Parasitology News and Research

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Parasitology is the study of organisms that gain nutrients and protection from their host, without any benefit to the host.

Malaria parasites with Ap2mu gene mutation less sensitive to antimalarial drug artemisinin

Early indicators of the malaria parasite in Africa developing resistance to the most effective drug available have been confirmed, according to new research published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

20 Apr 2015

Inflammation plays causal role in neurologic changes associated with Lyme disease

About 15% of patients with Lyme disease develop peripheral and central nervous system involvement, often accompanied by debilitating and painful symptoms. New research indicates that inflammation plays a causal role in the array of neurologic changes associated with Lyme disease, according to a study published in The American Journal of Pathology.

17 Apr 2015

New study describes economic consequences of using T2Candida Panel for detection of candidemia

A new study describes a model that estimates the economic consequences of using the T2Candida Panel (a novel diagnostic product that provides Candida detection) as an adjunct to the current blood culture-based diagnostic strategy in a high-risk hospital patient cohort.

9 Apr 2015

New review highlights future research initiatives to eradicate polio

April 12th 2015 marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of Jonas Salk's landmark polio vaccine trial results, which confirmed that the first vaccine against polio was safe and effective. A new review, which was published online ahead of print in Future Microbiology, provides a comprehensive overview of current polio vaccines, and highlights new and future research initiatives, such as new vaccine formulations, that could help ensure that polio is eradicated and eradication is maintained.

6 Apr 2015

Researchers pinpoint molecular mechanisms that inhibit Hippo pathway in pediatric bone cancers

A particular molecular pathway permits stem cells in pediatric bone cancers to grow rapidly and aggressively, according to researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center.

2 Apr 2015

MSU researchers discover cause of death in children who get malaria

Researchers from Michigan State University have uncovered the cause of death in children who die from cerebral malaria.

19 Mar 2015

Climate change causes emergence of more infectious diseases

The appearance of infectious diseases in new places and new hosts, such as West Nile virus and Ebola, is a predictable result of climate change, says a noted zoologist affiliated with the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

16 Feb 2015

LSU Health New Orleans researcher discovers fragment of toxic Ebola virus protein

William Gallaher, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Parasitology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, has discovered a fragment of an Ebola virus protein that is toxic to cells and may contribute to infection and illness.

22 Jan 2015

COUNTDOWN research consortium focuses on neglected tropical diseases

The COUNTDOWN research consortium has been launched today following a £7 million grant allocation from the UK Department for International Development earlier in the year.

18 Dec 2014

Study reports effective treatment approach to inhibit herpes virus infection

A multi-institutional study reports an effective treatment approach to inhibit and keep latent viruses like herpes simplex from reactivating and causing disease. The work, whose lead author is the late James Hill, PhD, LSU Health New Orleans Professor and Director of Pharmacology and Infectious Disease at the LSU Eye Center, is published in the December 3, 2014, issue of Science Translational Medicine.

4 Dec 2014

Research breakthroughs may pave way for new drugs to fight against parasitic worm infections

Recent breakthroughs may pave the way for vaccines and new drugs for those infected by parasitic helminths. These flatworms, including tapeworms that cause hydatid diseases and neurocysticercosis, liver flukes, and blood flukes (schistosomes), infect more than 300 million people and cause approximately four million disability-adjusted life years lost due to chronic illness and death each year.

28 Oct 2014

Sequencing the Asian liver fluke genome: an interview with Dr Neil Young

Opisthorchis viverrini is a parasitic flatworm (or liver fluke) endemic throughout Thailand, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Vietnam and Cambodia. Humans are infected with this parasite when they eat a fluke encysted in inadequately cooked/preserved freshwater fish.

21 Sep 2014

LSU Health researchers reveal how Chop plays crucial role to combat cancer

Research led by Paulo Rodriguez, PhD, an assistant research professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Parasitology at LSU Health New Orleans' Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, has identified the crucial role an inflammatory protein known as Chop plays in the body's ability to fight cancer.

19 Sep 2014

Scientists crack genetic code of liver fluke parasite

Singapore-An international team of scientists from Singapore, Thailand, China and Australia has cracked the genetic code of the liver fluke parasite, Opisthorchis viverrini, using a unique DNA analysis technique developed at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS).

11 Sep 2014

Vaccine for Chagas disease expected to be available within the next three years

The medical development has been tested in animal models, where it was observed that the disease stopped in 80 percent of cases; physicians expect similar results from a human control group.

29 Aug 2014

CAP awards accreditation to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

The Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) has awarded accreditation to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based on results of a recent on-site inspection as part of the CAP's Accreditation Programs.

12 Aug 2014

Scientists sequence genome of Asian liver fluke, a cancer-causing parasite

Scientists have sequenced the genome and characterised the genes of the Asian liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini. This parasite causes diseases that affect millions of people in Asia and is associated with a fatal bile duct cancer.

16 Jul 2014

Human impact on environment plays a larger role in spread of schistosomiasis, says study

National Museum of Natural History scientist Bert Van Bocxlaer and an international team of researchers revealed that anthropogenic changes in Africa's Lake Malaŵi are a driving force behind the increase of urogenital schistosomiasis, a debilitating tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms.

22 May 2014

New laser method provides a better understanding on how genes are controlled, regulated

Almost every one of our cells has an entire copy of our genome. But only differing subsets of genes are active and expressed in any given cell.

21 May 2014

LSTM researchers to conduct extensive research on HIV and schistosomiasis coinfection in African children

Researchers from LSTM have called for more research to be carried out into HIV and schistosomiasis coinfection in children in sub-Saharan Africa.

18 Apr 2014