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Schistosomiasis, snail fever, has infected 240 million people in about 78 countries. This disease is found predominantly in subtropical and tropical climates, such as Africa the Caribbean, South America, East Asia, and the Middle East. This is one of five varieties of the parasite schistosoma that are carried by fresh water snails. Schistosomiasis is the second most common parasitic disease. If uncured, children with this chronic disease may suffer from malnutrition and anemia, which can lead pervasive learning disabilities (Global Network).
Background
This disease is caused by a blood trematode, a flatworm that can survive in two hosts. It is spread through the water (CDC, 2012). Once a person gets in contact with freshwater that
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First thing that a physician will do is examine the stool and/or urine for ova of the parasite. It is crucial that one review’s the patients travel and residency history to cross check if they were near the species that might be causing this infection. Another diagnostic test that should be taken is a serologic testing for antischistosomal antibody, which diagnoses travelers or immigrants who have not been treated appropriately for schistosomiasis in the past that are from endemic areas. Serologic tests usually detect antibodies of the adult parasitic worm.
However, if this is a new infection than the patient must receive a serum sample that should be collected six to eight weeks after infection, for the parasite and its antibody to fully develop into the adult stage. To treat the disease there are effective and safe medications in the market to treat both intestinal and urinary schistosomiasis. The patient would take praziquantel, a prescription medication, which is taken for 1-2 days to treat the infection (CDC, 2012).
Prevention
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These men, who were employed by home builders to work on the construction of country houses, restaurants, and hotels, came to this city from endemic areas of the northeast of Minas Gerais State. After a workday they showered, unknowingly, in a nearby-infected river. They used this one river to bathe and dispose fecal matter since, they lived in improvised shelters without sanitary facilities. Unexpectedly, This river supplied a local swimming poo, in which the population was already infected. The snails from that s infected the Local Water. It then entered the skin of the workers and infected them. Apart from the 50 people who were infected an estimated number of four to six million residents in Brazil and battling this infection. The disease is prevalent in 519 of the 853 municipalities in Minas Gerais State. In this state alone approximately 1000000 people are infected among the 10870063 who live the area (NIH,
Bilharzia is a disease caused by freshwater parasitic worms called flukes in certain tropical and subtropical countries. The fresh water becomes contaminated by infected animal or human urine or feces. The parasite goes in through the skin and enters the bloodstream and moves to the liver, intestine, and other organs. It is the third most devastating tropical disease in the world. More than 207 people, 85% of who live in Africa are infected and an estimated 700 million people are at risk of infection.
(TCC) was occurred as result of the control of schistosomal infection , median age of
It is important to begin treatment right away. Treatment will usually involve the use of antibiotic medicines. In some cases, your health care provider may begin treatments before the diagnosis is confirmed. If your symptoms are severe, a hospital stay may be needed.
It is not known how the B hominis infection spreads. The number of people infected seems to increase in areas where sanitation and personal cleanliness
Both drugs are almost 100% effective in curing the disease if given right after the infection, at the beginning of the acute phase, including the cases of congenital transmission but they have a very low anti-parasitic, activity against the prevalent chronic form of the disease. However, the effectiveness of these medication decreases, the longer the person has been infected. The treatment is very long and typically last for about two months and some adverse reactions may occur in up to 40% of the affected patients.
Most parasitic diseases can not be contracted in the United States but when traveling, you can catch it. Luckily, you can take some precautions to avoid contracting them. There are some diseases contracted by consuming contaminated water and food. Some of the preventative measures that should be taken to avoid this is keeping away from drinking the water, swimming only in designated swimming areas, not swimming in freshwater and avoiding swallowing water when swimming, steer clear from cooked food from street vendors, raw vegetables, and unpasteurized dairy foods such as milk or cheese. You should also get specific vaccinations before entering different countries like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Influenza, Measles, Polio, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis
Coccidiodes immitis and c. posadasii are the two types of fungi that can afflict people with Valley fever. These two fungi are found in Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California with the latter two having the highest endemic areas within the United States. Below the states, Coccidioidomycosis is found in parts of Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.1 A few cases have been found abroad, however, they are attributed to travel to places where the fungus is found.2 The first case of Valley Fever was recognized in in Argentina in 1892 and has been slowly increasing in transmission over the past few years.2 The fungus itself grows in the top 2-8 inches of arid soil where it releases, “arthroconidia, highly infectious propagules that can be disrupted from the ground and inhaled, where they can produce acute pulmonary infection in humans and many mammals.”3 These spores can also grow into spherules inside the body, wherein reaching a large enough size can burst and release endospores to other organs.1 Although person-to-person transfer is not unheard of, it is extremely rare and can occur through organ transplants if previously infected or inhaling spores from a wound infected with the two types of Coccidoides.1 When the disease is transmitted, a myriad of signs and symptoms are
When traveling to and from exotic locations, vacationers are warned about drinking untreated water, swimming in freshwater lakes and streams, and against eating certain foods. The risks for contracting a parasitic disease while abroad are pretty well defined and as a traveler you are made aware. Less known are the risks here at home. It is a fact however that parasitic diseases in the US are on the rise. According to Dr. Oz “approximately 1 in 3 Americans is infected with an intestinal parasite at any given time.” Specific statistic are not available because most Americans who are infected may be unaware. Often the symptoms of neglected parasitic infections are troublesome, however, vague. Therefore treatment is not immediately sought and even
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia or "snail fever," is a parasitic disease carried by fresh water snails. It is transmitted by contact with contaminated fresh water, so swimming, bathing, fishing and even domestic chores such as laundry and herding livestock can put people at risk of contracting the disease. Schistosomiasis infects more than 400 million people, mostly in sub-Sarahan Africa, where it is one of the
As it was said before this bacterium usually infects rodents and not humans and that is why this kind of infectious fever is classified as an enzootic disease, which means that it tends to affect a determined specie and in this case it tends to spread among rodents via infected fleas.
Mexico is one of the 21 Latin American countries where Chagas disease is found endemic and will be the purpose of this analysis. This country is ranked number three in terms of number of infected individuals with Chagas disease in the Western Hemisphere, where 99% of the cases are present (Bern 2011). Also, according to Carabarin-Lima (2013), 96% of the transmission of Chagas in Mexico is vector borne and the greatest percentage of the triatomine bugs is present in rural areas. According to Tonantzin (2013), it is estimated that one million people suffer from Chagas in Mexico, while the population at risk is 5.5 million people (Carabarin-Lima, 2013).
The scientific name of the bacterium that infected Matthew was called Chromobacterium violaceum, which was known as a particular flesh-eating bacteria. This bacterium in the environment is fairly common itself; however, the infections that is caused by the bacterium is uncommon. Furthermore, this flesh-eating bacteria is being present in many natural open spaces, such as large bodies of waters throughout the south-eastern region of the United States. Numerous people had swam in Hope Mills Lake where there is Chromobacterium violaceum. There are some people who tend to swim in this lake without know that there is a flesh-eating bacteria in the water. Not to mention, most people do not receive this infection. In addition, those people who has
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2013) soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections refer to groups of parasitic intestinal worms that can live in the human digestive tract. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2015) estimates that these parasitic worms chronically affect over one billion people in the world making STH infections a global public health issue. STH infections are among the most common infections worldwide and affect poor communities, specifically those who reside in developing countries. Higher prevalence and morbidity is found in school aged children according to WHO (2015) which serves as a major barrier to their achievement of optimal health (Scolari et al., 2000). STH infections are considered as a risk factor for the development of physical and intellectual growth retardation (Bethony, Brooker, Albonico, & Geiger, 2006) . The number of people with STH infections are closely correlated with poverty, poor environmental hygiene and impoverished health services. To treat STH infections, many deworming programs have been put into effect worldwide.
A variety of human diseases are transmitted by vectors that have life cycles associated with various types of water bodies, including lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, reservoirs, and irrigated fields (Resh, V.H. Resh, Vector-Borne Diseases of Freshwater Habitats, In Encyclopedia of Inland Waters, edited by Gene E. Likens, Academic Press, Oxford, 2009, Pages 129-137 ). Snails are one of important members of many ecological communities. They have been important to humans throughout history as a source of food, jewellery, tools and even pets. Fresh water molluscs play significant role in public and veterinary health (Sharma). Identification of freshwater snails is of value because of their role as intermediate hosts of some parasites(Afshan). Some
Infection is usually man. Ascaris infections normally do not show symptoms but can occasionally have abdominal pain and the cough is due to the worm moving around. Treatment is done with albendazole and or with mebendazole. Ascaris infections can be prevented by good sanitary practices, examples washing your hands after using the toilet. Kids should be well supervised to make sure they don’t eat the soil and make sure they don’t eat their feces as in very poor and neglected rural communities.