period was carried out and the seroprevalence for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis and malaria was noted. A total of 41122 donors were studied comprising of 94.7% replacement and 5.3% voluntary donors. The prevalence of transfusion transmitted diseases was marginally higher among voluntary donors (3.3%) as compared to replacement donors (2.9%). All cases of HIV were seen in the replacement donors while the figures for hepatitis B and C were marginally higher in the voluntary donors (p>0.05). Voluntary donations in our study were not voluntary in the real sense. There is a need to work on building a stronger voluntary donor base and to create awareness among the populace in order to gradually abolish the replacement donations; thereby ensuring the safety of blood and its products.
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PMID:Voluntary donors-need for a second look. 1629 29

Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) is nowadays considered a pioneer in a number of medical fields, and in the course of time his role in the establishment and development of disciplines such as histology, immunology, oncology and haematology has been acknowledged. Aim of this historical note is to illustrate, in the area of chemotherapy, the special importance of this brilliant scientist whose 150th anniversary of birth occurred in 2004. Already as a medical student, Ehrlich was obsessed by structural organic chemistry and dyes, and, continually studying these issues, he elaborated his theory regarding the discovery of a "magic bullet", able to specifically destroy tumour cells and micro-organisms. In practice he applied methylene blue to the treatment of malaria patients, following his intuition that such a dye could destroy parasites. However, his culminating achievements in the chemotherapic field, reached even at the expense of his health, were the concept of the one-dose treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection, and the creation of arsphenamine (compound 606, or Salvarsan), the first really effective compound in controlling human syphilis. Within the many and various contributions of Ehrlich to the development of experimental and clinical medicine, a special mention of his experimental studies and clinical applications in the area of chemotherapy is essential, since his achievements in this biomedical area remain a paramount legacy in the history of the therapy of infections.
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PMID:The contributions of Paul Ehrlich to infectious disease. 1656

Leptospirosis is a febrile zoonosis of worldwide distribution. A latex agglutination assay was evaluated in two studies, the first using a panel of well-characterized sera from patients with leptospirosis and from patients with other disease states and the second, a prospective hospital-based study, evaluating sera from 186 consecutive patients admitted to hospital with acute febrile illness. The confirmed leptospirosis serum panel included paired acute- and convalescent-phase specimens from 40 cases, of which 34 gave positive latex tests (case sensitivity, 85%; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 70 to 94%). The other diseases represented in the panel of 112 specimens from nonleptospirosis patients included autoimmune diseases, brucellosis, dengue, melioidosis, malaria, syphilis, toxoplasmosis, viral hepatitis, and a number of other viral infections. The specificity of latex agglutination using this panel was 81% (95% CI, 73 to 87%). Among the patients with acute febrile illness, there were 25 cases of leptospirosis and 161 patients with other diagnoses. The sensitivity and specificity of latex agglutination in this group were 88% (95% CI, 72 to 97%) and 98% (95% CI, 95 to 100%), respectively. In this evaluation, the two distinct groups of specimens gave similar results for sensitivity, but specificity was different in each study. The sensitivity and specificity observed for the hospital study were similar to those obtained in evaluations of other rapid tests in the same population. The results of this study suggest that multiple evaluations of new diagnostic assays should be performed, because performance characteristics may vary in different populations.
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PMID:Evaluation of a commercial latex agglutination assay for serological diagnosis of leptospirosis. 1667 21

Because of the invasion of the Ottoman territory after the World War I, the Turkish War of Liberty was initiated by Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his friends. While they aimed at a successful outcome of the battle, they at the same time tried to achieve a nation-wide organization. In order to look after the nation's medical and social service, on May 2nd 1920, a new ministry called the Ministry for Medical and Social Service was founded. The new ministry's task was not only to concern itself with the medical and social service, but also with immigration and of the immigrants. At the beginning the hitherto existing social system and certain laws were not abolished until they were replaced by new ones in order to prevent an interruption in the social service. In these years the aim of the social system was to struggle against infectious diseases, to prevent infections, to decrease infant mortality and to increase the population, to take measures against diseases from abroad, to pass the laws needed and to form a central authority. Besides these laws which were directly related with the medical and social service during the War of Liberty, the governing of the districts and the regulations concerning the miners in Zonguldak were passed in order to protect peoples' health. Our political existence was confirmed through the signing of the agreement reached by the Lausanne Conference after the War of Liberty and consequently the Medical Care Supreme Council of Istanbul, which had continued its validity as a capitulation, was abolished. The social state policy of the period which had started with the foundation of the Turkish Republic aimed to extend the state's medical organization, increase the number of the medical staff, continue the employment of the health personnel specialized in medicine, struggle against infectious diseases in an organized way, provide a wide-spread medical service, give priority to preventive health care and establish medical institutions, effect a cooperation of these institutes, pass the necessary laws and establish state supervision in all fields. In the first ten years of the Republic, new schools and courses were started in order to increase the number of the medical staff to be sent to areas deprived of social service. In accordance with the Obligatory Service Law of 1923, doctors who were sent to eastern Turkey were provided with encouraging advantages. The organizational work and the laws concerning infectious diseases like malaria, syphilis and trachoma, which were wide-spread, was effective and successful from the year 1925 onwards when Dr. Refik Saydam was the Minister for Health. The meetings of the Turkish National Congresses on Medicine helped solve the nation's health problems and influenced the state's policy and the Health Ministry's activities. The aim was not merely the protection of peoples' health through education. In this period, many laws were passed with the aim to protect the nation's health and to ensure state control in every field. Some of these are still in force today. Besides free medical treatment of the poor and the old, laws of validity for a long period, which were effective in the protection of the health of children, the adolescent and the pregnant women in the social life and employment, were passed. In the first ten years of the Republic a protective, comprehensive and human health policy was observed in accordance with the policy of the state. The second part of the study deals with the Turkish Parliament's minutes on the health organizations; the health budgets; the laws passed on about the health practitioners; the struggle against infectious diseases; the Turkish codex, pharmacists and laboratories; the education of physicians and other health personnel etc.
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PMID:[Health policy of the Republic of Turkey in accordance with the minutes of the Turkish Parliament (Part II)]. 1715 55

A multianalyte Dot-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Dot-ELISA-Multi) with Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote alkaline extract (EAE), trypomastigote excreted-secreted antigen (TESA), recombinant protein derived from 19-kDa C-terminal region of the Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein 1 (PvMSP1(19)), Plasmodium falciparum Zwittergent extract (Pf-Zw), and Treponema pallidum Zwittergent extract (Tp-Zw) was standardized and evaluated as a method for surveying IgG-specific antibodies in Chagas disease, malaria, and syphilis in a single test. The study was carried out on serum samples from 52 patients with chronic Chagas disease, 103 individuals with current (parasitemic) or past malaria (aparasitemic), 43 patients with syphilis, 21 individuals with heterologous antibodies, and 100 blood donors. Dot-ELISA-Multi yielded 99% specificity for Chagas disease and 100% for malaria and syphilis. The test sensitivity was 100% for chronic Chagas disease, 88% for syphilis, 90% for P. vivax, and 47% for P. falciparum. In past malaria individuals, positivity was 92%. Therefore, Dot-ELISA-Multi can be useful under field conditions where laboratory facilities and resources are scarce, for small-scale epidemiologic studies.
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PMID:A multianalyte Dot-ELISA for simultaneous detection of malaria, Chagas disease, and syphilis-specific IgG antibodies. 1730 Sep 10

The National Blood Policy in India relies heavily on voluntary blood donors, as they are usually assumed to be associated with low levels of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs). In India, it is mandatory to test every unit of blood collected for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS, syphilis and malaria. Donors come to the blood bank with altruistic intentions. If donors test positive to any of the five infections, their blood is discarded. Although the blood policy advocates disclosure of TTI status, donors are not, in practice, informed about their results. The onus is on the donor to contact the blood bank. Out of approximately 16 000 donations in the past 2 years, 438 tested positive for TTI, including 107 for HIV. Only 20% of the donors contacted the blood bank; none of them were HIV positive. Disclosure by blood banks of TTI status by telephone or mail has resulted in serious consequences for some donors. Health providers face an ethical dilemma, in the absence of proper mechanisms in place for disclosure of test results, regarding notification to donors who may test positive but remain ignorant of their TTI status. Given the high cost of neglecting to notify infected donors, the authors strongly recommend the use of rapid tests before collecting blood, instead of the current practice, which takes 3 h to obtain results, and disclosure of results directly to the donor by a counsellor, to avoid dropouts and to ensure confidentiality.
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PMID:Ethical challenges in voluntary blood donation in Kerala, India. 1732 82

Malaria in pregnancy is a serious health problem that contributes greatly to maternal morbidity and mortality. This study investigated risk perceptions and care seeking practices for malaria in pregnancy among adolescents. Data were collected using focus group disusions(FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs). Results showed that malaria was perceived as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among pregnant women. However, adolescent girls did not consider themselves at risk of malaria even when pregnant. Anaemia and low birth weight were not well understood and not related to malaria in pregnancy. Self-medication was common including over the counter drugs, herbs or a combination of both. When this failed, several options were taken such as seeking care at health units. People preferred to visit heath units with laboratory facilities, since investigations were valued and perceived useful. These investigations were locally known as okukebera omusayi, which translates to examining blood This local term is non-specific and used when patients are referred to laboratories to investigate diseases like HIV, syphilis and malaria. The use of this term however, discourages some people who are afraid of knowing their HIV status. Similarly, the notion that HIV/AIDS is spread thorough contaminated needles and syringes discourages people from giving blood for laboratory tests. In addition, the cost of investigations, fear of pain due to pricking, and the rudeness of laboratory technicians negatively influence seeking laboratory tests. Implications of these findings include developing a health promotion package that explains the dangers of self medication and advocates prompt seeking for malaria treatment especially for adolescents and primigravidae. Policy decisions to introduce rapid diagnostic kits (RDTs) in primary care units including drug shops are required in order to improve effective treatment of malaria.
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PMID:Malaria in pregnancy, risk perceptions and care seeking practices among adolescents in Mukono district Uganda. 1734 Aug 48


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