Articles

The burden of and risk factors for active trachoma in the North and South Wollo Zones of Amhara Region, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Trachoma is a disease of the eye, caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis, which can lead to blindness if left untreated. Ethiopia is one of the most trachoma-affected countries in the world. The objective o...

Authors: Beselam Tadesse, Alemayehu Worku, Abera Kumie and Solomon Abebe Yimer

High prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections among primary school children, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2015

Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections often affect the poorest and most deprived communities. In order to generate reliable data for planning a school based deworming program, we conducted a survey among ...

Authors: Sandipan Ganguly, Sharad Barkataki, Sumallya Karmakar, Prerna Sanga, K. Boopathi, K. Kanagasabai, P. Kamaraj, Punam Chowdhury, Rituparna Sarkar, Dibyendu Raj, Leo James, Shanta Dutta, Rakesh Sehgal, Priya Jha and Manoj Murhekar

Sequencing and analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome in Anopheles sinensis (Diptera: Culicidae)

Anopheles sinensis (Diptera: Culicidae) is a primary vector of Plasmodium vivax and Brugia malayi in most regions of China. In addition, its phylogenetic relationship with the cryptic ...

Authors: Kai Chen, Yan Wang, Xiang-Yu Li, Heng Peng and Ya-Jun Ma

Study roadmap for high-throughput development of easy to use and affordable biomarkers as diagnostics for tropical diseases: a focus on malaria and schistosomiasis

Interventions are currently being used against ‘infectious diseases of poverty’, which remain highly debilitating and deadly in most endemic countries, especially malaria, schistosomiasis, echinococcosis and A...

Authors: Kokouvi Kassegne, Ting Zhang, Shen-Bo Chen, Bin Xu, Zhi-Sheng Dang, Wang-Ping Deng, Eniola Michael Abe, Hai-Mo Shen, Wei Hu, Takele Geressu Guyo, Solomon Nwaka, Jun-Hu Chen and Xiao-Nong Zhou

Neglected tropical diseases: exploring long term practical approaches to achieve sustainable disease elimination and beyond

Remarkable progress has been made in the fight against neglected tropical diseases, but new challenges have emerged. Innovative diagnostics, better drugs and new insecticides are often identified as the priori...

Authors: Giuseppina Ortu and Oliver Williams

The dengue preface to endemic in mainland China: the historical largest outbreak by Aedes albopictus in Guangzhou, 2014

Dengue was regarded as a mild epidemic in mainland China transmitted by Aedes albopictus. However, the 2014 record-breaking outbreak in Guangzhou could change the situation. In order to provide an early warning o...

Authors: Lei Luo, Li-Yun Jiang, Xin-Cai Xiao, Biao Di, Qin-Long Jing, Sheng-Yong Wang, Jin-Ling Tang, Ming Wang, Xiao-Ping Tang and Zhi-Cong Yang

Effects of improved sanitation on diarrheal reduction for children under five in Idiofa, DR Congo: a cluster randomized trial

The lack of safe water and sanitation contributes to the rampancy of diarrhea in many developing countries.

Authors: Seungman Cha, JaeEun Lee, DongSik Seo, Byoung Mann Park, Paul Mansiangi, Kabore Bernard, Guy Jerome Nkay Mulakub-Yazho and Honore Minka Famasulu

Slow-release praziquantel for dogs: presentation of a new formulation for echinococcosis control

Echinococcosis is a serious, zoonotic, parasitic disease with worldwide distribution. According to a epidemiological survey in 2012 in China, there are 20,000 infected patients and more than 50 million people ...

Authors: Bin Jiang, Xiao-Nong Zhou, Hao-Bing Zhang, Yi Tao, Le-Le Huo and Ni Liu

Knowledge, access and utilization of bed-nets among stable and seasonal migrants in an artemisinin resistance containment area of Myanmar

Myanmar lies in the Greater Mekong sub-region of South-East Asia faced with the challenge of emerging resistance to artemisinin combination therapies (ACT). Migrant populations are more likely than others to s...

Authors: Wint Phyo Than, Tin Oo, Khin Thet Wai, Aung Thi, Philip Owiti, Binay Kumar, Hemant Deepak Shewade and Rony Zachariah

Systems thinking in combating infectious diseases

The transmission of infectious diseases is a dynamic process determined by multiple factors originating from disease pathogens and/or parasites, vector species, and human populations. These factors interact wi...

Authors: Shang Xia, Xiao-Nong Zhou and Jiming Liu

Seropositivity for Trypanosoma cruzi in domestic dogs from Sonora, Mexico

Chagas disease is an important health problem in Latin America due to its incapacitating effects and associated mortality. Studies on seropositivity for Trypanosoma cruzi in Mexican dogs have demonstrated a direc...

Authors: Minerva Arce-Fonseca, Silvia C. Carrillo-Sánchez, Ramón M. Molina-Barrios, Mariana Martínez-Cruz, Jesús R. Cedillo-Cobián, Yuly A. Henao-Díaz and Olivia Rodríguez-Morales

Transmission of Opisthorchis viverrini, Schistosoma mekongi and soil-transmitted helminthes on the Mekong Islands, Southern Lao PDR

Prevalence of Opisthorchis viverrini, Schistosoma mekongi and soil-transmitted helminths (STH) remains high in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), despite control efforts including mass-drug administratio...

Authors: Youthanavanh Vonghachack, Peter Odermatt, Keoka Taisayyavong, Souphanh Phounsavath, Kongsap Akkhavong and Somphou Sayasone

Patterns of tsetse abundance and trypanosome infection rates among habitats of surveyed villages in Maasai steppe of northern Tanzania

Changes of land cover modify the characteristics of habitat, host-vector interaction and consequently infection rates of disease causing agents. In this paper, we report variations in tsetse distribution patte...

Authors: Anibariki Ngonyoka, Paul S. Gwakisa, Anna B. Estes, Linda P. Salekwa, Happiness J. Nnko, Peter J. Hudson and Isabella M. Cattadori

Parasitology should not be abandoned: data from outpatient parasitological testing in Guangdong, China

Over the past six decades, the Chinese government made parasitoses with a high disease burden, including soil-transmitted nematode infections, malaria, leishmaniasis, filariasis, and schistosomiasis, a public ...

Authors: Lan-Gui Song, Xiao-Ying Zheng, Da-Tao Lin, Guang-Xi Wang and Zhong-Dao Wu

Protein profile of leprosy patients with plantar ulcers from the Eastern Amazon region

Studies investigating the nutritional status of patients with leprosy and plantar ulcers are sparse. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe the protein profile of leprosy patients with plantar ...

Authors: Marineia Porto de Oliveira, Jorge Rodrigues de Sousa, Rafael Silva de Araujo, Tinara Leila de Sousa Aarão and Juarez Antonio Simões Quaresma

The genetic variation of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in the People’s Republic of China

The People’s Republic of China (P.R. China) is the presumptive home range of the rat lungworm Angiostrongylus cantonensis, a major aetiological agent of human eosinophilic meningitis. We present a study of the ge...

Authors: Shan Lv, Yi Zhang, Peter Steinmann, Jürg Utzinger and Xiao-Nong Zhou

Engagement of public and private medical facilities in tuberculosis care in Myanmar: contributions and trends over an eight-year period

As part of the WHO End TB strategy, national tuberculosis (TB) programs increasingly aim to engage all private and public TB care providers. Engagement of communities, civil society organizations and public an...

Authors: Thin Thin Nwe, Saw Saw, Le Le Win, Myo Myo Mon, Johan van Griensven, Shuisen Zhou, Palanivel Chinnakali, Safieh Shah, Saw Thein and Si Thu Aung

Usefulness of interferon-γ release assay for the diagnosis of sputum smear-negative pulmonary and extra-pulmonary TB in Zhejiang Province, China

Quick diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and extra-pulmonary TB are urgently needed in clinical diagnosis. Our research aims to investigate the usefulness of the interferon-γ release assay...

Authors: Lei Ji, Yong-Liang Lou, Zhong-Xiu Wu, Jin-Qin Jiang, Xing-Li Fan, Li-Fang Wang, Xiao-Xiang Liu, Peng Du, Jie Yan and Ai-Hua Sun

Early detection of neuropathy in leprosy: a comparison of five tests for field settings

Early detection and treatment of neuropathy in leprosy is important to prevent disabilities. A recent study showed that the Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS) and Warm Detection Thresholds (WDT) tests can detect l...

Authors: Inge Wagenaar, Erik Post, Wim Brandsma, Dan Ziegler, Moshiur Rahman, Khorshed Alam and Jan Hendrik Richardus

First records of Triatoma rubrofasciata (De Geer, 1773) (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) in Foshan, Guangdong Province, Southern China

Triatomines, also known as kissing bugs, which are found throughout the world and especially in Latin America, are well known natural vectors that transmit American trypanosomiasis, also called Chagas disease....

Authors: Qin Liu, Yun-Hai Guo, Yi Zhang, Zheng-Bin Zhou, Liang-Liang Zhang, Dan Zhu and Xiao-Nong Zhou

Comparison of novel and standard diagnostic tools for the detection of Schistosoma mekongi infection in Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Cambodia

Given the restricted distribution of Schistosoma mekongi in one province in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and two provinces in Cambodia, together with progress of the national control programmes aime...

Authors: Youthanavanh Vonghachack, Somphou Sayasone, Virak Khieu, Robert Bergquist, Govert J. van Dam, Pytsje T. Hoekstra, Paul L. A. M. Corstjens, Beatrice Nickel, Hanspeter Marti, Jürg Utzinger, Sinuon Muth and Peter Odermatt

Temporal and spatial distribution characteristics in the natural plague foci of Chinese Mongolian gerbils based on spatial autocorrelation

The nest flea index of Meriones unguiculatus is a critical indicator for the prevention and control of plague, which can be used not only to detect the spatial and temporal distributions of Meriones unguiculatus,...

Authors: Hai-Wen Du, Yong Wang, Da-Fang Zhuang and Xiao-San Jiang

Developing a comprehensive response for treatment of children under 6 years of age with schistosomiasis: research and development of a pediatric formulation of praziquantel

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by blood flukes. The disease is caused by an inflammatory reaction to parasite eggs retained in the liver, bladder and reproductive organs. According to 2017 World...

Authors: Jutta Reinhard-Rupp and Katharina Klohe

Dengue-specific serotype related to clinical severity during the 2012/2013 epidemic in centre of Brazil

Please see Additional file 1 for translations of the abstract into the five official working languages of the United Nations.

Authors: Benigno A. M. Rocha, Adriana O. Guilarde, Angela F. L. T. Argolo, Marianna Peres Tassara, Lucimeire A. da Silveira, Isabela C. Junqueira, Marília D. Turchi, Valéria C. R. Féres and Celina M. T. Martelli

Comparative evaluation of a rapid diagnostic test, an antibody ELISA, and a pLDH ELISA in detecting asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia in blood donors in Buea, Cameroon

In malaria endemic areas, infected blood donors serve as a source of infection to blood recipients, which may adversely affect their prognosis. This necessitates the proper screening of blood to be used for tr...

Authors: Tebit Emmanuel Kwenti, Longdoh Anna Njunda, Beltine Tsamul, Shey Dickson Nsagha, Nguedia Jules-Clement Assob, Kukwah Anthony Tufon, Dilonga Henry Meriki and Enow George Orock

Erratum to: Detection of Schistosoma Antibodies and exploration of associated factors among local residents around Inlay Lake, Southern Shan State, Myanmar

Authors: Htin Zaw Soe, Cho Cho Oo, Tin Ohn Myat and Nay Soe Maung

Prevalence of diarrhoea and risk factors among children under five years old in Mbour, Senegal: a cross-sectional study

Diarrhoeal diseases remain an important cause of mortality and morbidity among children, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In Senegal, diarrhoea is responsible for 15% of all deaths in children...

Authors: Sokhna Thiam, Aminata N. Diène, Samuel Fuhrimann, Mirko S. Winkler, Ibrahima Sy, Jacques A. Ndione, Christian Schindler, Penelope Vounatsou, Jürg Utzinger, Ousmane Faye and Guéladio Cissé

Risk assessment of malaria transmission at the border area of China and Myanmar

In order to achieve the goal of malaria elimination, the Chinese government launched the National Malaria Elimination Programme in 2010. However, as a result of increasing cross-border population movements, th...

Authors: Benyun Shi, Jinxin Zheng, Hongjun Qiu, Guo-Jing Yang, Shang Xia and Xiao-Nong Zhou

Bites from the same dog, different outcomes for two patients: a case report

Rabies is a serious reemerging zoonosis in China. At present human rabies cases are primarily diagnosed based on clinical presentation.

Authors: Xue-Yong Huang, Xing-Le Li, Shu-Yu Wu, Yu-Lei Gu, Xin-Jun Lv, John David Klena and Bian-Li Xu

Malaria among rice farming communities in Kilangali village, Kilosa district, Central Tanzania: prevalence, intensity and associated factors

Malaria remains the most important cause of morbidity and mortality in Tanzania. However, its prevalence varies from area to area depending on various ecological, socio-economic and health system factors. This...

Authors: Humphrey D. Mazigo, Susan F. Rumisha, Mercy G. Chiduo, Veneranda M. Bwana and Leonard E. G. Mboera

Experience and lessons from health impact assessment guiding prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in a copper mine project, northwestern Zambia

To avoid or mitigate potential project-related adverse health effects, the Trident copper project in Kalumbila, northwestern Zambia, commissioned a health impact assessment. HIV was identified a priority healt...

Authors: Astrid M. Knoblauch, Mark J. Divall, Milka Owuor, Kennedy Nduna, Harrison Ng’uni, Gertrude Musunka, Anna Pascall, Jürg Utzinger and Mirko S. Winkler

Determinants of treatment completion among rural smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients: a cross-sectional survey conducted in south-western Uganda

Treatment completion among tuberculosis patients remains low across various regions of Uganda, despite implementation of directly observed treatment short course. This study evaluated the determinants of treat...

Authors: Edgar Mugema Mulogo, Christopher Nahabwe, Fred Bagenda and Vincent Batwala

Epidemic of wild-origin H1NX avian influenza viruses in Anhui, China

As the natural hosts of avian influenza viruses (AIVs), aquatic and migratory birds provide a gene pool for genetic transfer among species and across species, forming transient “genome constellations.” This wo...

Authors: Ye Ge, Qiu-Cheng Yao, Xian-Fu Wang, Zhi-Qiang Fan, Guo-Hua Deng, Hong-Liang Chai, Hua-Lan Chen and Yu-Ping Hua

Why more research needs to be done on echinococcosis in Pakistan

Echinococcosis has a worldwide geographical distribution with endemic foci on every inhabited continent. Due to the frequent outbreaks in different parts of Pakistan in the recent past, echinococcosis is being...

Authors: Haroon Ahmed, Shahzad Ali, Muhammad Sohail Afzal, Abid Ali Khan, Hamid Raza, Zaheer Hussain Shah and Sami Simsek

HIV care-seeking behaviour after HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men in Beijing, China: a cross-sectional study

Men who have sex with men (MSM) has become the group with the fastest growing HIV epidemic in China. Since many Chinese MSM are conducting HIV self-testing, we aimed to determine the rate of HIV care seeking a...

Authors: Xian-Long Ren, Zun-You Wu, Guo-Dong Mi, Jennifer M. McGoogan, Ke-Ming Rou, Yan Zhao and Nanci Zhang

Deworming of stray dogs and wild canines with praziquantel-laced baits delivered by an unmanned aerial vehicle in areas highly endemic for echinococcosis in China

Canines, the definitive hosts for the parasites causing alveolar (AE) and cystic echinococcosis (CE), are the main source of this infections playing the key role in the transmission. The ten-year mortality rat...

Authors: Qing Yu, Ning Xiao, Shi-jie Yang and Shuai Han

Seasonal and geographical distribution of bacillary dysentery (shigellosis) and associated climate risk factors in Kon Tum Province in Vietnam from 1999 to 2013

Bacillary dysentery (BD) is an acute bacterial infection of the intestine caused by Shigella spp., with clinical symptoms ranging from fever to bloody diarrhoea to abdominal cramps to tenesmus. In Vietnam, enteri...

Authors: Hu Suk Lee, T. T. Ha Hoang, Phuc Pham-Duc, Mihye Lee, Delia Grace, Dac Cam Phung, Vu Minh Thuc and Hung Nguyen-Viet

Erratum to: Comparative evaluation of the diagnosis, reporting and investigation of malaria cases in China, 2005–2014: transition from control to elimination for the national malaria programme

Authors: Jun-Ling Sun, Sheng Zhou, Qi-Bin Geng, Qian Zhang, Zi-Ke Zhang, Can-Jun Zheng, Wen-Biao Hu, Archie C.A. Clements, Sheng-Jie Lai and Zhong-Jie Li

Praziquantel decreases fecundity in Schistosoma mansoni adult worms that survive treatment: evidence from a laboratory life-history trade-offs selection study

Mass drug administration of praziquantel is the World Health Organization’s endorsed control strategy for schistosomiasis. A decade of annual treatments across sub-Saharan Africa has resulted in significant re...

Authors: Poppy H.L. Lamberton, Christina L. Faust and Joanne P. Webster

Habitat productivity and pyrethroid susceptibility status of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) is the main vector of the dengue virus globally. Dengue vector control is mainly based on reducing the vector population through interventions, which...

Authors: Leah Mathias, Vito Baraka, Anitha Philbert, Ester Innocent, Filbert Francis, Gamba Nkwengulila and Eliningaya J. Kweka

Urgent needs in fostering neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) laboratory capacity in WHO Western Pacific Region: results from the external quality assessment on NTDs diagnosis in 2012–2015

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a heterogeneous group of mainly chronic, debilitating and often stigmatizing diseases that largely affects low-income and politically marginalized populations, causing a ...

Authors: Yan Lu, Glenda Gonzales, Shao-Hong Chen, Hao Li, Yu-Chun Cai, Yan-Hong Chu, Lin Ai, Mu-Xin Chen, Hai-Ning Chen and Jia-Xu Chen

Pigsties near dwellings as a potential risk factor for the prevalence of Japanese encephalitis virus in adult in Shanxi, China

The increasing trend of adult cases of Japanese encephalitis (JE) in China, particularly in northern China, has become an important public health issue. We conducted an epidemiological investigation in the sou...

Authors: Xiaojie Ren, Shihong Fu, Peifang Dai, Huanyu Wang, Yuanyuan Li, Xiaolong Li, Wenwen Lei, Xiaoyan Gao, Ying He, Zhi Lv, Jingxia Cheng, Guiqin Wang and Guodong Liang

Spatial and temporal distribution of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Acre state, Brazil

Acre has reported the highest incidence of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) in Brazil in recent years. The present study seeks to identify high and low risk agglomerations of ACL in space and space-time ...

Authors: Leonardo Augusto Kohara Melchior, Andréia Fernandes Brilhante and Francisco Chiaravalloti-Neto

Genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax revealed by the merozoite surface protein-1 icb5-6 fragment

Plasmodium vivax remains a potential cause of morbidity and mortality for people living in its endemic areas. Understanding the genetic diversity of P. vivax from different regions is ...

Authors: Wei Ruan, Ling-ling Zhang, Yan Feng, Xuan Zhang, Hua-liang Chen, Qiao-yi Lu, Li-nong Yao and Wei Hu

C-reactive protein is differentially modulated by co-existing infections, vitamin deficiencies and maternal factors in pregnant and lactating indigenous Panamanian women

The usefulness of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a non-specific marker of inflammation during pregnancy and lactation is unclear in impoverished populations where co-existing infections and vitamin deficiencies a...

Authors: Doris González-Fernández, Emérita del Carmen Pons, Delfina Rueda, Odalis Teresa Sinisterra, Enrique Murillo, Marilyn E. Scott and Kristine G. Koski

Active case-finding for tuberculosis by mobile teams in Myanmar: yield and treatment outcomes

Since 2005, the Myanmar National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) has been implementing active case finding (ACF) activities involving mobile teams in hard-to-reach areas. This study revealed the contribution of m...

Authors: Ohnmar Myint, Saw Saw, Petros Isaakidis, Mohammed Khogali, Anthony Reid, Nguyen Binh Hoa, Thi Thi Kyaw, Ko Ko Zaw, Tin Mi Mi Khaing and Si Thu Aung

Development of a health education intervention strategy using an implementation research method to control taeniasis and cysticercosis in Burkina Faso

Taeniasis and cysticercosis are two diseases caused by Taenia solium, a parasite transmitted between humans and pigs, leading to considerable economic loss and disabilities. Transmission of the parasite is linked...

Authors: Helena Ngowi, Ivan Ozbolt, Athanase Millogo, Veronique Dermauw, Télesphore Somé, Paul Spicer, Lori L. Jervis, Rasmané Ganaba, Sarah Gabriel, Pierre Dorny and Hélène Carabin

Prevalence of autoantibodies against cellular antigens in patients with HIV and leprosy coinfection in the Amazon region

Infectious agents can activate self-reactive T cells. In general, infections trigger various mechanisms, including a lack of auto-tolerance, induction of costimulatory molecules on antigen presenting cells, an...

Authors: Clea Nazaré Carneiro Bichara, Carlos David Araújo Bichara, Camila Tostes, Marinete Marins Povoa, Juarez Antonio Simões Quaresma and Marília Brasil Xavier

Experimental infections of mosquitoes with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a newly identified emerging infectious disease, which is caused by a novel bunyavirus (termed SFTSV) in Asia. Although mosquitoes have not been identified ...

Authors: Shu-Yi Liang, Hong-Liang Chu, Xi-Ling Guo, Wei Wang, Hong-Na Chen, Yu-Fu Zhang, Yin Chen, Tao Wu, Chang-Jun Bao and Ming-Hao Zhou

The strategic framework of tuberculosis control and prevention in the elderly: a scoping review towards End TB targets

With the rapid pace of population ageing, tuberculosis (TB) in the elderly increasingly becomes a public health challenge. Despite the increasing burden and high risks for TB in the elderly, targeted strategy ...

Authors: Jun Li, Pui-Hong Chung, Cyrus L. K. Leung, Nobuyuki Nishikiori, Emily Y. Y. Chan and Eng-Kiong Yeoh