Chemotherapy Of Gastrointestinal Helminths

Parasitic diseases are the most widespread of all the major diseases, currently 9 affecting about 3 x 10 people and innumerable domestic animals. There is no doubt that among these parasitic diseases, the helminthic infections of the gastrointestinal tract are about the most important because of their global distribution, their high prevalence, their effects on the nutritional status of men and animals, their effects on the physical and mental development of children, and their economic effects on the production of animals. Anthelmintics are important elements in the control of these gastrointestinal helminthic infections. In this volume the editors and authors have tried to find a way through the immense amount of information on anthelmintic drugs that is scattered throughout the literature. Different authors have critically examined this information from different angles. However, the aim of all has been to provide the information needed by veterinarians, physicians, and public health workers to select the most suitable drug for a given situation.

Parasitic diseases are the most widespread of all the major diseases, currently 9 affecting about 3 x 10 people and innumerable domestic animals. There is no doubt that among these parasitic diseases, the helminthic infections of the gastrointestinal tract are about the most important because of their global distribution, their high prevalence, their effects on the nutritional status of men and animals, their effects on the physical and mental development of children, and their economic effects on the production of animals. Anthelmintics are important elements in the control of these gastrointestinal helminthic infections. In this volume the editors and authors have tried to find a way through the immense amount of information on anthelmintic drugs that is scattered throughout the literature. Different authors have critically examined this information from different angles. However, the aim of all has been to provide the information needed by veterinarians, physicians, and public health workers to select the most suitable drug for a given situation.

"Have a chew of dulie," said Crubog . . . "What is it?" asked Potter, half-suspiciously. "Seaweed. " "Is it good for the virility? . . . " "And what is the virility?" asked the old man. "Does it make you more attractive to women?" Potier shouted in his ear. "No. " "What is it good for then?" "WortnS. " "Worms?" "Intestinal worms. You'll never again pass a worm if you eat a fistful of dulse first thing in the morning and last thing at night. " "If it's an anthelmintic, I'll try a spot of it," said Potter. - From Bogmail, a novel by Patrick McGinley (1981) With modern techniques of chemical isolation and structure determination, the old distinction between herbal and chemical remedies has largely been broken down. By chemotherapy we now mean simply the treatment of disease by drugs (the word medicines has unhappily been eclipsed). The distinction made between chemotherapy and non chemical therapy (e. g. , radiation, physiotherapy, surgical intervention, immu nomodulation) remains useful despite some minor overlapping. The present work thus deals with drugs and their use in parasitic disease. (Since we are dealing with the treatment of incipient as well as established infection, chemotherapy subsumes chem oprophylaxis as well as chemotherapeusis per se. ) Definition of parasitism as a biological modus vivendi, although important in itself, need not concern us here. We need simply delimit the scope of the book, and that is easily done.

This manual focuses on how and when a set of low-cost or free drugs should be used in developing countries to control a set of diseases caused by worm infections. Preventive chemotherapy in this context means using drugs that are effective against a broad range of worm infections to simultaneously treat the four most common diseases caused by worms: river blindness (onchocerciasis), elephantiasis (lymphatic filariasis), schistosomiasis, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Significant opportunities also exist to integrate these efforts with the prevention and control of diseases such as trachoma. The new approach provides a critical first step in combining treatment regimens for diseases which, although different in themselves, require common resources and delivery strategies for control or elimination.

Helminths include one of the most diverse and geographically widespread groups of parasites which infect humans and animals. About 100 species have been reported from humans, usually producing asymptomatic infection or mild symptoms. However, about 20 species are of public health importance causing severe or even fatal infections. In many parts of Africa parasitic helminths are responsible for enormous economic losses, hampering rural development programmes and reducing the pace of economic growth. Many parasitic helminths are either zoonoses (diseases naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and man) or have evolved from animal parasites. The modification of the environment through wars, famine and the ever expanding and increasingly mobile human population brings people into close contact with new environments and wildlife species which makes the study and control of zoonoses of special interest and complexity. In Africa, the transmission of helminth parasites is highly influenced by the ever changing social and cultural differences between diverse groups of peoples and their interaction with wild and domestic animals. It is not surprising, therefore, that approaches to the study and control of parasitic zoonoses require intersectoral cooperation between physicians, veterinarians, parasitologists, zoologists, demographers, anthropologists, engineers and economists to provide the breadth of knowledge and expertise required to develop our understanding of these diseases and to devise methods for their control. This book provides a selective compilation of parasitic helminths, many of which are zoonoses which create important economic and public health problems in Africa.

In a unique, visual approach to the depiction of parasite life cycles, this detailed atlas presents a clear, concise, and complete overview of the parasite/human host interrelationship. 75 life cycles include all the major protozoan and helminth pathogens of man with new and updated information on several organisms. The illustrations follow the route of infection from point of entry, through the developmental stages, to completion of the cycle as the parasite reinfects the next host. Precise biological anatomical and medical depiction provides reinforcement. Distinguished by its organization, continuity, and accuracy, this comprehensive work will be a valuable reference for students, clinicians and others interested in the field of parasitology.

This book explains the pharmacological relationships between the various systems in the human body. It offers a comprehensive overview of the pharmacology concerning the autonomic, central, and peripheral nervous systems. Presenting up-to-date information on chemical mediators and their significance, it highlights the therapeutic aspects of several diseases affecting the cardiovascular, renal, respiratory, gastrointestinal, endocrinal, and hematopoietic systems. The book also includes drug therapy for microbial and neoplastic diseases. It also comprises sections on immunopharmacology, dermatological, and ocular pharmacology providing valuable insights into these emerging and recent topics. Covering the diverse groups of drugs acting on different systems, the book reviews their actions, clinical uses, adverse effects, interactions, and subcellular mechanisms of action. It is divided into 11 parts, subdivided into several chapters that evaluate the basic pharmacological principles that govern the different types of body systems. This book is intended for academicians, researchers, and clinicians in industry and academic institutions in pharmaceutical, pharmacological sciences, pharmacy, medical sciences, physiology, neurosciences, biochemistry, molecular biology and other allied health sciences.

Helminth infections are caused by parasitic worms (including tapeworms and roundworms). These diseases are associated with poverty, and in school-age populations in developing countries, intestinal helminth infections rank first among the causes of all communicable and noncommunicable diseases. This book is based on papers presented at an OECD conference, held in Bali, Indonesia in February 2000, which sought to review activities for the control of diseases due to soil-transmitted helminth infections in Indonesia and neighbouring countries.