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.

The International Consortium Claims Medical Breakthrough in Malaria Research

An international consortium led by researchers in Sweden and Switzerland has conducted a genome-wide study that the team is calling a “medical breakthrough” in malaria research.

13 Jan 2020

The sympathetic nervous system can modulate action of defense cells in autoimmune disease

The results of a study conducted in Brazil suggest that the sympathetic nervous system - the part of the autonomous nervous system that controls responses to danger or stress - can modulate the action of defense cells in patients with autoimmune diseases.

16 Dec 2019

Researchers generate reliable maps for transmission risk of Zika virus

The spread of infectious diseases such as Zika depends on many different factors. Environmental factors play a role, as do socioeconomic factors. Recently, several attempts have be made to predict the transmission risk of the Zika virus at a global and local level, but the spatial and temporal patterns of transmission are still not well understood.

11 Nov 2019

Study brings new understanding in the battle against mosquito-borne diseases

In two recent studies, including one published Oct. 1 in Trends in Parasitology, medical entomologist Riley Tedrow found that malaria-carrying mosquitoes in Madagascar, an African island nation, feed on the blood of humans and other mammals more frequently than assumed, which increases opportunities for disease transmission.

3 Oct 2019

Findings could open up new research avenues into how heme tolerance occurs in humans

Most people have some idea of how important iron is to their health, but Iqbal Hamza, professor in Animal and Avian Sciences, has made his seventeen-year career at the University of Maryland all about the study of iron and heme trafficking and regulation in the body.

1 Oct 2019

Researchers explain why fascioliasis patients have increased risk for neurological diseases

Fascioliasis is a parasitic disease caused by two species that are present in the liver: Hepatic Fasciola, which is present worldwide, and Fasciola gigantica, which is in Asia and Africa.

18 Jul 2019

Study analyzes high capacity of A. baumannii to persist on various surfaces

A group in the Department of Immunology, Microbiology and Parasitology at the UPV/EHU has conducted an in-depth study into the capacity to survive of the Acinetobacter baumannii bacterium as well as the strategies it uses to survive.

16 Jul 2019

Study: Nearly one-third of Cambodians are infected with threadworm

Strongyloides stercoralis is a soil-transmitted threadworm that is endemic in many tropical and subtropical areas of the world.

From PLOS ONE 24 Jun 2019

Auburn study explains link between habitat loss and global emergence of infectious diseases

Auburn University researchers have published a new hypothesis that could provide the foundation for new scientific studies looking into the association of habitat loss and the global emergence of infectious diseases.

24 Jun 2019

Research identifies new target that may help develop new treatments for common STD

Research led by Ashok Aiyar, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, has identified a target that may lead to the development of new treatments for the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US.

31 May 2019

Research finds link between Toxoplasma gondii and lung cancer

Toxoplasma gondii, a microscopic parasite that gets inside our cells, is present in about 10% of the population in the UK.

30 May 2019

Study may explain mystery of long-term parasitic infections

As hosting gigs go, it's a tough crowd. More than 1 billion people are host to parasitic worms that take up residence in their intestines. For most, it's a short stay, with the immune system evicting the worms in days or weeks and leaving no trace that the parasites were ever there.

22 May 2019

Researchers engineer a promising treatment for African sleeping sickness

Researchers have turned a fungus into a disease-curing factory through modern genetic engineering and patience.

4 Apr 2019

Scientists join forces to identify a new approach to fight African sleeping sickness

Scientists working in a range of disciplines joined forces to identify a new approach to combat African sleeping sickness. Fundamental research undertaken under the supervision of Professor Ute Hellmich of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has revealed a promising strategy to develop a suitable agent.

20 Feb 2019

Combination therapy shows high efficacy in treating people with leishmaniasis and HIV

The results of clinical trials conducted in Ethiopia by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, in partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières, the University of Gondar, and Addis Ababa University, open the way for more effective and safer treatments for people with both HIV and visceral leishmaniasis, a group of patients who have historically suffered from poor treatment options.

18 Jan 2019

Gene sequencing reveals crucial molecular aspects of Trypanosoma brucei

Trypanosoma brucei, which causes sleeping sickness, evades the immune system by repeatedly altering the structure of its surface coat. Sequencing of its genome and studies of its 3D genome architecture have now revealed crucial molecular aspects of this strategy.

19 Oct 2018

Scientists develop urine diagnostic to detect parasitic worms that cause river blindness

Scientists at Scripps Research have developed a urine diagnostic to detect the parasitic worms that cause river blindness, also called onchocerciasis, a tropical disease that afflicts 18 to 120 million people worldwide.

28 Aug 2018

Researchers publish new paper on developing vaccine candidates for Helminthic parasites

Helminthic parasites, like hookworm and liver flukes (schistosomiasis), affect an estimated 1 billion people worldwide. Infection from hookworm and schistosomiasis result in a combined loss of as much as 92 million disability-adjusted life years annually.

17 Aug 2018

Genetically modified mosquitoes and special bed nets help tackle deadly diseases

Researchers at the Imperial College’s South Kensington campus have successfully created genetically modified mosquitoes that would stop them from multiplying and spreading dreaded diseases such as malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika that kill millions worldwide annually.

13 Aug 2018

Scientists find reason why malarial parasites are faster than immune cells

Elementary cytoskeleton protein is different in parasites and represents a starting point for a possible new therapy against malaria infections.

20 Jul 2018