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.

NIH invests $74.5 million to advance data science research and spur health discoveries across Africa

The National Institutes of Health is investing about $74.5 million over five years to advance data science, catalyze innovation and spur health discoveries across Africa.

26 Oct 2021

Researchers discover how Staphylococcus aureus protects itself against important antibiotic

The skin bacterium Staphylococcus aureus often develops antibiotic resistance. It can then cause infections that are difficult to treat.

21 Oct 2021

New LSHTM spin-out company aims to improve detection and control of infectious diseases

Two spin-out companies from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) have merged to form a new company that will improve the detection and control of infectious diseases.

4 Aug 2021

Physical pain induces relapse of alcohol consumption, research shows

The study has also shown changes in an area of the brain related to motivation for drug intake, and in a second experiment they have shown that the kappa-type opioid receptor (a protein) is key to causing these animals to relapse.

27 Jul 2021

Intestinal worm infection can cause severe sexually transmitted viral diseases

Infection with parasitic intestinal worms (helminths) can apparently cause sexually transmitted viral in-fections to be much more severe elsewhere in the body.

16 Apr 2021

Temperature difference in the upper and lower respiratory tract influences SARS-CoV-2 replication

A team of researchers from the Institute for Infectious Diseases (IFIK) at the University of Bern and the Federal Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) have assessed virus growth and activation of the cellular defense mechanisms in the respiratory tract.

1 Apr 2021

Study highlights urgent need to monitor legal wildlife trade to reduce emerging zoonotic diseases

With three out of four newly emerging infectious human diseases originating in animals, there is an urgent need to monitor the legal trade in wildlife, according to new research by Vincent Nijman, Professor in Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University.

5 Mar 2021

Researchers reach important milestone in leishmaniasis vaccine development

Researchers have taken an important step forward in developing a controlled human infection model to test leishmaniasis vaccines.

11 Jan 2021

Septic shock and pneumonia triggered by SARS-CoV-2 could be treated by radiation-activated MSCs

This study, published in the journal Cells, is based on others (all of which employed experimental models) previously conducted by researchers at the Biomedical Research Centre of the University of Granada, the ‘López-Neyra’ Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine, and the ‘Virgen de las Nieves’ University Hospital in Granada

23 Nov 2020

Scientists suggest that anti-malarial drugs could be repurposed to treat COVID-19

An international group of researchers believe there is enough evidence that anti-malarial drugs could be repurposed to treat COVID-19 and that they should be assessed for efficacy in clinical trials.

20 Oct 2020

Cloud-based tool can rapidly detect and track emerging pathogens

Published today in the journal GigaScience is a new open source, cloud-based tool called IDseq that makes it possible to rapidly detect, identify, and track emerging pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2.

15 Oct 2020

Molecular stilts help deadly parasites to invade host cells

In biological terms, gliding refers to the type of movement during which a cell moves along a surface without changing its shape. This form of movement is unique to parasites from the phylum Apicomplexa, such as Plasmodium and Toxoplasma.

13 Oct 2020

Pandemic spread could make more people susceptible to xenophobia, racism

When viruses, parasites and other pathogens spread, humans and other animals tend to hunker down with immediate family and peer groups to avoid outsiders as much as possible.

16 Sep 2020

Social distancing is a natural instinct but difficult for humans and animals

Staying away from those with contagious infections, no matter how lonely it gets, may not only be common sense, but a natural instinct. But that doesn't mean humans or animals will automatically fall in line.

26 Aug 2020

FDA provides investigation update on Cyclospora illnesses tied to bagged salad consumption

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is providing an update on the status of the investigation of Cyclospora cayetanensis illnesses tied to the consumption of bagged salads.

15 Aug 2020

UC Riverside scientist to shed light on worm infections that escape detection by immune systems

It's likely that billions of people are unaware they have been infected with parasitic worms. A UC Riverside scientist has won $1.8 million to try and understand why.

20 Jul 2020

The 2019 3Rs prize awarded to two pieces of novel research

The 2019 3Rs prize has been jointly awarded to Dr Francesca Nunn and Dr Marta Shahbazi for papers describing research that reduces the number of chickens and mice respectively. The 3Rs prize is awarded by the NC3Rs and sponsored by GSK.

10 Jun 2020

Researchers analyze data on RNA structure of tick-borne encephalitis virus

Researchers from Sechenov University together with colleagues from several Russian institutes analyzed data on the RNA structure of tick-borne encephalitis virus.

22 May 2020

Malaysian researchers discover new Leptospira strain capable of infecting humans

Malaysian researchers have identified the two species of the Leptospira genus of bacteria responsible for most cases of leptospirosis in the country and discovered a new strain capable of infecting humans.

21 Apr 2020

More research urgently needed on the use of antibiotics in animals

A special issue of Animal Health Research Reviews turns the spotlight on the science underlying this growing crisis - looking at the evidence base for using antibiotics to prevent illness in beef and dairy cattle, swine, and broiler poultry.

23 Feb 2020