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* Association of Persistent Symptoms after Lyme Neuroborreliosis and Increased Levels of Interferon-[alpha] in Blood * Probable Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from African Lion to Zoo Employees, Indiana, USA, 2021 * [...]

* Association of Persistent Symptoms after Lyme Neuroborreliosis and Increased Levels of Interferon-a in Blood * Probable Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from African Lion to Zoo Employees, Indiana, USA, 2021 * [...]

The predictive value of the diagnosis of malaria in various different endemic areas is determined. The presence of splenomegaly and hepatomegaly is shown to lead to a significant increase in the likelihood of occurrence of malaria in an endemic area.

The author discusses the symptoms of fever diagnosed as malaria and presents guidelines for management of the case with artesunate.

A case study of a 3-year-old girl, who developed fever and parasites in the peripheral blood after a visit to Africa, is presented. The patient was diagnosed with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and a description of the mode of treatment administered to her is presented.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.10.009 Byline: Catherine Panter-Brick (a), Sian E. Clarke (b), Heather Lomas (a), Margaret Pinder (c), Steve W. Lindsay (d) Keywords: Models of behaviour change; Theory-based health intervention; Health promotion; Risk awareness evaluation; Disease control; Mosquito nets; Gambia Abstract: Behaviour change is notoriously difficult to initiate and sustain, and the reasons why efforts to promote healthy behaviours fail are coming under increasing scrutiny. To be successful, health interventions should build on existing practices, skills and priorities, recognise the constraints on human behaviour, and either feature community mobilisation or target those most receptive to change. Furthermore, interventions should strive to be culturally compelling, not merely culturally appropriate: they must engage local communities and nestle within social and ecological landscapes. In this paper, we propose a social ecology perspective to make explicit the links between intention to change, actual behaviour change, and subsequent health impact, as relating to both theory-based models and practical strategies for triggering behaviour change. A social ecology model focuses attention on the contexts of behaviour when designing, implementing or critically evaluating interventions. As a case study, we reflect on a community-directed intervention in rural Gambia designed to reduce malaria by promoting a relatively simple and low-cost behaviour: repairing holes in mosquito bednets. In phase 1, contextual information on bednet usage, transactions and repairs (the 'social lives' of nets) was documented. In phase 2 (intervention), songs were composed and posters displayed by community members to encourage repairs, creating a sense of ownership and a compelling medium for the transmission of health messages. In phase 3 (evaluation), qualitative and quantitative data showed that household responses were particularly rapid and extensive, with significant increase in bednet repairs (p Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Anthropology, Durham University, UK (b) Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK (c) Medical Research Council Laboratories, The Gambia (d) School of Biological & Biomedical Sciences, University of Durham, UK

ABSTRACT Background Early diagnosis and treatment with artesunate-mefloquine combination therapy (MAS) have reduced the transmission of falciparum malaria dramatically and halted the progression of mefloquine resistance in camps for displaced [...]

Objectives. We surveyed Ugandan parents who enrolled their children in a randomized pediatric malaria treatment trial to evaluate the parents' levels of understanding about the treatment trial and the quality of the parents' consents to allow their children to participate in the study. Methods. We conducted 347 interviews immediately following enrollment at 4 Ugandan sites. Results. A majority (78%) of the parents, most of whom where mothers (86%) had at most a primary school education. Of the participating mothers, a substantial percentage reported that they remembered being told about the study's purpose (77%), the required number of visits (88%), the risks involved (61%), treatment allocation (84%), and their ability to discontinue their children's participation (64%). In addition, most reported knowing the trial's purpose (80%) and the required number of visits (78%); however, only 18% could name possible side effects from the drugs being administered, and only 19% knew that children would not all be administered identical treatments. Ninety-four percent reported that they made the enrollment decision themselves, but 58% said they felt pressure to participate because of their child's illness, and 15% said they felt some type of pressure to participate from others; 41% reported knowing that they did not have to participate. Conclusions. The consent Ugandan parents provided to allow their children to participate in the malaria study was of mixed quality. Parents understood many of the study details, but they were not very aware of the risks involved or of randomization. Many parents felt that they could not have refused to participate because their child was sick and they either did not know or did not believe that their child would receive treatment outside of the study. Our results indicate that further debate is needed about informed consent in treatment studies of emergent illnesses in children. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2004.053082)

A 22-year-old man contracted malaria after a six-week stay in South America. He had no symptoms until about three months after he returned, so his doctors did not initially suspect malaria. However, he was infected with Plasmodium vivax, which can remain in a latent state for long periods of time.

A 74-year-old Greek woman illustrates the necessity of screening people for malaria in areas where the disease is thought to have been eliminated. She had had malaria at the age of 3 but had recovered without treatment. At the age of 72, a routine physical exam revealed that she had an enlarged spleen. She was diagnosed with lymphoma and treated with methotrexate. The drug triggered headaches and fever, which stopped when the drug was discontinued. Repeated blood tests were negative for malaria, but the polymerase chain reaction revealed low levels of Plasmodium malariae in her blood. She had probably been infected for 40-70 years with no symptoms of malaria.

An enlarged spleen, fever and residence in certain areas of Africa may contribute to the diagnosis of malaria. A 35-year-old native of Ethiopia was hospitalized because of fever, chills and an enlarged spleen. He had lived in Ethiopia and the Sudan where he first became ill with fever, jaundice and abdominal pain. He had a history of several parasitic infections, enlarged spleen and abdominal and low-back pain. Physicians suspected a parasitic disease called kala-azar, or visceral leishmaniasis. Initial analysis of blood, sputum and urine samples did not reveal any malarial parasites, bacterial or viral infections. Further blood tests indicated the presence of the malarial parasite Plasmodium vivax. He received chloroquine phosphate and primaquine. He has had no recurrent episodes of fever and his spleen has greatly decreased in size. However, at one year after therapy, his spleen had not returned to normal size.

We report a case of naturally acquired Plasmodium knowlesi in Singapore, a malaria-free country. Diagnosis was confirmed by PCR with validated species-specific primers. In industrialized countries, free-ranging primates are a [...]

To the Editor: Changes in spleen structure, frequently encountered during malaria, may result either in a simple asymptomatic enlargement or in serious complications such as hematoma, rupture, or infarction (1-3). [...]

An investigation of malaria in a US patient without recent travel established Plasmodium falciparum molecular genotype identity in 2 patients who shared a hospital room. P. falciparum can be transmitted [...]

Byline: B. Kalra, S. Chawla, P. Gupta, N. Valecha Efforts to discover and develop new antimalarial drugs have increased dramatically in recent years mainly because of resistance to existing antimalarial [...]