This volume provides in-depth reviews of model systems that exemplify the arms race in host-pathogen interactions. Somatic adaptations are responsible for the individualization of biological responses to the environment, and the continual struggle between host immune systems and invading pathogens has given rise to corresponding processes that produce molecular variation. Whether in mollusks or human beings, various host somatic mechanisms have evolved independently, providing responses to counter rapidly-changing pathogens. The pathways they utilize can include non-heritable changes involving RNA and post-translational modifications, or changes that produce somatic DNA recombination and mutation. For infectious organisms such as protozoans and flatworms, antigenic variation is central to their survival strategy. Evolving the ability to evade the host immune system not only increases their chances of survival but is also necessary for successful re-infection within the host population.

Filarial nematodes constitute and important group of human pathogens in tropical regions of the world. Diseases associated with these worms are generally separated into two categories: filariasis, caused by infections of lymphatic dwelling parasites and onchocerciasis, or river blindness, caused by infections of Onchocerca volvulus. Other filariae specifically infect humans and it is likely that zoonotic filarial infections may alter the outcome of infections with human parasites. The chapters in this book will cover concepts that, in most instances, overlap all of these parasites as well as focus on new and emerging ideas. The Filaria, volume five of World Class Parasites, is written for researchers, students and scholars who enjoy reading research that has a major impact on human health, or agricultural productivity, and against which we have no satisfactory defense. It is intended to supplement more formal texts that cover taxonomy, life cycles, morphology, vector distribution, symptoms and treatment. It integrates vector, pathogen and host biology and celebrates the diversity of approach that comprises modern parasitological research.

Neurocysticercosis (neural infection by larvae of Taenia solium)occurs when humans become intermediate hosts of the tapeworm Taenia solium after ingesting its eggs. The disease is now the most common helminthic infection of the nervous system in humans, and its prevalence has risen significantly even in countries where it was formerly considered exotic. The introduction of modern neuroimaging and serologic techniques has improved the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis; furthermore, the development of potent cysticidal drugs has changed the prognosis of most affected patients. Nevertheless, much remains to be learned about this parasitic disease. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the various aspects of cysticercosis of the nervous system that will be of interest to all who are involved in the care of patients with this disease. Epidemiology, neuropathology, immunopathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and management are all thoroughly discussed based on current evidence and practice. "

This book comprehensively reviews the disease dynamics, distribution, surveillance, epidemiology, diagnosis, control strategies, and management of the desert malaria. It highlights the potential risks of unstable but often exacerbated malaria conflagration as epidemics in the middle of duned desert, a desert oasis, and desert-fringe regions. Further, it reveals the factors inveigled into desert environments due to extensive anthropogenic activities such as canalized irrigation projects, high-yielding new agriculture practices, human concentration, and increased trade. It addresses the impact of irrigation on the malarial dynamics and its coupling to the climate forcing. The book also offers a model for desert transformation into malaria heaven under the changed climatic conditions including high rainfall, humidity, and depletion in temperature. Lastly, it offers insight into malaria epidemiology and disease control in the desert's arid environments. This book is an essential resource for medical entomologists, parasitologists, epidemiologists, and public health researchers.

This detailed volume presents timely and authoritative content offering a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art in fungal diagnostics. Moreover, it addresses on-going developments expected to provide a basis for targeted treatment strategies resulting in improved outcome of invasive mycoses. The knowledge of host-related predisposing factors and stratified treatment options facilitating timely onset of adequate antifungal therapy are critical for successful clinical management and outcome of invasive fungal disease (IFD), requiring not only rapid diagnosis of a fungal infection and identification of the causative species, but also assessment of pathogen/host factors related to pathogenicity, susceptibility, and response to treatment. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Human Fungal Pathogen Identification: Methods and Protocols serves as an ideal reference for researchers investigating the ever-growing worldwide healthcare problems involving fungal infections.

This book achieves an invaluable, contemporary picture of the phylum as a whole - Derek Wakelin - Parasitology

Designed as an introductory textbook "Infection, Resistance and Immunity provides basic and established information on the workings of the immunological system and on infectious processes and their control. With sections on immunological disorders, immunization, immunodiagnosis and epidemiology relating immunology to practical problems in medicine, a section on comparative immunology introduces the student to differences among immunological systems among common species of nonhuman animals. Written for the advanced undergraduate, the focus on host-parasite interactions distinguishes this text from other standard texts, which focus on the cellular mechanisms of the immune response.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), (also known as black fever or Kala-azar) is a life-threatening disease first reported from the Indian subcontinent. VL ranks as the world's second largest parasitic disease killer and is a neglected tropical disease. Most of those infected by this life-threatening disease are uneducated daily wagers working to support their families, and vectors easily disseminate the disease to their neighbors. Owing to recent involvement of stakeholders, the number of patients is decreasing, but eradication remains a distant goal. This second edition presents latest reports of visceral Leishmaniasis by specialists working at the forefront of the endemic areas in Indian subcontinent. It also introduces vaccine development and inhibitors to Trypanosomatidae; some of them describing feasibility studies in visceral Leishmaniasis for the first time. Recent progress of the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) is also reviewed and the contents share this collaborative research from the forefront of endemic sites in Bangladesh. Widely covering basic, clinical, epidemiological and entomological aspects, this volume will be of great interest to dedicated researchers interested inLeishmaniasis and to experts of NTDs in global health. There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of disease control is bound in shallows and in miseries. ~modified from Shakespeare ~

This book aims to cover the applications of nanotechnology against human infectious diseases. The chapters of the book discuss the role of nanotechnology in the efficient diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. It explicitly provides an overview of nanodiagnostics for infectious diseases from nanoparticles-based, nanodevice-based, and point-of-care platforms. The book also covers the state-of-the-art review of recent progress in biomimetic and bioengineered nanotherapies to treat infectious diseases. It also presents a nano carrier-based CRISPR/Cas9 delivery system for gene editing and its applications for developing interventional approaches against communicable diseases. Further, it reviews the recent developments in nanotechnology to engineer nanoparticles with desired physicochemical properties as a line of defense against multi-drug resistance micro-organisms. Cutting across the disciplines, this book serves as a guide for researchers in biotechnology, parasitology, and nanotechnology.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is highly endemic for several neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), including viral, bacterial, protozoan and helminth infections. This new volume covers the most prevalent NTDs found in about 22 MENA countries emphasizing the disease burden, clinical manifestations and control approaches. Each individual chapter deals with one specific disease and is written by a group of experts on that topic.

Biology of Parasitism is based on the Biology of Parasitism Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Having just celebrated its 20th offering, this Course has distinguished itself as the premier, world-renowned training ground for future generations of parasitologists. The primary goal of the Course is to attract and introduce the very best and most promising young researchers to the many unresolved problems in parasitology and prepare them for their future as independent investigators in the field. The rigorous program combines state-of-the-art laboratory research with a program of visiting lecturers who bring together the most current research in the field. Since at this time there are no academic institutions that have enough depth in parasitology research or teaching faculty to provide up-to-date and state-of-the-art training, the Course has become, and will remain, a global resource for providing intensive education in modern parasitology. Biology of Parasitism is intended to present a snapshot of the content and spirit of the Biology of Parasitism Course. By presenting a series of chapters that reflect the formal lectures that students receive on a daily basis, as well as the approaches used during the laboratory section of the Course, the editors hope to share some of the science that occurs there. One part of the book presents the experimental component of the Course, in particular the subject matter of the four two-week sessions covering Immunology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology and Molecular Biology of protozoan and helminth parasites. As in the Course, the experimental part is complemented by a number of review-like chapters solicited from the large number of speakers who lecture during the Course.

It has been known for many years that the Malassezia yeasts are associated with a n- ber of different human diseases ranging from pityriasis versicolor to seborrhoeic d- matitis. However the evolving history of their taxonomy and pathogenicity, and the management of the diseases that they cause has been a long, and often diffcult, jou- ney. Their fastidious growth requirements defed the initial attempts to culture these organisms on laboratory media and their true identifcation and the relationship between different species only became apparent with the application of modern molecular techniques. Likewise although recognised in the 19th century as potential causes of human infection, piecing together the complex and, in certain cases, still uncertain relationships to different human diseases has taken many years. Recognised initially as causes of infection of the skin, they are now known to be superfcial c- mensals as well as potential causes of infections in domestic animals and more serious human conditions such as fungemia. They have also been implicated in the pathog- esis of allergic and other infammatory diseases. Given this complex, yet fascinating, history it seems appropriate to bring together current thought on these yeasts, their structure and function and their association with both human and animal disease states. This book provides such a view of the genus Malassezia and the diseases caused by its members.

This book comprehensively reviews various vector-borne diseases and their control methods. It discusses morphology, life history, and pathogenicity of protozoan and helminth parasites. Further, it analyzes host-parasite interactions and their adaptation within the host system for understanding parasitic infections. The book discusses the complex life cycle, biochemical adaptations, and molecular biology of the parasites. It investigates the immunological response to different infectious agents and explores new targets for combined therapeutic approaches. It also summarizes the evolution of parasitism and the ecology of parasites of the different phylum. Lastly, it provides information on vector biology emphasizing the role of basic vector research in developing future disease control methods and improving upon the existing approaches.

This volume covers the most important parasitic protists that are known to infect humans. The pathogens discussed cause diseases like toxoplasmosis, malaria, cryptosporidiosis, leishmaniasis, amoebiasis, trichomoniasis, and giardiasis. Readers from microbiology will appreciate the special focus on protist cell biology. As demonstrated in several of the chapters, these parasites are characterized by peculiar structures and organelles that cannot be found in mammalian cells - even though both are eukaryotic. The book employs light and electron microscopy to display the changing morphology in various stages of parasitic development. In turn, the results are supplemented by transcriptome and proteome profiles that help to describe how these changes take place on a molecular level. Both researchers and clinicians from tropical medicine will find essential and practically applicable background information on these increasingly important pathogens.

Species of aspergilli are common in man's environment and are responsible for a wide spectrum of human and animal disease, ranging in animals from mycotic abortion to aflatoxicosis and in humans from localized colonization of the ear or skin to life-threatening systemic infection of neutropenic patients. In recent times, invasive aspergillosis has become increasingly important as a cause of morbidity and death, initially in patients receiving immunosuppression prior to organ transplantation, and latterly in haematologic patients rendered neutropenic by underlying disease or chemotherapy. In some centres, the condition has been recorded in more than 40% of patients dying with acute leukaemia. Laboratory diagnostic procedures are not always helpful and the diagnosis depends largely on clinical parameters. The clinician is faced with yet another problem, that of management. At present, antifungal therapy of invasive aspergillosis can be largely ineffectual, and the mortality rate remains unacceptably high. Since Aspergillus fumigatus was first described almost 125 years ago, several other pathogenic species have been recognized. The marked biosynthetic abilities and varied mechanisms of gene recombination of aspergilli have long commanded attention in food technology and genetics. Their equally varied abilities to cause disease have attracted the interest of toxicologists, allergists and physicians concerned with infectious diseases.

This volume begins with a short history of malaria and follows with a summary of its biology. It then traces the fascinating history of the discovery of quinine for malaria treatment, and then describes quinine's biosynthesis, its mechanism of action, and its clinical use, concluding with a discussion of synthetic antimalarial agents based on quinine's structure. It also covers the discovery of artemisinin and its development as the source of the most effective current antimalarial drug, including summaries of its synthesis and biosynthesis, its mechanism of action, and its clinical use and resistance. A short discussion of other clinically used antimalarial natural products leads to a detailed treatment of additional natural products with significant antiplasmodial activity, classified by compound type. Although the search for new antimalarial natural products from Nature's combinatorial library is challenging, it is very likely to yield new antimalarial drugs. This book thus ends by identifying ten natural products with development potential as clinical antimalarial agents.

Advances in Parasitology, Volume 111, the latest release in this ongoing series, includes medical studies of parasites of major influence, along with reviews of more traditional areas, such as zoology, taxonomy and life history. Chapters in this update include Taking the strain out of onchocerciasis: a reanalysis of blindness and transmission data does not support the existence of a savanna blinding strain of onchocerciasis in West Africa, Enterocytozoon bieneusi of animals, Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis, Genomic analysis reveals predominant clonality and progressive evolution at all evolutionary scales in eukaryotic pathogens, HTLV-I and Strongyloides: the worm lurking beneath, and more.

This book discusses recent developments in several laboratories studying leishmaniasis. Sequencing of the human genome, as well as of the leishmania genome, has led to significant advances in our understanding of host-immune responses against leishmania, and mechanisms of infection-induced pathology, which is responsible for morbidity and mortality. Pathogenesis of Leishmaniasis focuses on the latest basic research into leishmaniasis, but also addresses how advances in understanding can be applied to prevention, control and treatment of what the WHO has classified a neglected tropical disease.

Expert authors from around the world comprehensively review the current advances in plasmodium comparative genomics, highlighting the fascinating new insights into parasite evolution and molecular biology that have ensued.

This is the first resource to provide researchers in academia and industry with an urgently needed update on drug intervention against trypanosomatides. As such, it
covers every aspect of the topic from basic research findings, via current treatments to translational approaches in drug development and includes both human and livestock diseases. The outstanding editor and contributor team reads like a Who's Who of the field, thus guaranteeing the outstanding quality of this ready reference.

Advances in Parasitology, Volume 120, the latest release in this ongoing series, includes medical studies of parasites of major influence, along with reviews of more traditional areas, such as zoology, taxonomy and life history.

Advances in Parasitology serial highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting chapters. Each chapter is written by an international board of authors.

Over the last few decades new data on the distribution, pathogenicity, diagnosis, treatment and control of trematode infections and diseases in man and animals, including zoonotic trematodiasis, have emerged from various geographical regions. These new data are compiled in this book together with existing information to fulfil the present need. Seven major trematode-induced disease groups, namely, schistosomiasis, paragonimiasis, fascioliasis and fasciolopsiasis, dicrocoeliasis and eurytremiasis, clonorchiasis and opisthorchiasis, paramphistomiasis, and diseases due to intestinal trematode infections are dealt with in this book. These diseases still rank as a major cause of morbidity and mortality - both in man and in livestock - mainly in the tropics, and contribute to the socio-economic problems. Many of these diseases are also zoonoses, some major and others potential. The intended readership of this treatise include postgraduate students of medical and veterinary parasitology, research workers as well as medical practitioners, veterinarians, tropical diseases specialists, veterinary public health specialists and teachers concerned with trematode infections and trematodiasis of man and animals.