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Endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria in the worms are targets for a new therapeutic approach Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, caused by the filaria Onchocerca volvulus, affects more than 17 million people in [...]

ABSTRACTThis study evaluates a novel assay for detecting rifampin resistance in clinical Mycobacterium ulceransisolates. Although highly susceptible for PCR inhibitors in 50% of the samples tested, the assay was 100% M. ulceransspecific and yielded >98% analyzable sequences with a lower limit of detection of 100 to 200 copies of the target sequence.

The high prevalence of hemoglobin S (HbS) in Africa and hemoglobin C (HbC) in parts of West Africa is caused by the strong protection against severe falciparum malaria during childhood. Much less is known about the effect of HbS and especially HbC on Plasmodium falciparum infection, uncomplicated malaria, and anemia. A total of 1070 children from the Ashanti Region, Ghana, were enrolled at the age of 3 months and visited monthly until 2 years of age. The effects of the β-globin genotype on the age-dependent incidence of malaria, levels of parasitemia, and hemoglobin as well as physical development were analyzed by population-averaged models. Infants with HbAS were protected from uncomplicated malaria (P < .005) and anemia (P < .001), had lower age-adjusted parasite densities (P < .001), and higher age-adjusted hemoglobin levels compared with children with the HbAA genotype (P = .004). In contrast, HbAC carriers had lower hemoglobin levels (P < .033) and were not protected against malaria or anemia. Notably, infants with HbAS were also significantly protected against stunting compared with carriers of HbAA or HbAC. This indicates differing mechanisms of protection against malaria of HbAS and HbAC and might help to understand why HbC is restricted to distinct areas of West Africa.

Surgical debridement was the standard treatment for Mycobacterium ulceransinfection (Buruli ulcer disease) until WHO issued provisional guidelines in 2004 recommending treatment with antimicrobial drugs (streptomycin and rifampicin) in addition to surgery. These recommendations were based on observational studies and a small pilot study with microbiological endpoints. We investigated the efficacy of two regimens of antimicrobial treatment in early-stage M ulceransinfection.

ABSTRACTIn accordance with recent WHO recommendations, this study evaluates the sensitivities of PCR and microscopy for fine-needle aspiration (FNA) versus techniques involving swabs and punch biopsy specimens and suggests that FNA can replace punch biopsies for nonulcerative lesions and may serve as an alternative for ulcerative lesions in cases where scarred edges prevent the collection of swabs.

Endosymbiotic bacteria living in plasmodia or worm parasites are required for the homoeostasis of their host and should be excellent targets for chemotherapy of certain parasitic diseases. We show that targeting of Wolbachiaspp bacteria in Onchocerca volvulusfilariae by doxycycline leads to sterility of adult worms to an extent not seen with drugs used against onchocerciasis, a leading cause of blindness in African countries.

The observation of the predominance of scabies and streptococcal skin infection in the skin diseases occurring in the outpatient department of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana, led to a survey being conducted. It began with an exploratory survey in two well-defined communities, a medium security prison with a population of 1063 and a village with a population of 3000. This was later followed by an epidemiological survey in the village. The results showed that the most common skin disease in middle Ghana (a tropical rainforest area) was scabies with about 17.6% of the population having the disease.