Parasitic worms may boost African HIV rates.

sea-maid submitted, created time 5 months 1 week (www.newscientist.com)

ONE of the biggest mysteries of HIV is why the virus spreads so readily via heterosexual sex in Africa but not elsewhere. A study in monkeys suggests parasitic worms may be to blame.

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Parasitic worms may help fuel AIDS epidemic: study

kavin submitted, created time 5 months 1 week (www.reuters.com)

People infected with parasitic worms may be much more susceptible to the AIDS virus, according to a study published on Tuesday that may help explain why HIV has hit sub-Saharan Africa particularly hard.

The study involving monkeys demonstrated how a type of parasitic worm that causes schistosomiasis, which affects 200 million people globally, may make HIV infection more likely.

Much lower amounts of the AIDS virus--seventeen times lower--were needed to cause infection in monkeys who had the parasitic worms than in the parasite-free monkeys, the researchers said

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New drug holds promise for parasitic worm disease

Sue Wu submitted, created time 9 months 3 weeks (www.newsdaily.com)

Researchers have discovered a promising new drug for schistosomiasis -- a parasitic worm disease that affects more than 200 million people in 70 countries.

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Scientists: Warming 'could increase schistosomiasis'

amanda submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.scidev.net)

"Global warming could increase the risk of schistosomiasis infection in China and expand infection into the country's northern territories, say researchers."

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Micronutrient supplements for children after deworming

claudia submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.sciencedirect.com)

The availability of a few inexpensive, single-dose drugs to treat soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis offers the potential to reduce a considerable burden of acute disease, especially among children in sub-Saharan Africa. These treatments are being promoted as “rapid impact interventions”

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Katayama syndrome

cappuccion submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.sciencedirect.com)

Katayama syndrome is an early clinical manifestation of schistosomiasis that occurs several weeks post-infection with Schistosoma spp (trematode) worms. Because of this temporal delay and its non-specific presentation, it is the form of schistosomiasis most likely to be misdiagnosed by travel medicine physicians and infectious disease specialists in non-endemic countries. Katayama syndrome appears between 14–84 days after non-immune individuals are exposed to first schistosome infection or heavy reinfection

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