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TropicalMed
Special Issues
Molecular Diagnosis and Risk Assessment of Helminth Infections
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Molecular Diagnosis and Risk Assessment of Helminth Infections

A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "Neglected and Emerging Tropical Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 March 2025 | Viewed by 2669

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bin Zhan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Section of Pediatric Tropical Medicine, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
Interests: helminth; soil-transmitted nematode; vaccine; parasitology; immunology; molecular biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Rojelio Mejia

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Pediatrics, Section of Tropical Medicine, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Interests: helminth, protozoa, diagnostics; environmental testing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Helminth infections are the most common infections in humans, affecting billions of poor people in tropical and subtropical countries, with major public health issues and burdens. Helminth infections cause considerable morbidity in children, with negative impacts on their cognitive development and physical growth. Poor sanitation and limited access to clean drinking water are the significant risks of helminth infections; however, as the world economy grows, we face different risk factors, such as urbanization, globalization, labor workers, and war refugee migration, that may impact helminth infections.  The most effective way to control worm infections and reduce morbidity is mass administration of anti-helminthic drugs for school children. Successful treatments and population-based studies depend on diagnostic techniques with high accuracy. The lack of reliable molecular diagnostic tools to assess the infectious status with high sensitivity and specificity, especially for those with a low intensity of infection and population-based studies, is a major challenge for controlling worm infections. Therefore, the development of molecular diagnoses and risk assessments of helminth infections are urgently needed.

Dr. Bin Zhan
Dr. Rojelio Mejia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • helminth
  • infection
  • deworming
  • diagnosis
  • risk assessment
  • molecular diagnostic techniques

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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14 pages, 503 KiB  
Article
Concomitant Serological and Molecular Methods for Strongyloides stercoralis Screening in an Endemic Area of Spain
by Ana Lucas Dato, Philp Wikman-Jorgensen, Emilio Borrajo Brunete, María Dolores Hernández Rabadán, Hilarión García-Morante, María Adelino Merino Trigueros, José María Saugar Cruz, Elisa García-Vazquez and Jara Llenas-García
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9(9), 194; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed9090194 - 25 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Strongyloidiasis is a widespread parasitic disease that can be life-threatening in immunosuppressed people. In the Mediterranean basin, autochthonous cases coexist with imported ones. We aimed to assess the utility of different screening methods, along with the frequency of strongyloidiasis and its associated risk [...] Read more.
Strongyloidiasis is a widespread parasitic disease that can be life-threatening in immunosuppressed people. In the Mediterranean basin, autochthonous cases coexist with imported ones. We aimed to assess the utility of different screening methods, along with the frequency of strongyloidiasis and its associated risk factors in migrants and the native population. This cross-sectional study took place from 2019 to 2022 in the area of the Vega Baja Hospital in Alicante, Spain. Screening was performed in people who were immunosuppressed, at risk of immunosuppression, with blood asymptomatic eosinophilia, and in asymptomatic people from highly endemic countries. Screening methods were serological techniques (ELISA), stool parasitological tests (fecal concentration methods and agar plate culture), and a stool molecular test (PCR). Of the 168 participants (62.5% males, 53.0% migrants, 36.3% immunosuppressed, median age 57 years), 14 (8.3%) had confirmed strongyloidiasis, where 6 were confirmed by serology, 4 by PCR, and 4 by both methods. Overall, 9% of the migrants and 7.6% of the native-born patients were infected. Elevated IgE and hemoglobin and Latin American origin were associated with strongyloidiasis diagnosis. Screening with serology alone would have missed 28.6% of cases. We conclude that strongyloidiasis prevalence is high in our population, both in native and migrant groups, and stool PCR is a useful tool to increase case detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Diagnosis and Risk Assessment of Helminth Infections)
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9 pages, 2260 KiB  
Article
IL-33 Enhances the Total Production of IgG, IgG1, and IgG3 in Angiostrongylus cantonensis-Infected Mice
by Po-An Su, Ming-Chieh Ma, Wen-Bin Wu, Jiun-Jr Wang and Wen-Yuan Du
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9(5), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed9050111 - 12 May 2024
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify the role of IL-33 in the immune response to angiostrongyliasis, especially in terms of antibody production and isotype switching. In our experiment, C57BL/6 mice were each infected with 35 infectious larvae and were divided into [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study is to clarify the role of IL-33 in the immune response to angiostrongyliasis, especially in terms of antibody production and isotype switching. In our experiment, C57BL/6 mice were each infected with 35 infectious larvae and were divided into groups that received an intraperitoneal injection of IL-33, anti-IL-33 monoclonal antibody (mAb), or anti-ST2 mAb 3 days post-infection (dpi) and were subsequently administered booster shots at 5-day intervals with the same dose. Serum samples from each group were collected weekly for ELISA assays. The levels of total IgG, IgG1, and IgG3 were significantly increased in A. cantonensis-infected mice that were treated with IL-33, and the levels decreased significantly in infected groups treated with anti-IL-33 or anti-ST2 mAb. These results suggest that IL-33 may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of human angiostrongyliasis and could be useful for understanding protective immunity against this parasitic infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Diagnosis and Risk Assessment of Helminth Infections)
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7 pages, 1438 KiB  
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Molecular Testing of Environmental Samples as a Potential Source to Estimate Parasite Infection
by Rojelio Mejia, Barton Slatko, Cristina Almazan, Ruben Cimino, Alejandro Krolewiecki, Natalia Montellano Duran, Jacob Edwin Valera Aspetty, Paola Andrea Vargas, Chiara Cássia Oliveira Amorim, Stefan Michael Geiger, Ricardo Toshio Fujiwara, Juan David Ramirez, Luz Marina Llangarí-Arizo, Irene Guadalupe, Liliana E. Villanueva-Lizama, Julio Vladimir Cruz-Chan, María Leticia Ojeda, Eva Mereles Aranda, Sandra Ocampos Benedetti, Maritza Dalí Camones Rivera, Eddyson Montalvo Sabino, Carlos Pineda, Eric J. Wetzel and Philip J. Cooperadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9(10), 226; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed9100226 - 26 Sep 2024
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Abstract
We discuss the potential usefulness of molecular testing of soil, dust, and water samples to detect medically important parasites, and where such testing could be used to supplement stool sampling in humans. A wide variety of parasites including protozoa and helminths, many of [...] Read more.
We discuss the potential usefulness of molecular testing of soil, dust, and water samples to detect medically important parasites, and where such testing could be used to supplement stool sampling in humans. A wide variety of parasites including protozoa and helminths, many of which are zoonotic, have an important infection reservoir in the environment. In some cases, this environmental period is essential for further parasite development. We describe the progress in implementing methods for the molecular detection of these parasites in soil across eight collaborating centers in Latin America and represent a variety of potential applications in improving our understanding of parasite epidemiology and mapping, surveillance, and control of these parasites. This methodology offers new opportunities for improving our understanding of a wide variety of parasites of public health importance and novel tools for their control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Diagnosis and Risk Assessment of Helminth Infections)
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