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Controlling schistosomiasis: buffalo or snails?
January 22, 2008A parasitic infection common in China and Southeast Asia could be effectively reduced by controlling snail populations, according to research published in PLoS Medicine.
Infection with schistosomes of various species affects some 200 million people worldwide, and can cause serious chronic illnesses, including liver failure. Steven Riley of the University of Hong Kong and collaborators analyzed infection patterns of the parasitic worm Schistosoma japonicum in fifty villages in Samar Province, the Philippines. Rates of infection among humans and animals have been found to differ among villages, and the researchers developed a mathematical model incorporating fecal parasite test results from thousands of people and animals (including, cats, pigs, dogs, water buffalo, and rats) to explain these differences.
Schistosomes are passed from mammals to fresh-water snails via feces, and then cycle back to infect mammals that contact water inhabited by infected snails. Using the mathematical model, the team found that transmission from snails to mammals was a more important factor in explaining the differences among villages than transmission from mammals to snails.
As with all scientific models, the findings of this one depend on the assumptions made to build the model. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that interventions to reduce the size of the snail population and the exposure of mammals to parasite-containing water might reduce human infection levels more effectively than interventions that interrupt other parts of the parasite's life cycle.
The results also indicate that the contribution of water buffaloes to human S. japonicum infection in the Philippines is not particularly important. This finding contrasts with a recent study that identified water buffalo as the major mammalian reservoir for S. japonicum in China. (http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/7/06-034033/en/index.html), and suggests that further studies of t he transmission of S. japonicum by water buffalo are warranted before efforts are dedicated to treat or vaccinate water buffalo as a control measure against human S. japonicum infection.
In a related perspective article, Song Liang and Robert Spear, who were not involved in the study, discuss the findings and conclude that the "modeling approach can be a useful tool in exploring schistosomiasis transmission in other settings, and may even apply to other macroparasites."
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050018
Public Library of Science
As with all scientific models, the findings of this one depend on the assumptions made to build the model. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that interventions to reduce the size of the snail population and the exposure of mammals to parasite-containing water might reduce human infection levels more effectively than interventions that interrupt other parts of the parasite's life cycle.
The results also indicate that the contribution of water buffaloes to human S. japonicum infection in the Philippines is not particularly important. This finding contrasts with a recent study that identified water buffalo as the major mammalian reservoir for S. japonicum in China. (http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/7/06-034033/en/index.html), and suggests that further studies of t he transmission of S. japonicum by water buffalo are warranted before efforts are dedicated to treat or vaccinate water buffalo as a control measure against human S. japonicum infection.
In a related perspective article, Song Liang and Robert Spear, who were not involved in the study, discuss the findings and conclude that the "modeling approach can be a useful tool in exploring schistosomiasis transmission in other settings, and may even apply to other macroparasites."
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050018
Public Library of Science
Schistosomiasis Current Events and Schistosomiasis News RSSWhat are coral reef services worth? $130,000 to $1.2 million per hectare, per year: experts
Experts concluding the global DIVERSITAS biodiversity conference today in Cape Town described preliminary research revealing jaw-dropping dollar values of the "ecosystem services" of biomes like forests and coral reefs - including food, pollution treatment and climate regulation.
Discovery to aid in future treatments of third-world parasites
Schistosomiasis, one of the most important of the neglected tropical diseases, is caused by infection with parasitic helminths of the genus Schistosoma.
Scientists decode genome of deadly parasitic worm
Scientists have sequenced the genome of the parasite that causes intestinal schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia or snail fever), a devastating tropical disease that afflicts more than 200 million people in the developing world.
U of M study finds new insight on therapy for a devastating parasitic disease
University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered an important new insight into how a commonly prescribed drug may work to treat those infected by a parasitic flatworm.
Case Western Reserve professor helps control infectious diseases with models and math
Can an algebraic equation hold the secret to eradicating malaria or schistosomiasis? A Case Western Reserve University mathematics professor is utilizing the combination of algorithms and models in an effort to assist his medical colleagues in the fight against infectious diseases.
Snails and humans use same genes to tell right from left
Biologists have tracked down genes that control the handedness of snail shells, and they turn out to be similar to the genes used by humans to set up the left and right sides of the body.
Are bone marrow mononuclear cells effective in reducing hepatic lesions?
Liver fibrosis occurs in the setting of chronic injury caused by different etiologies constituting a serious worldwide public health problem. In addition to schistosomiasis, hepatopathies due to alcohol, viral hepatitis, drugs, metabolic and autoimmune diseases, and congenital abnormalities are important causes of liver fibrosis.
Parasitic worm infections increase susceptibility to AIDS viruses
Persons infected with schistosomes, and possibly other parasitic worm infections, may be more likely to become infected with HIV than persons without worm infections, according to a study published July 23rd in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Fuzzy logic water quality
A fuzzy logic approach to analyzing water quality could help reduce the number of people in the developing world forced to drink polluted and diseased water for survival.
Tropical disease experts call for a 'Global Fund to Fight Neglected Tropical Diseases'
An international team of tropical disease control experts has urged the global health and development community, and particularly the G8 leaders, to establish a new financing mechanism to combat the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) of poverty.
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