Background Schistosomiasis is a devastating parasitic disease. The mainstay of schistosomiasis control is by praziquantel treatment. The study aimed to determine benefits of annual chemotherapy of schistosomiasis on development of protective immunity in school children in a selected endemic rural area in Zimbabwe. Methods Urine specimens from 212 school children (7–13 years) were collected and examined to determine prevalence, intensity and reinfection of S.haematobium at baseline, 6 weeks and 2 years following annual rounds of praziquantel treatment . Blood samples from the participants were assayed for total and S. haematobium (Sh13)-specific antibodies before and 2 years after annual rounds of treatment. Results Annual treatment reduced the prevalence of S. haematobium infection ( p < 0.05) from 23.1% at baseline to 0.47% after 2 years. Overall cure rate was 97.8%. Intensity of infection declined (p < 0.05) from 15.9 eggs/10 ml urine at baseline to 2 eggs/10 ml urine. After two years, overall rate of reinfection was 0.96%. At baseline, total IgG4 was higher in S. haematobium -infected children ( p = 0.042) ,while all other immunoglobulins were within normal ranges. There was an increase in total IgG2 ( p = 0.044) levels and a decrease in total IgG4 ( p = 0.031) levels 2 years post-treatment; and no significant changes in other total immunoglobulins. Schistosoma -infected children at baseline showed an increase in anti- Sh 13 IgG1 ( p = 0.005) and a decrease in Sh 13 IgG4 levels ( p = 0.012) following treatment. Conclusion Annual praziquantel treatment delivered to school children over 2 years significantly reduce prevalence, intensity of infection and reinfection of S. haematobium infection. Treatment was also observed to cause a reduction in schistosome-specific blocking IgG4 and an increase in Schistosoma -specific protecting IgG1. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12879-019-3811-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Antiretroviral therapy inhibits HIV replication, maintains health, and preserves life. However, both antiretroviral therapy and HIV infection have been reported to have short- and long-term effects on bone metabolism. A cross-sectional study was performed to compare serum bone profiles in HIV positive patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy and compare them to therapy-naïve patients. Serum levels of calcium, magnesium, phosphate, and albumin were measured in 40 female participants on highly active antiretroviral therapy, recruited sequentially from Parirenyatwa Opportunistic Infections Clinic, Harare, Zimbabwe. The 40 women were matched for age with 40 antiretroviral therapy-naïve women. Magnesium, phosphate, and albumin levels were significantly higher in the therapy-naïve than in therapy-experienced patients. There was no statistically significant difference in calcium levels of the two groups of women. Evidence from this study suggests that highly active antiretroviral therapy lowers levels of magnesium, phosphate, and albumin but has no effect on levels of serum calcium.
Schistosomiasis is a waterborne disease whose life cycle involves freshwater sources conducive for the survival and reproduction of aquatic snails that form a connective link between man and water in the life cycle and transmission of schistosomiasis. The African region has network of rivers with freshwater suggesting the presence of schistosomiasis and difficulty to control. Some communities, due to socioeconomic challenges, have inadequate sanitation and water supply; use of bush toilets for excretion is commonly practiced. These conditions in Africa also promote transmission of soil-transmitted helminthiasis. The World Health Organization (WHO), in response to the public health and socioeconomic impact of neglected tropical diseases, is coordinating strategies for the control and elimination of the diseases including schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. As one of the milestones, mapping of neglected tropical diseases in the African region has been prioritized for the implementation of control strategies. In countries where mapping has been completed, WHO and its partners are supplying medicines required for annual mass treatment for preventive chemotherapy and encourage countries to take ownership in implementing complementary strategies for morbidity control, elimination and eradication of country-specific neglected tropical diseases. The mainstay of helminthiasis control is preventive chemotherapy, targeting school age children to prevent morbidity and development of pathological manifestations, including urogenital schistosomiasis that is understood to contribute to HIV transmission. Vaccines are still to be discovered and designed, with many possible antigen candidates, but however the immune responses are still to be fully understood. There is need to understand the subtle link between each component of the immune responses and the host immunogenetics impacting on the translated immunological response of cytokines that are delicately controlled for cellular immunity and antibody production. Currently, preventive chemotherapy treatment is the only
The presence of Salmonella in food products and emergence of antibiotic resistance are the major challenges facing public health policies. A total of 2749 crocodile meat samples obtained from the Central Veterinary Laboratories in Zimbabwe were screened for Salmonella specieswere collected from three Zimbabwean commercial farms between the year 2012 and 2019 for a retrospective observational study to determine the prevalence and magnitude of antibiotics resistant Salmonella species in crocodile meat. The isolation of Salmonella was in accordance with the ISO 6579:2002 and the antibiotic susceptibility testing was carried out based on Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute’s recommendations by means of the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. SILAB Database was used to determine the prevalence of Salmonella species. Prevalence was stratified by year and farms. Twenty Salmonella isolates were identified using biochemical tests, and 15 were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of the confirmed Salmonella isolates were examined using 14 antibiotics. The overall prevalence of Salmonella species in crocodile meat samples was 0.5%. The prevalence of Salmonella species ranged from 0.04% to 0.44% in the crocodile meat samples and annual prevalence ranged from 0.01% to 1%. The highest prevalence of Salmonella (4.4%) was recorded in the year 2012. Salmonella isolates from one of the three tested farms were resistant to Erythromycin (73.33%), Ampicillin (80%), and Penicillin G (100%). Generally, Salmonella isolates displayed lower resistance to Cefepime, Ceftriaxone, Amikacin, Tetracycline, Ertapenem, Florfenicol, and Erythromycin (0-53.33%) whereas all Salmonella isolates showed susceptibility to Cefepime, Ceftriaxone, Ertapenem, and Florfenicol. Although the study indicates low prevalence of Salmonella species in crocodile meat, there is a need for strict implementation of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) to reduce contamination rates in meat and its products
Endophytic fungi isolated from medicinal plants have an important role to play in the search for new bioactive natural compounds. However, despite their potential as repositories of bioactive compounds, the endophytes of African medicinal plants are largely underexplored. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify the endophytic fungi associated with Vitex payos and evaluate their antimicrobial and antioxidant potential. The surface sterilization technique was used to isolate the endophytic fungi that were identified by rDNA sequencing of the ITS region. Crude methanol and ethyl acetate extracts were screened for antimicrobial activity using the agar diffusion method and evaluated for antioxidant activity using a commercial total antioxidant capacity assay kit. The total phenolic content of the extracts was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu method and functional groups present in the extracts were predicted using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Seven endophytic fungi isolates identified as Glomerella acutata, Epicoccum nigrum, Diaporthe species, Penicillium chloroleucon, Diaporthe endophytica, Mucor circinelloides, and Epicoccum nigrum were isolated from the tissues of Vitex payos. None of the extracts exhibited antimicrobial activity and the crude ethyl acetate extract obtained from E. nigrum demonstrated both the highest total phenolic content (2.97 ±0.13 mg GAE g −1 dry weight) and total antioxidant capacity (231.23 ±2.03 μM CRE). Fourier-transform infrared spectral analysis of the crude extracts from E. nigrum confirmed the presence of molecules carrying bonded hydroxyl functional group characteristic of phenolic compounds. These preliminary results indicate that most of the isolated fungal endophytes from V. payos belong to the phylum Ascomycota and that the isolated E. nigrum strain has potential as a source of natural antioxidants.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.