Paragonimiasis or lung-fluke infection is a protozoan lung disease that resembles bacterial tuberculosis in humans; and it is caused by trematodes or flukes. It is a lung-fluke disease that has a worldwide distribution but more prevalent in parts of Asia including China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Japan. The disease has also been reported in some parts […]
Dracunculiasis is a crippling parasitic disease that is caused by a tissue nematode (roundworm) which is usually found in the subcutaneous tissue of infected humans. It is also known as guinea worm ulcer disease because the disease causes ulcer or boil on the skin of infected human hosts. The roundworm starts to emerge from the
Generally, parasites can be classified into two major groups: Endoparasites are parasites that live inside the body of their hosts inclusive of animals and humans. They are known as internal parasites. Endoparasites are found in blood, tissues, gastrointestinal tract or digestive system and in the internal body organs of their hosts. They remain inside the
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Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
BIOLOGY AND CAUSATIVE AGENTS OF ECHINOCOCOCCUS Human echinococcosis (hydatidosis, or hydatid disease) is caused by the larval stages of cestodes (tapeworms) of the genus Echinococcus. Echinococcus granulosus (sensu lato) causes cystic echinococcosis and is the form most frequently encountered. Another species, E. multilocularis, causes alveolar echinococcosis, and is becoming increasingly more common. Two exclusively New
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Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
Key facts Foodborne botulism is a serious, potentially fatal disease. However, it is relatively rare. It is an intoxication usually caused by ingestion of potent neurotoxins, the botulinum toxins, formed in contaminated foods. Person to person transmission of botulism does not occur. Spores produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum are heat-resistant and exist widely in the environment,
Botulism – a public health menace Read More »
Bacteriology, Food Microbiology, Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is an illness caused by a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Most MERS patients developed severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. About 3 or 4 out of every 10 patients reported with MERS have died. All cases
MIDDLE EAST RESPIRATORY SYNDROME (MERS) Read More »
Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology), Virology
An anthroponotic disease, or anthroponosis, is an infectious disease in which a disease causing agent carried by humans is transferred to other animals. It may cause the same disease or a different disease in other animals. The opposite of anthroponosis or anthroponotic disease is zoonosis. Zoonosis is a disease transmitted from animals to humans. Zoonoses
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Epidemiology, Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
The acronym FTA stands for “Flinders Technology Association”. FTA CARDS are chemically treated Whatman filter papers that are designed for the collection, preservation and shipment of biological samples including clinical and environmental samples for subsequent DNA and RNA analysis. FTA cards are cotton-based, cellulose paper containing chemicals that lyse cells or biological samples, denatures proteins,
Malaria is an insect-transmitted parasitic disease characterized by recurrent episodes of fever and anaemia (loss of blood) in some cases caused by the Plasmodium species which is usually transmitted between mammals through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. It is a disease condition in human beings whereby there is an abnormally high body temperature
Parasitic diseases are usually common in rainforest parts of the world (the tropical and subtropical regions) because such environment favour the existence of the causative agents of such infections. For example, malaria caused by Plasmodium species is more prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions than in temperate regions where the environmental condition is cold and
