Parasitic diseases
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Follow the links below to find trusted information about parasitic diseases.
Last reviewed: May 2018
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Parasites - NT.GOV.AU
Scabies, strongyloidiasis, naegleria fowleri, malaria, head lice, parasites in the Northern Territory.
Read more on NT Health website
Dengue
Dengue Category: Infections and Parasites Topic: Viral Infections Send by email View as PDF Send by post Dengue fever is a viral disease spread only by certain mosquitoes mostly Aedes aegypti or "dengue mosquitoes", which are common in tropical areas around the world
Read more on Queensland Health website
Zika virus
Zika virus Category: Infections and Parasites Topic: Viral Infections Send by email View as PDF Send by post Please see the Commonwealth Department of Health's fact sheet on Zika
Read more on Queensland Health website
Barmah Forest Virus
Barmah Forest Virus Category: Infections and Parasites Topic: Viral Infections Send by email View as PDF Send by post Barmah Forest virus is the name given to a virus that is carried by mosquitoes
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Malaria overview - myDr.com.au
Malaria is a serious mosquito-borne disease that is caused by a parasitic infection of the red blood cells.
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Cryptosporidiosis fact sheet - Fact sheets
Cryptosporidiosis is a disease caused by swallowing the Cryptosporidium parasite. It mainly causes diarrhoea and stomach cramps.
Read more on NSW Health website
Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM)
Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) Category: Infections and Parasites Topic: Parasites Send by email View as PDF Send by post Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is a rare and severe disease caused by a single-celled amoeba called Naegleria fowleri
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Cutaneous leishmaniasis | Sydney Children's Hospitals Network
What is cutaneous leishmaniasis? Cutaneous (meaning skin) leishmaniasis is a chronic infection caused by a microscopic parasite, Leishmania
Read more on Sydney Children's Hospitals Network website
Cryptosporidium infection - including symptoms, treatment and prevention :: SA Health
Cryptosporidium infection (cryptosporidiosis or 'crypto') is an infection of the bowel caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium which can result in gastroenteritis (also known as 'gastro').
Read more on SA Health website
Toxoplasmosis in children and teenagers | Raising Children Network
Toxoplasmosis is caused by a parasite. For most children and adults, its a mild illness. See your GP if you think your child might have toxoplasmosis.
Read more on Raising Children Network website
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How well do point-of-care tests detect Schistosoma infections in people living inendemic areas? | Cochrane
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is a parasitic disease common in the tropical and subtropics. Point-of-care tests and urine reagent strip tests are quicker and easier to use than microscopy. We estimate how well these point-of-care tests are able to detect schistosomiasis infections compared with microscopy.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Artemether-lumefantrine (four-dose regimen) for treating uncomplicated malaria | Cochrane
Malaria is a parasitic disease spread by mosquitoes. It affects millions of people worldwide and causes significant illness and mortality. Uncomplicated malaria presents with symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle pain, and vomiting. The parasite has become resistant to a number of previously effective drugs, and so combinations of drugs are used to try to prevent further resistance. Artemether-lumefantrine is one such drug combination. This review of trials showed that, although the four-dose artemether-lumefantrine regimen was superior to chloroquine, in general the four-dose regimen was less effective compared with the six-dose regimen or other drug combinations. The fact that the four-dose regimen is generally less effective means it is unlikely that it would be used for treating uncomplicated malaria.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus artesunate versus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine for treating uncomplicated malaria | Cochrane
Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus artesunate versus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine for treating uncomplicated malaria
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Drugs against parasites for prevention of Chagas heart disease | Cochrane
Chagas disease is a form of heart disease that develops after decades of infection with a parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi. In addition to avoiding transmission of the parasites (through contact with insects in rural areas of many central and south American countries, blood transfusion, organ transplants from infected individuals or vertical transmission to newborns), one of the actions for prevention of Chagas disease is treating the estimated seven to 12 million infected individuals with medications against the parasites (trypanocidal therapy, or TT for short).
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Corticosteroids for the treatment of parasitic eosinophilic meningitis | Cochrane
Eosinophilic meningitis is an inflammation of the membrane covering the brain, the causes of which can be broadly categorised into infectious and non-infectious. Among the infectious aetiologies, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, a rat lung worm, is the major cause of eosinophilic meningitis. It occurs principally in South-East Asia and throughout the Pacific basin. However, this parasite has spread beyond the Pacific basin and is now found in regions of North America due to infected ship rats. Severe headache, which is self limiting, is the main complaint. The headache is probably due to an immune response to the dead parasites. Other signs and symptoms include neck stiffness and pain, visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting, paraesthesia and hyperaesthesia. Corticosteroids are drugs that reduce inflammation, which can occur in eosinophilic meningitis due to dead larvae.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Helminth therapy (worms) for induction of remission in inflammatory bowel disease | Cochrane
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is comprised of two disorders: ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease. These disorders have both distinct and overlapping symptoms, but the underlying cause remains incompletely understood. Standard therapy for IBD includes sulfasalazine, 5-ASA drugs, steroids, immunosuppressives such as azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine and methotrexate and biological agents such as infliximab. Helminths are worm-like parasites, that inhabit larger organisms. Helminths cause changes in the immune systems of their hosts including an altered immunological response to antigens and this has implications for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease which is thought to be caused by immune dysregulation.
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Administration of antimalarial drugs to whole populations | Cochrane
Malaria is the most important mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite, accounting for an estimated 660,000 deaths annually. Fortunately, malaria is both preventable and treatable. Several malaria control tools currently exist, and new and innovative approaches are continually under development.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Vaccines for preventing malaria in the blood phase | Cochrane
Malaria is a parasitic disease spread by mosquitoes. It affects millions of people worldwide and causes significant illness and mortality. Uncomplicated malaria presents with symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle pain, and vomiting, and children commonly present with rapid breathing, cough, and convulsions. Severe malaria causes unconsciousness and death. Vaccines are widely considered a necessary component for the complete success of malaria control. The parasite moves through several life-cycle stages in the human body, during which its molecular makeup changes, at least partially. Vaccines specific for each stage (ie targeting different antigens) are under development. This review looked at vaccinations targeted at the asexual (blood) phase of the parasite's life, when the parasites are in red blood cells. One vaccine for this phase, MSP/RESA (also known as Combination B), has been tested in field trials in Papua New Guinea. It reduced the density of parasites in the blood, but it did not prevent malaria attacks. Blood-stage vaccines are being actively pursued in further research.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Interventions for American cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. | Cochrane
American cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, a disfiguring and stigmatising disease affecting Central and South American regions, is caused by a parasite transmitted by sandflies. Pentavalent antimonial drugs (sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam, Stibanate, SSG) and meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime, MA)) have been used since the 1940s as first-line therapeutic agents for cutaneous leishmaniasis worldwide. However, other treatments have been used because these are expensive, toxic and painful, and because resistance is emerging.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Interventions for Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis | Cochrane
Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis (OWCL) is a disfiguring and stigmatising disease occuring in areas of the Mediterranean, Middle East and Asia, caused by a parasitic infection transmitted by sandflies. Pentavalent antimonial drugs such as sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam, Stibanate) and meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime), have been used since the 1940s as the main first-line therapeutic agents for cutaneous leishmaniasis worldwide. However, many different treatments for OWCL have been described.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
